Where is the Outrage?

Danger is not always obvious and obvious danger is not always the greatest risk. Great empires have decayed with no threat from foreign enemies.

Some dangers can injure or kill no more than small groups but the exposure is high; automobile accidents, for example. Earthquakes, tsunami's, pandemics and weapons of mass destruction can kill large numbers but the risk of occurence is low. Then, there are those dangers like climate change and lifestyle that kill slowly, everyone is exposed and the risk is extinction.

The world is an integrated place and no danger can be considered isolated from another. Humans have survived because of the ability to learn and adapt to the conditions present in the world. It may be that the dangers created by humans are the most difficult to understand. Lacking understanding makes the danger appear more remote and the responses more disruptive to current circumstances.

History teaches that the decay of great empires was rooted in lifestyle. The vitality and ability to respond to danger came from the value system and lifestyle of individuals that gave common purpose to the civilization and culture. Unhealthy lifestyle destroys because people can no longer see the value of changing and the ability to adapt is lost.