Discuss the universality of the particular challenges the Bragg party faces. In what ways do their experiences suggest ideas pertinent to your own life?

The Bragg party faces the dissolution of government and having to face mass hysteria due to war and lack of safety. This very scenario is acted out in third world countries every day, although never to this extent in the United States. Taking place during the Cold War, this novel is an apt description of what caould have been if our country weren't the great democracy it is. The ideas it presents are similar to the acts we might resort to if our security were breached and our country threatened.

We also see 'demands' of government that could be directly compared to recent events. 9/11 put everyone on notice, the failure of our banks directly affected the use of citizen tax dollars handed over to bail them out. As government takes a stronger stance and makes more demands of its people, we could see a demand to 'cash bonds,' and the ensuing response of the people as to the 'why.'

"Edgar hesitated. To refuse to cash government savings bonds was fiduciary sacrilege so awful that the possibility never before had entered his head. Yet here he was, faced with it. 'No,' he decided, 'we don't cash any bonds. Tell those individuals that we won't cash any bonds until we find out where the government stands, or if.'" Pat Frank, Alas, Babylon, Ch. 5