This is what I wrote in a note to some friends:

… Otherwise all is good. And I must tell you, my studies of Professor Quigley, coupled with some new knowledge about the psychology of the masses tells me: We’re going to be fine, great and awesome. All is good, and we’re going to come out of this re-energised, and smacking our enemies six ways to Sunday!!! 🙂 We’re simply in the "negative cycle" of the evolution of Civilisation. You get threats and responses. We’re in the "threat" stage, but out of every threat comes a "response". And that is what is building up among all of us – and the response will be an "average" of the accumulated knowledge, once it is understood and synthesized. This is how civilisations develop. There is more to it than that, and it gets really fascinating, but we’ll be fine. In fact, I think we’re well over the worst. We’re firmly established and the real battle is just starting.