> It's irrelevant whether the mechanism of action is direct or indirect. If you take that view, then practically everything is an "existential threat". Wars h

> It's irrelevant whether the mechanism of action is direct or indirect. If you take that view, then practically everything is an "existential threat". Wars have been triggered by soccer games... As for whether "existential threat" means "human extinction" - well what else would "existential" refer to other than human existence? Again, if you broaden this, then practically anything could be an "existential threat" - to democracy, say. And it's pretty clear that the people screaming "existential threat" intend for people to take it as meaning human existinction - the naive people at least.