The Approaching Apocalypse Theory

This might be a little half-baked, so bear with me.

I was on the train today, reading "Wastelands," a collection of short stories about life after the apocalypse. I've been reading it for a while now.

And as I was reading, a thought occurred to me. If the government knew that something was coming, something big and unavoidable, something that maybe only a select few might be able to escape due to vast economic resources, only to live a miserable existence after survival, there's no way they'd tell the public. Think about it: You have a massive social organism. To warn it of its impending demise would most likely invoke chaos, or at the very least confusion and a lack of willingness to go about daily life.

To tell the world, for instance, that an asteroid is coming and when it hits Earth, everyone will die, would accomplish absolutely nothing. No, it would be much wiser to simply let everyone go about their daily lives, as if nothing were wrong. Yes, there would be a few moments of gripping panic as the asteroid loomed in the sky, blotting out the sun, but what's a minute or two of confused panic as opposed to a year of stocking up on church visits and going slowly insane?

In My Opinion, it's best if the scientists keep their mouths shut and let me live out my miserable existence in blissful ignorance. No?