That will take some explaining. As the US goes, so goes the world.
How do you see the United States popular attitude now vs.
1935
1945
1965
1975
1985
1995
2005
2014*
???????????????????????????
*= Barry the Great Regime
If you want to talk about truly catastrophic times, I'll offer something like The Black Death, which wiped out 1-2 million people across the planet, over some crazy idiots currently in the Middle East.