Near-Future Fears...

Near-Future Fears..., originally uploaded by Stephen10031.

Why does mass culture in America revolve around fears of an apocalyptic near-future (see above) or regurgitated mindless fantasy nonsense (see below)? If anyone can point me towards any books on the topic, I'd be grateful.

Above, take note of the devastated Brooklyn Bridge, an image disseminated throughout the five boroughs right now, as this new Will Smith movie is being plugged. At the same time, the Brooklyn Bridge appears endlessly in real estate plugs for DUMBO and surrounding areas, desirable places to live. It seems to me that America's popular imagination, insofar as pop culture and the mass media informs us of a people's opinion of itself, is deeply uneasy with itself, its successes, its center-piece setting on the planet. It says, almost: "$200/square foot, ringside seat for Armageddon."

Why?

Update: It seems not just Americans are uneasy about the future. End-times cults are popular in Russia these days as well.