I often contemplate the end of the world as we know it: market crash, civil war, nuclear war, mass destruction caused by global warming.  It is a little embarrassing to admit, though I assume I am not alone.  It is not a far leap from where we are today, if you’re paying attention.

I wonder: should I be planning for this? buying guns? stockpiling food and water? building a bunker?  The billionaires are building bunkers and buying land in remote areas (1).   Will we later wish we had prepared for the worst instead of saving for a retirement that will never happen?

Assuming we don’t build a bunker, I wonder what my family would do in the case of disaster.   In some of my imaginings, we die.  In others, we are on the move, running to who knows where and from who knows what. In still others, our community comes together and helps one another.

These musings remind me to appreciate the things I have while I have them:  a warm and comfortable house, good food that is easy to buy, clean running water.  How convenient our phones, computers, connectedness.  How lucky we are to have our health and  healthcare.  How far a fall it would be from this to nothing.

Then I remember how quaint (read enraging) these musings might be to the 60+ million people in the world who are in that very situation (2).  Of course, I can’t pretend to know how they are feeling.  Their world has collapsed.  They have lost friends and family members. They have lost their homes, their cities, their countries, their livelihood.  They have next to nothing.  They are living the collapse I only imagine in horror.

Then I remember those billionaires building bunkers who could instead be building housing, or creating jobs.

Then I give money to UNICEF or the International Rescue Committee and I hope that it helps … but I know that it is not enough.