A ground-shakingly massive cyber attack, or a downturn in trade relations with China that completely blocks us from getting computer chips.
If there's anything that makes me fear for this country's security and well-being, it's those two things. If either happens, our entire economy plunges into chaos, and life as we know it — which at this point is 95% contained in the digital sphere — gets completely locked up.
I've said here before that America needs a sort of Cyber Security West Point to prevent this seismic breach from occurring, but we also desperately need a stronger domestic chip making presence to obliterate the possibility of a semiconductor shortage that would make this year's woes look like child's play. 2021 showed us that almost every modern physical good you can think of — from smartphones to cars to coffee makers — needs a computer chip, and practically this entire industry is out of our hands at this point, especially for more advanced chips.
This is what keeps me up at night. Sure there are other things that could kill us slowly — climate change, our failure to universally vaccinate against COVID, general idiocy — but I think either a historic cyber attack or a chip embargo with China could take us out in a single swing.
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