2012 : Prophecy or Palaver?

Am I the only one who is sick of doomsday prophecies and the incredible panic surrounding the year 2012? I mean really - 3 years to the end of the world? I'm reasonably certain I have heard all of this garbage before. Can you say "Y - 2 -K?"

All of the concern surrounding the change of the millennium generated world-wide panic and was mostly generated by computer manufacturers and the media. Well, all I can say is, "Here we go again." So what is the big deal about the year 2012? In case you haven't heard ...

According to the ancient Mayan Long Count Calendar, the 2012 Solstice occurs on December 21st, at precisely 11:11 a.m. universal time, marking the completion of the 5,125 year Great Cycle. Translation - one particular Mayan calendar ends in 2012 so some nerd with nothing better to do decided to interpret that as meaning "the end of the world is nigh."

Actually, I saw that phrase several years ago on a sandwich sign carried by a rather ragged looking fellow selling used Bibles on a street corner in Los Angeles. Believe what you will but, given the history of such gloomy drivel, you might not want to empty your 401K, quit your job or stop paying the mortgage just yet.

Back in 1999, when the world was on the edge of its proverbial seat waiting to ring in the end of civilization with the new millennium, I was a weekly technology columnist for several regional newspapers. Early that year, I wrote an article in which I stuck my professional neck out to say the Y2K scare was all hot air.

Yes, there were computer programs that needed to be upgraded but other than miscalculating the interest accrued on your savings account little else was going to come of it. I never doubted for a moment that I was right, and I was. In fact, the impending disaster finally turned out to be media propaganda and exaggeration exacerbated, as usual, by the Hollywood doomsayers looking to cash in on fear and naivety.

The 2012 cataclysmic prediction is practically rebutted by the Mayans themselves simply because more than one calendar was created over the centuries, several of which measured only 52 years. Each period of time identified by those calendars has come and gone and we're still here - and we're still gullible and we have the ticket stubs to prove it.

Last weekend, Roland Emmerich's computer-generated disaster flick, "2012," raked in more than $225 million at the box office worldwide. I hope that people went to see it because they enjoy a good disaster movie, not because they thought they were getting a look ahead.

You can't be too sure, since Emmerich is same guy that gave us the preachy, environmentalist movie, "The Day After Tomorrow." The left-wing soap boxing in this film blamed a global climate disaster on everything from cow flatulence to toothpaste and, despite a talented cast, totally failed to reveal a plot. Instead, the film spent nearly two hours shaking its figurative finger at the audience for driving cars and blow-drying their hair.

Emmerich seems to want to be this generation's Irwin Allen, the king of the disaster flick. Dream on Mr. Emmerich. Allen never had to make the audience feel guilty for causing the calamity in the story. Of course Hollywood vultures aren't the only ones looking to cash in on the 2012 hoax.

Religious predators wouldn't miss this chance to profit from those looking for reassurance on the eve of Judgment Day. Unscrupulous, hypocritical religious leaders prey on the faithful, raking in tithes and insulting honest, legitimate clergy. These vermin don't care who they hurt so long as they make more money to pay for a new limo or a mistress's apartment.

The point is that if a doomsday is inevitable, we probably won't be the cause of it and it's doubtful that we'll be around to see it. Earth was here long before man and it'll be here long after he's gone. The human experience is just one scene, in one act, of one play performed on the world's stage. True, the curtain will indeed fall someday but we won't be able to buy our way out of it with a credit card.

Gery L. Deer is an independent journalist based in Jamestown. More at www.gerydeer.com