Horror in slow motion

I have to say, this whole economic collapse is one of the weirdest experiences in my life. I've been around and aware enough for many world-changing events, but they all seemed to share a quality of *SMACK* it happened, then watch the aftermath. The Challenger and Columbia, 9/11, Iraq I and II, previous collapses on Wall Street, the Berlin Wall...

Maybe I've just remembered them all as big single events moreso than the reality of the situations actually warrant, but certainly none of them seemed to me to have the kind of prolonged agony the last year has subjected us to. I first started hearing rumblings about the housing market and mortgage industry last summer. I started seeing it have a real impact on the economy around January. And now, the last 3 months I've seen it start wreaking real havoc around the world. I sat there this morning watching the Dow Jones average drop below 10,000 - the first time it's been down to four digits since 2004 - and just wondering when the bleeding is going to stop.

It really makes me wonder how people managed throughout the Cold War. At least with the economic stuff, we can be fairly certain that we'll come out on the other side. We may not know exactly when or how bad it may get, but eventually we'll get things revved up again and back on the right track. With the Cold War, there was just no such certainty, no light at the end of the tunnel, no guarantee that we were going to come out on top or that you wouldn't wake up to the roar of nuclear apocalypse rushing at you in the night. Just with the little tastes I've had in the last decade, I'm glad I didn't have to live with that kind of unresolved fear hanging over my head all the time.