On the flip side, my relatively poor grandparents spent good money in the 1950's on hoarding stuff (clothes, shoes, radios, misc. equipment) in basement/attic spaces, in preparation for the next world war that never came. That stuff was never used, and mostly thrown away after they died, as it wasn't in good condition anymore. That money could have been much better spent; this was pretty common in the generation who grew up during WW2.

I like your use of historical examples in your post, but I think World War I (or 1913) is an iffy example.

World leaders had known conflict was possible for a long time and had been preparing for it - the build up of alliances both was an example of this and the ultimate cause of war. Conflicts in the Balkans preceded WWI by several years. If you think Trump is crazy try Wilhelm who was widely known as an egomaniac.

The shopkeepers may not have known what was coming but the world leaders certainly did. We don't have anything that could jump start a world war in the same way. In fact, it's more likely that we'd have seen conflict with Russia via Clinton than we would with Trump, and that would be our main threat of nuclear war today. As far as conventional war goes, there's nothing like pre-WWI in place with America being the clear global hegemon. Neither China nor Russia have the military to engage in anything but localized conflicts.

Right but it was still contained to a country or region. People in Mexico we not affected by World War I/II that required a bunker and ammunition.

Your point is sound but that's an incredibly bad example. Mexico was already embroiled in the Mexican Revolution by the time WWI started.

> "This armed conflict is often categorized as the most important sociopolitical event in Mexico and one of the greatest upheavals of the 20th century."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Revolution