for lack of a Cause

I've mused on and off that the current generation - "my generation" - needs a Cause. Something to focus on and rally to (or against). Something to shake us out of our complacency that nothing in the world can threaten us. Something to snap us out of our obsession with entitlement and having someone else solve problems for us.
I've pondered now and again about the possibility of nuclear threat... with all the consternation about "weapons of mass destruction" (which, I've noticed, has been shoved to the background in the last several years, and now seems to only come up as a way to mock politicians), what would it take to have another "cold war" situation? Does even that have the power to make people wake up and realize they're NOT invulnerable anymore?
I've seen a high school class contemplate the reality of nuclear destruction, in the flow of a course on science fiction literature, and saw a few wake up. I saw many dismiss it as mere science fiction, never mind that this was the very real fear that their parents grew up with. I must admit that I tend to dismiss it as "not a threat at this point" --because the only threats right now are to BUILD those weapons, not to aim them at us!
Another aspect to that lack of concern is the idea that "well, if they send them after us, we're dead." There is no longer any attempt to find a way to defend against the Bomb. Shelters have been abandoned, re-purposed, or simply ignored. I'm fairly confident that if I were to ask someone here in Santa Rosa if they knew where a bomb shelter was, they'd look at me like an alien. I knew of no shelters back in the Breckenridge area. I only knew about the shelter in Calumet because it was in the school - and we used to tell whispered tales to each other, trying to justify that ominous sign that nobody talked about. I doubt it's stocked anymore, except perhaps as a tornado shelter or something of the sort.
I might have thought that 9/11 would inspire people to realize that our nation is not invulnerable; even if we know those shelters won't guard against nuclear attack, they are still certainly strong enough to protect against "ordinary" bombs that still do destroy people and property. Instead, our culture of fear cried out "how will you protect us?" instead of "how can we protect ourselves?"
Even knowing that I'm a product of a lazy culture, I still get upset at the lack of focus I see around me. Maybe that's why I read so much science fiction: I need to remind myself that threats are still out there - and that, just maybe, I may someday have to think myself out of a situation that carelessness and a feeling of superiority caused.