"A Clear and Present Danger"

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It probably does, not least by those members of the public who, in an understandable reaction to Sept. 11, are loading up on antibiotics and salves. That mood may not last. In the 1950s and '60s, the Federal Civil Defense Administration--remember duck and cover?--distributed 400 million pieces of literature to Americans. But civil defense never really caught on. By 1963, only 1 person in 50 had access to even a rudimentary shelter.

The great difference, of course, is visible in lower Manhattan; Moscow never did drop the Big One. But one day, after they've scoured the Web for a gas mask, and told one another that they're quite comfortable with the idea that airports need to look like armed camps, Americans might heed Daniel Seidemann's wise words. Seidemann is an Israeli lawyer, and hence a man for whom homeland security is an existential matter. "Society needs a balance between Athens and Sparta," he says. "If you're Athens, there's no security. If you're Sparta, you have security, but nobody wants to live there. You're talking about a balance between things that are inherently flawed." As America defends against terror, may it find a balance it can live with.