I was rattled by Sam Sheridan's book, The Disaster
Diaries. In it, the author recorded the
preparations he did after he had a child. He went
through experiences unimaginable to the Chinese
scholar in me: fighting fire, stealing cars, Muay
Thai, knife fighting, surviving in the wild,
living in an igloo, etc. He was able, in the end,                                            
to even love the apocolypse. While reading, I kept
asking "What about me? Am I ready?"

He wrote, "'Being a man is, precisely, being
responsible.' That's the secret philosophy of real
manhood--a man takes responsibility for everything
that happens." By deduction, I would argue the
division of labor, which our material affluence is
built on, has undermined that manhood.
Self-reliance is incompatible with modern
capitalism. There is a fight coming. Am I ready?

I can ignore some of the scenarios but I also have
fears not covered in the book. After the election,
racist incidents kept making headlines. Sheridan
doesn't need to worry about that. I do. I am a
first-gen immigrant and I have a kid. Sheridan is
tall, mascular, and a martial artist; I was a sick
man from Asia. I might be worrying too much but it
feels better when I think of the proverbial turkey
in Taleb's book "The Black Swan."