Large-scale foreign aggression on US soil ... highly unlikely, with our military power and with about 280 million firearms in america this would be national suicide for the invader. who would be that stupid?

Uncontainable bio hazard ... anything short of an engineered super virus would effect a very small part of the country and population.... we are huge nation and very spread out, even a mass exodus of the north east could be absorbed relatively quickly

Financial calamity leading to an economic breakdown ... this has the greatest impact over our society, it affects everyone, has no regional boundaries, no malicious foreign power to watch and is ignored or misunderstood by the average american until it effects them

I think the "Financial calamity leading to an economic breakdown" option is most likely, but an "Uncontainable bio hazard" isn't really very far behind, IMO. With modern-day air travel, any serious illness with a long active-transmission time span between infection and showing significant symptoms could spread faster than a wildfire on a windy day. It's not that it is truly uncontainable; the problem is recognizing you have a problem, and taking drastic action early enough to contain it. Given that any serious containment actions would interrupt deliveries of food and other critical necessities to major cities, and most cities only have about three days worth of food for the population, I don't think our elected leaders would have the 'nads to make the tough call(s) necessary to halt the spread quickly enough. If it started somewhere else first, and we had a couple days/weeks of warning, then maybe the correct arguments would be made and actions taken, but if it started here or spread here quickly, then many of us would be toast.

Y2K damn near did it.

The bee plague might still do it. (There is something killing off bee swarms around the world. Without the bees there is no pollination. Without the pollination there are no crops. Without crops we all starve to death.)

Marburg virus looks promising. Ebola too.

The Republicans could bankrupt the country for the "no new taxes". This could lead to a second great depression.

Are you looking for a slow collapse or something spectacular?

Originally Posted by Packard

Y2K damn near did it.

Y2K didnt do anything, no government failed, no economic collapse, nothing, no mass suicides .... even our vcrs still worked.

Originally Posted by Packard

The bee plague might still do it. (There is something killing off bee swarms around the world. Without the bees there is no pollination. Without the pollination there are no crops. Without crops we all starve to death.)

natural population cycle, has been documented since about 1860 in the US, but it sure makes good headlines, and since 2008 the colony population has been on the up cycle again.

Originally Posted by Packard

Marburg virus looks promising. Ebola too.

both ebola and marburg are viral hemorrhagic fevers (VHF) and combined has accounted for approximately 1500 deaths since 1967 according to the WHO

seasonal influenza kills off between 100k to 500k in a normal year, millions in a pandemic year and in the 1918 influenza pandemic over 100 million deaths... VHF is nothing compared to the flu....

Originally Posted by Packard

The Republicans could bankrupt the country for the "no new taxes". This could lead to a second great depression.

really? a political groin shot? instead of the government its the republicans? it appears that as much research and thought went into the last sentance as went into all the rest.....

A Natural disaster like the one that happened in Japan could severely affect the US and is more likely than a biological disease. Also, if a nuclear device were to hit DC or NY or LA or Chicago or Seattle or Miami or San Francisco or Boston, that would have severe affects on the US and cause a breakdown in order. The main reason I bought a gun for protection is what happened after Hurricane Andrew hit Miami/Homestead, FL.

The police were overwhelmed and distracted dealing with their own families and digging themselves out. There was no way to stop criminals except with self defense weapons.

There was no "all of the above" option!

You missed one

How about the fact that year after year we vote in fucking idiots to office who care nothing about our rights as citizens and only about which corporation is going to help them get re-elected?

This will eventually lead to Financial Calamity option IMO

"Financial calamity leading to an economic breakdown" is a very real possibliity with the currant spending level of Government spending.

It is out of control on every level - city / state / national level.

IMHO

With the idiots that we have voted into office, it is a no brainer......Economic breakdown. Where did we go wrong????

we are already living in our lifetime the one issue you listed.
if you bring home $200 a week and spend $330 a week - it wont take long for to be a problem
if you go long enough and your debt is 85% of your annual income - you're gonna have a problem
you can either stop spending more than you bring in or if you have a printing press you can inflate your way out of debt
inflation is coming
we will loose our AAA bond rating and the interest rates will go up
if you are already at 85% of your debt to income, and your monthly interests rates go up and the food etc goes up - people are going to be hurting
it is coming
so GET OUT OF DEBT on a personnal level

I see "Financial calamity leading to an economic breakdown" as the number one theart for now. Look at Europe and the financial problems they are having and a displeased population.

Originally Posted by Gallows

Look at Europe and the financial problems they are having and a displeased population.

if you wish to see "displeased", look no further than my avatar

I voted for an economic break down.

It's sad, because as citizens, our greatest enemy right now is our own government.
All they care about is how to get into office the next term, both Reps. and Dems.
This will continue to happen until they realize they are in office to serve us and not to deepen their own pockets with money and power.

A total financial meltdown is a very real possibility. Our politicians seem completely out of touch with the fact that we will soon be 15 trillion in debt. Obama's 10 year vision for the U.S. would make the country go another 10 trillion in debt as a best case scenario. The reality is that it would be much higher. How many trillion can the U.S borrow before they can't borrow anymore? I'm not an economic expert but I'm guessing that the world will not loan us enough money to allow us to go 25 trillion in debt. Which means that financial collapse could be less than 10 years away unless we drastically change our spending habits. I just don't see democrats and Republicans working together to drastically change their spending habits. Historically, superpowers eventually run their course, or noone has been able to stay on top forever.

I think its going to be a culminated of multiple factors, the one that is the most thought provoking is financial collapse...what happens when money has no value? Our money is paper, and that is it, it is perceived value. Ever wonder why no one has seen the gold in fort knox for over 20 years? Last president to do so was Reagen. You put this pressure on top of energy struggles, crop shortages, and go ahead and throw in a natural disaster and it could be enough to break the levy. lets just hope for Zombies first, at least we can all stand hand in hand against that.

Originally Posted by fullfathomfive

..... lets just hope for Zombies first, at least we can all stand hand in hand against that.

but before we deal with them we will have to have an environmental impact report and attempt to rehabilitate them.

Originally Posted by TedDeBearFrmHell

but before we deal with them we will have to have an environmental impact report and attempt to rehabilitate them.

Bwahahaha!!!

i believe it will be zombie takeover so stock up on ammo!!!

Originally Posted by 45Sidekick

i believe it will be zombie takeover so stock up on ammo!!!

Do you watch the walking dead? pretty decent show television usually sucks

doubt it will ever happen, the way the world ends is going to be alot more boring, not that i think it will end anytime soon

ive seen commercials about it but no i have not watched it. either itll be zombies or an economic meltdown, followed by chinese invasion to pillage our villages and take our women lol (sounds dramatic right?)

Originally Posted by 45Sidekick

ive seen commercials about it but no i have not watched it. either itll be zombies or an economic meltdown, followed by chinese invasion to pillage our villages and take our women lol (sounds dramatic right?)

Dramatic but not as much fun... In zombie scenario me and you are most likely still alive running and gunning lol

this is true since ive been preparing for such an occasion for awhile now lol

remember...headshots only!

yup save ammo