Imercenary, you have a point except for one thing... This story line doesn't have whole world at war in it, merely the world-wide mass death of an age group on the order of about 99.999%, which is far worse than that of WWI or WWII. It also involves the death of both men AND women on that huge scale, so whereas in both world wars, there were still plenty of women available to build the population back up, in this case, those women wouldn't be there. Plus, In both of those wars, most governments of the world didn't have the massive social welfare system in place that exists today and that today's populations have come to depend on and feel entitled to, even though it is not a sustainable system in the long run, as many European countries have or are coming to realize and even now threatens to destroy the USA economically.
And I am not saying that future birthrates would not return in huge numbers, I am merely suggesting that the short term loss of almost an entire age group of this size would have drastic economic effects that could easily topple governments and/or lead to massive world-wide rioting. This could lead to more totalitarian governments springing up as those in power would be forced to use their military to quell these riots with the increasing use of deadly force against their own citizens. After all, it is a historical fact that those in power NEVER give that power up easily!! Look at what's happening in countries like Egypt and Syria today or the MILLIONS of people that Mao Tse Tung in China or Stalin in the USSR killed to maintain their own power.
Edited by PervySageChuck, 29 August 2013 - 09:20 PM.