Icu4dzs asks a good question above (twice).
What exactly are we talking about? The OP asked how it's going, and references unemployment and how the economic downturn is affecting her local community/region. But what exactly is the dealio with the impending doom that seems to be part of the collective consciousness on this forum?
The financial markets? The Great Depression didn't last forever. The recessions of the 70s, 80s, and 90s didn't last very long at all. Sometimes the system gets out of whack and needs re-setting is all, and some nations have more to "fix" than others. The Depression resulted in changes to banking systems, rules that slowly got changed back resulting in what we see today. It hurts. Individuals. Real people. But it will again re-set with time. And it doesn't have to go back to what it was before.
Civil or national unrest in the news? This is a human condition and has never gone away, there have always been issues between nations as well as within the borders of individual nations. Sometimes they are far away and don't affect us, sometimes they are closer or affect aspects of our personal lives.
Natural disasters? Again, a global norm--weather/plate tectonic action happens. Regularly. And the world has been in a constant state of "climate change" since it began--regardless of how one species may or may not have affected it. The planet is a system, and everything on it is a part of that system.
It's very easy to see the "end times" in events we perceive to be negative. Biblically, what we've got here is nothing like how I've read the "end times" described (whether you are pre or post-trib in your outlook). Those of us in the "developed world" tend to have a collective belief that we control world events more or less, and we begin to feel powerless when things go awry. As Dunkopf noted above, blame is easy to assign.
Are there any real threats out there? Perhaps to what we've become accustomed to as a "normal" way of life. But I don't think the North Koreans or Iranians or Russians (or anyone else for that matter) really wants to bomb America. Well, a few of them might just on principle. But I don't really think it will happen. I think any situations involving nukes are more likely to be accidents or limited events caused by total rogue psychos rather than intentional. People in the know, with the ability to push the red buttons, know better. I suppose total anarchy is a real possibility, but deep down all people need boundaries and rules and even anarchy can't last.
Maybe I'm too optimistic. Maybe I don't have enough drinking water stored for even a minor disaster. But I live near a creek that doesn't run dry and have camping/other supplies and survival knowledge at the ready so I know my family and I'll get by regardless of whatever the "sh*t" might turn out to be, should it materialize in my lifetime.
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