In spring 2008, Wall Street was mired in crisis, food prices were rising briskly, and gas was selling near all-time highs. I noted that a bit of Chuck Norris-style “The end is nigh!”-ism seemed to be creeping into popular culture, which prompted me to write a blog post called, “More than peak oil or financial crash, I fear angry men armed to the teeth.”

My point was that in hard times, the real path to survival isn’t private caches of guns, ammo, and canned food. It’s robust public institutions, diverse and plentiful food sources, and vibrant communities.

Predictably, my musings inspired some backlash. After carefully mulling my arguments, a writer on a blog called Notes from the Bunker concluded, “Still and all, the article makes me wanna go over there and kick the guy in the ‘nads.” Back in the comments section of Grist, a reader cheerfully predicted that “Tom will die, and probably be eaten by all the people in his commune  that don’t know how to provide for themselves outside of going down to the local store that ‘magically’ restocks itself every day.”