In ways, yes. People are horribly complacent. As long as they have their credit cards, the newest model of SUV and a new plasma TV, air conditioning and all, all they worry about is when soccer practice for their kids is, and the social and celebrity-gossip scene. Tens of millions, if not more, exactly fit that model.
They only "wake up" when something truly bad happens, such as a Katrina, when the police can't come and the government can't help. But by then, it's too late. They lack the mindset and supplies, even the psyche to band together in self-sufficient groups of neighbors as people once did.
If there's ever a nationwide or even larger-scale disaster, where people would have once clustered in self-sufficient groups with the wherewithal to improvise and be reasonably comfortable, we'll instead have people who are utterly helpless when their power is out and the plasma TV doesn't work, who can't function without air conditioning, who won't be able to move if their ironically delicate but topheavy SUV can't drive down a clear road, and who will, unfortunately, by and large, fail to survive.
As for political dangers, they ignore those as well, and are more than willing to give up freedom for a false sense of security. That, perhaps, is the most frightening of all, because in doing so, they enable the government to REMOVE the tools of self-sufficiency and survival (such as firearms) from those who are still of the stronger, more self-reliant mindset. By their complacency, they enable the forced helplessness of those who were not complacent.
