One more comment:
Suppose there IS no Avian Flu pandemic. Suppose the world dodges the bullet this year, in time for an effective vaccine to be developed and everyone vaccinated...(Suppose pigs fly...)
What have you wasted? What have you lost, through preparation? Nothing...if you get the ordinary flu, well, you already have Tamiflu or whatever. If you get laid off, you have enough toilet paper, food and water to get you through the next month or so with minimal shopping. If gasoline gets expensive, you have a bunch of stuff you don't need to buy, you can pay for your gas.
Preparation ALWAYS makes sense.
Preparation means you don't have to worry. Preparation is the antithesis of panic. If you don't have car insurance, that's when you'll have an accident, if you do, you won't. Isn't that the way it always is?
Bingo - and the auto insurance analogy is perfect and one everyone can understand.
What I did for Y2K even though I knew that imbedded processors would not be affected anyway. :-)