Dream to a nightmare

How often our dreams can turn into nightmares. I watched a special on Discovery on the "Liberace of Baghdad and I was struck by the comment.. "it was a dream, and now we are living a nightmare" I wonder if this is a function of attempting to control too much with our own capabilities. This artist lives in fear, every day. he leaves his house with a weapon. We are so privileged in our world... I don't know what to say about it.