The immediacy of a threat is directly proportional to the willingness and resources allocated to tackle it. 40 years ago, no politician was willing to bank thei

The immediacy of a threat is directly proportional to the willingness and resources allocated to tackle it. 40 years ago, no politician was willing to bank their mandate on starting to tackle a problem that was (mistakenly) thought to be a century in the future. This is starting to change. Take COVID. Every government knew it could happen, and the damages to the economy (i.e. cost) it could have, yet none of the countries in the West did anything to prepare for it, and had to foot a much bigger bill in the end than say Taiwan or Japan. Again, because the threat was elusive and didn't feel immediate.