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2012 Predictions: Which disasters should I believe?
photo by Madman2001 (Wikimedia Commons)
It’s TEOTWAWKI – the end of the world as we know it… do you feel fine?
Despite economic and social crises that only show signs of getting worse, intensifying environmental problems – climate change, biodiversity loss, pollution, etc. – wars, famines, a deepening democratic deficit in most of the world, the big apocalyptic prediction of 2012 which gets the most attention is of course the so-called ‘Mayan Prophecy’. This doomsday scenario is an interpretation of the Long Count calendar of the Maya, which has been calculated by some to end on December 21, 2012. Many serious Maya scholars dismiss this interpretation, however.
Still, we like a good scare, don’t we? And the more mystical and less scientific, the more we are prone to believe it. Sounds illogical, doesn’t it? Well, you can’t say that humans lack imagination.
From the Los Angeles Times:
There are real crises in the world. There’s the environmental crisis. There’s the threat of terrorism. There’s the economic crisis. There are political upheavals. And in a way, this [2012 phenomenon] is a great distraction for people. And how odd it is that real events that we might be able to do something about are having disastrous effects, and people focus their attention on an event that isn’t going to happen.
–John Hall, sociologist, University of California Davis
Bo-ring! We want ancient magic and friendly aliens to save us, we don’t want to change our materialistic consumption-based lifestyles, you nerd!
Anyway, Mexico, Guatemala and Belize are set to make some tourist dollars on La Ruta Maya, but that is probably all that will happen regarding Mayan prophecies, and honestly, I don’t think they saw that one coming.
Modern day Nostradamus Gerald Calente has a few predictions of his own. Say what you will about the guy, but he did forecast the Occupy movement 15 years ago and he is for direct democracy, so he can’t be all that bad.
Here is what Calente says about alternative energy in 2012:
Even under the cloud of Fukushima, the harnessing of nuclear power is being reinvigorated by a fuel that is significantly safer than uranium and by the introduction of small, modular, portable reactors that reduce costs and construction time. In addition, there are dozens of projects underway that explore the possibility of creating cleaner, competitively priced liquid fuels distilled from natural sources. Plan to start saying goodbye to conventional liquid fuels!
Dunno how I feel about portable nuclear reactors, but some cleaner fuels (not biofuels that harm poor, local populations or destroy rainforests) are welcome.
Read the rest of Gerald Calente’s top predictions for 2012 here.
Tags: 2012, calente, gerald, maya, mayan, predictions, prophecy
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Good point, Rach.
Since 2800 BC up to 1700 AD that apocalyptic predictions up to the present were all failed….That’s a clear indication that no one could ever predict it….Even if it happens, like the sky ,moon, stars all fall down that is already beyond our control, why not focus on the things just within our control? like stop trashing the environment…..
Of course you are right, WangKaidi. Thanks for pointing out the typo!
it’s 21 December 2012 I believe