I can't figure out how to post this as a poll. Please respond by

[rzemanfl]

ranking these as to your overall personal stress level, if you were too young, leave them out.

1. Cuban Missile Crisis.
2. 9/11.
3. 2010 Gulf Disaster.
4. 2000 Election Debacle.
5. Arab Oil Embargo.
6. Watergate.
7. JFK Assassination.

Comments are welcome.

Mine would be: 3,1,2,7,4,6,5. Although the first two are about a toss up.

[HysteryDiagnosis]

1. Anybody seen the exit?? nt

[rzemanfl]

2. Here?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8595473

[femmocrat]

3. Those were all biggies on the stress-ometer.

For me:

7. JFK assassination
4. 2000 election debacle -- totally shook my faith in democracy
2. 9/11 and the aftermath -- bush invading Iraq, etc.
3. 2010 Gulf Disaster -- I would describe it as more a sense of doom, than stress
1. Cuban Missile Crisis -- somehow I had faith this one would work out OK, but I was very young
5. Arab oil embargo -- oh those gas lines were stressful!
6. Watergate -- more engrossing than stressful

One of the scariest disasters I experienced was Three Mile Island, however. I was terrified we would all wake up dead.

[SheilaT]

4. The Cuban Missile Crisis

for me is far and away number 1.

We really, really thought we were on the brink of nuclear war. Nothing else comes close.

[RC]

5. I only have one - 9/11.

The rest were all over by the time I started to pay attention to what the Enemies Of The State were doing to our country.
Although I did realize JFK was an inside job after I go out of the military.

To reclaim our country, we really, really need to deal with the people behind 9/11. Ya hear that Cheney?

[PDJane]

6. Mine are, in order:

The Cuban Missile Crisis and 9/11...I thought my son was in the building, so 9/11 was personal. He was here, in Toronto, because he was working on a go-live and the entire computer system was shut down the weekend before. Yes, I have some suspicious tendencies.

2010 Gulf Disaster, since I have just enough environmental science and chemistry and physics for it to scare the hell out of me. Great. Toxic oceans. How wonderful.

JFK Assassination, because it made me feel that sinking feeling that the Reich Wing was getting the upper hand, and I had been listening to tapes of Father Coughlin and reading about that time. Everything old is new again; I've got that same sinking feeling now.

2000 Election Debacle, because it contributed greatly to the above mentioned feelings; you know, the neo cons are coming, the neo cons are coming.

The Arab Oil Embargo and Watergate were pretty much interesting, but not really a visceral shock. I knew, even back at that time, that oil was finite and we were going to find ourselves out the usefulness of petrochemicals because of an orgy of spending on private travel. Watergate was interesting and infuriating, and it was then that I realized that the majority of American Presidents were likely to be criminals in one way or another....and I'm still waiting for Henry Kissinger to be charged for same.

I delved into the environmental stuff because of Love Canal and Bloody Run Creek, Bhopal (30 years later, the waste is still leaking into the groundwater and the case is still in US courts), the Seveso Plant explosion, Feyzin and Fixborough and San Juanico and Baia Mare and Grande Paroisse and Enschede and SCHWEIZERHALLE and Toulouse....there should be a hall of shame for these places and the perpetrators, Arco, Sandoz, Union Carbide, LPG, Aurul SA, Autofina, BP.

BP seems to spill as much oil as they extract!

In South Africa:



In 2001, millions of litres of petrol spilled under homes on the Bluff from a Sapref pipeline.



On February 6, 2003, oil spilled into the Durban harbour when a pipeline leaked large volumes of fuel on the wharf side.



In October, 2003, a pipeline-related incident caused 75 000 litres of diesel to leak into the Durban harbour.


http://www.idex.org/blog/2010/05/bps-very-different-reactions-to-spills-in-us-and-south-africa.php

The most recent damage in Nigeria, which has not been attributed to militant attacks that have preyed on Nigerian oil infrastructure for years, forced U.S. operator ExxonMobil <XOM.N> to relieve itself of contractual obligations by declaring force majeure on its exports of Nigerian benchmark crude. An industry source, who declined to be named, said 100,000 bpd of oil had leaked for a week from a pipeline that has since been mended. The Niger Delta, where the wealth underground is out of all proportion with the poverty on the surface, has endured the equivalent of the Exxon Valdez spill every year for 50 years by some estimates. The oil pours out nearly every week, and some swamps are long since lifeless. (http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/17/world/africa/17nigeria.html).

We are destroying our environment, and companies like BP are the ones doing so. It's time for international law that bans this kind of rampant rape of other people's resources.

[northoftheborder]

7. US traumas

3. Gulf of Mexico disaster -I have a depressed feeling that this event may completely destroy the economy and cultural existence of four states, maybe more, affecting the whole country, an ecological nightmare, and cause eventual political destabilization. A historical Waterloo.

4. Election debacle - destroyed my sense of justice in our democracy

2. 9/ll - a shock - forever altering our sense of safety

7. JFK Assassination - a shock - the beginning of the efforts of the right wing in this country

6. Watergate - not shocking, but satisfying to see justice done

5. oil embargo - did not really affect me directly at the time - living in a small rural community

1. Cuban missile crisis - I did not ever have a sense of fear during the Cold War. I always thought the danger was exaggerated for political reasons.

[XemaSab]

8. Mine

1. 9/11

2. Oil disaster

But it's not a fair comparison. When the oil spill happened, not many people noticed or were concerned.

60 days after 9/11, I think the national mood had calmed down considerably.

On the other hand, on 9/11 I think we were all FREAKED OUT, but 60 days after the oil spill my stress level is rising by the day.

(On edit: I left out the election. That's a very distant third.)

[MH1]

9. First, 2000 (s)election debacle

because it destroyed my belief in American democracy.

After that Gulf Oil Disaster (note the acronym), and 9/11 are pretty close, but if I had to pick I would put Gulf Disaster more personally stressful, because the environment is very important to me and I think the long-term effects may be worse for more people than were directly affected by 9/11. Also I tend to see acts of terrorism more like natural disasters - like a huge earthquake or tsunami - because it is just part of life in this century and it is completely out of our control. In contrast, the Gulf Oil Disaster was not caused by an attack by lunatics or an act of war ... it was the product of stupidity and greed, and should have been preventable.

[rzemanfl]

10. Thanks to all who replied. One observation of mine regarding

the oil embargo. I then lived in a small town in a rural area. Nights were nearly a total blackout and public places were freezing cold inside. I remember being shocked when I drove to the state's capital city, the glow of the lights was visible from miles away and life was going on like nothing happened.

[jp11]

11. 9/11, gulf disaster, 2000 election rest were before my time.

The gulf may surpass 9/11 for me if it keeps going on past august.