May 22, 2008
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end of the world, 2012
You all know the world is supposed to end in 2012, right? Mayan calendar, Nostradomus, biblical countdowns over Israel becoming a nation, etc. The African Hive Queen is coming back, yada yada. And if you watch The Universe series on the History Channel, like I do, you know that all we need is a nearby supernova shooting a pulse right at us and it'll pretty much fry half the earth in seconds.
So my dad's got this all figured out. He's a huge bible and prophecy fan, and strangely misplaced in time, so talking to him is like talking to a relic of old history in itself. He has a great mind, but somehow missed all the new science while he was being a real cowboy in Gunnison, CO, and later farming and trucking the rest of his life. He's 78 now, still only gets the free channels on tv and is wondering why no one is interested in UFO's anymore. Can't convince the guy to get a satellite dish.
So he's telling me he has figured out how all this Armegeddon stuff is going to go down, and I've gotta give the guy some credit, he's pretty good for not having been exposed to much in the way of science (much less science fiction, he doesn't watch or read scifi at ALL), excepting for the tiny blurbs he gets on the very little tv he watches. He has figured out that the U.S. side of the world is going to be fried from the heavens (I told him about pulsars and supernovae after he brought this up, didn't blink an eye because he already knows because he's figured it out). All technology will be knocked out of commission, like a pulse. Thumbs up, Dad, having never heard the word 'pulse' or seen anything on tv remotely leading him to think there is such a thing as being able to knock out all electromagnetic technology. So, without the U.S. super power, and without being able to communicate or use modern military weapons and equipment, the other nations will assemble for war out of fear, going back to their large herds of horses for travel. Parts of China, Arabia, and Russia were all known for their horses. Dad thinks that's how to explain the whole Armegeddon thing, that we really can take it literally because technology will be wiped out.
I have thoughts on this, but instead of rewriting, I'm pulling this over from 2012, end of the world? - Yablo MySpace Blog
Keep your eye on this one. The world is supposed to end around 2012, right? The Mayan calendar stops at 2012, and Nostradamus hinted that there will be huge worldwide catastrophes around 2012 as our earth and sun line up with the center of our galaxy, as seen on the History Channel last week or so as we 'celebrated' the 500th anniversary of his birth. My dad believes it's all true because Jesus said This generation shall not pass away while the fig tree is in flower, or something like that, and points out that Israel became a nation in the 1940's. He says a generation is 70 years, figures it's all over on 2017, and that in 2012 the tribulation will start.Whatever.I have a sociology degree. I've watched the rise and fall of several end of the world scenarios over the decades, and I have only one thing to say about stuff like that.SELF FULFILLING PROPHECY.Saying it and believing it, especially en masse, causes panic. Panic leads to self destruction. Society breaks down over panic. Look at Wall Street.There are plenty of people out there who want this end of the world scenario to happen. They have their beliefs and faiths, or their fears, and they will become very tense and nervous as the next five years cycle through to the 'end'.I'm already giving out advice-- be on your toes, so you can duck out of the way of panic. Some people will start to buy up goods, like they did for Y2K. Some people will increase their drinking and drug use. I believe we will see more and more traffic problems, more road rage, more shootings in public places, more political and religious fervor than we have even now, and possibly more holdups at airports and other public transportation. Those who really believe that the world will end in 2012 or around there will become caught up in every little news media event, blowing it out of proportion and assigning new meaning to it. In about 5 years, I think we'll be seeing some pretty frayed nerves.The dust will settle in 2013. Perhaps there won't have been a rapture. Perhaps us lining up with the center of our galaxy won't really have changed anything. It will be a time of ~Oh~... like when that one guy buried three large propane tanks to get ready for Y2K, and then was stuck with all that propane.So you may see a few price changes in some things, you might see it impact your local grocery store shelves, you might see the cost of housing or beef go up or down. When 2020 gets here, we'll have to figure out a new way to predict the end of the world. This one has been in the making since the Mayans, and for 500 years with Nostradamus. Can only wonder if we'll discover an even more ancient secret out there. Or maybe UFO's will finally reveal themselves to be us from the future, or maybe the economy will crash so badly that the golden age of Hollywood will finally be over. Maybe the media satellites around the earth will be hit by a big solar burst and we'll all have to live with old fashioned local programming again until NASA can hang some more satellites.It is imperative that we all get chickens. We'll need to survive.