north korea as hype

i get the sense that, for the most part, we as a country have decided not to take north korea's heavy nuclear rhetoric very serious. we've seen cheap looking youtube videos that show bombs exploding in american cities. it almost seems as if everyday, north korean leadership adds one more statement to the list of threats against us and against south korea. and no one seems very much worried at all.

not that i advocate worrying. not at all. i'm all for a civilization that will look a nuclear bomb in the face and think, "fuck it, bring what you got. i'll accept my fate." i'd be thrilled if our instinctual reaction to the threat of nuclear warfare (or any other warfare for that matter) was to not worry cuz whatever happens, happens and we gotta keep living our lives for ourselves no matter what circumstances or threats we might find ourselves under.

but i don't think that's why we're not worried. i think we're not worried cuz we've turned north korea into a punchline. we mock their technology and their bravado. we tell ourselves that this is just grandstanding on an international stage. this is all about an egomaniac who wants to look the part more than be the part. and even if he did push the red button, no way one of their shitty, lower form of technology than the cell phone in my pocket, missiles could ever reach us. and maybe all of that is true. but maybe we've begun to make ourselves  just a little too comfortable.

now i understand there's people paid a lot of money in the pentagon and elsewhere in the military to give a fuck about this and to put forth a "just-in-case" strategy. and i'm sure the people in those roles are doing just that. i'm not bunching them in with the rest of us. i hope they're not bunched in with the rest of us. i'd like to think someone in the military is paid to show up and freak the fuck out and come up with solutions to doomsday scenarios that haven't played out (and possibly never will).

but when did we start underestimating the bad guys again? if this were april in the year 2002, i think an outrageous number of americans would be flipping the fuck out right now. remember when we learned that you didn't need a lot of money or technology to land a solid body blow on u.s. soil? and if anything, all these years later, we probably should be more concerned. what was our rebuttal for the worst attack on american soil? two long, drawn out wars that don't belong anywhere in the same paragraph with the words, "promising results." if you're any other country in the world who has thought of putting america in her cross hairs, why wouldn't you'd take your shot right about now?

i'm not rooting for this and i'm  not condoning this. all i'm saying is whatever happened to the days of optimistic caution? hiding under your desk with a book over your head just in case the russians drop the big one. sure, that would in no way ensure your survival, but at least there was a wacky idea for us all to follow on the table... y'know... "just in case."

i hope shit don't get ugly. my rational mind tells me it won't. but i'm also just a little guilty of falling for the, "north korea is a joke," hype. and i honestly do think, feel, and hope that the hype is correct but regardless of any of that, as i type this, public enemy's, 'don't believe the hype,' is playing in my head.

anyways, i'm not gonna go build a bomb shelter. if the shit goes down, i got no interest in a post-apocalyptic reality. i have no longing for a life that lacks the comforts of drive thru fast food, modern toilets, and twitter.

sleep tight!