General Discussion

that are indeed backed up by reliable sources.

That said, I generally agree with your post. Not ALL of the scary things that are currently floating around SM are being accurately described in the scariest posts about them. We need to discern what is real, and what isn't. But we need to prepare ourselves for the stuff that is real.

It also depends on one's position in society, how scared one should be. I'd say certain non-whites have good reason to be quite scared, and if they have "proper papers" make sure they have those secured and extra copies and easy to get to. For the rest of us, rational fears probably relate to financial markets and loss of reliable access to critical goods and services. (YMMV as to which goods and services are critical.) A slightly but not crazily far-fetched concern is "what the hell is Elon Musk and his Muskrats doing with the data on OPM computers?" That one came from a reliable source (that something is happening) but, we don't know exactly what yet. I might stop worrying about that one when I am convinced it is a benign reason, but so far I haven't come up with any benign reason for what is being reported. So rationally, I should be concerned until I have more information, while avoiding being frozen with fear. (even if the most likely explanations are rationally fear-invoking, freezing in fear generally is never helpful.)