I had to look up the plural of apocalypse. On Google one commentator questioned the need for the plural form. If apocalypse is defined as the end of the world, how could you have several ends of the world? Obviously this commentator has not been watching the news.
History is littered with doomsdays that have come and gone. The end of civilization seems to hold a morbid fascination for people, through a combination of grim excitement over how the end might come, and more individual thoughts of our own extinction. We have even developed an end-of-the-world industrial complex, selling everything from tin cans and water purifiers to bunkers and mountaintop properties. We also need to count the mass media as part of this industrial complex. Watching the trailers for up coming movies, most are concerned with a post apocalyptic world. Then there are all of the reporters that managed to get junkets to Guatemala to cover the Mayan end of the world.
Apparently this fascination is nothing new. Here are some of my favorites from the last few years:
- Population Bomb
- Nuclear Winter
- World War III
- Ozone layer
- Acid Rain
- Swine and Bird flu
- Ebola plague
- Mayan apocalypse
- Large asteroids
- The end of the oil supply
- Y2K computer bug
- Large Hadron Collider (creating a black hole)
Wikipedia has a list of end-of-the-world predictions http://bit.ly/ZPnzOQ
Don’t worry we still global warming or the second coming of Christ which ever happens first.
But why do we have this the fascination? Considering other times in the history of the world, we seem to be living in good times. For individuals times might be tough but for most of us most of the time, life can be quite good. We still have to continent with the Mack Truck principle (or Peterbilt if you prefer). At any given time any one of us could get run over by a Mack Truck. Therefore, I am going live to day as if it is my last but plan on living for quite some time. To paraphrase the great line from Shawshank Redemption: I am going to get busy living and not worry about dying in one of the many predicted apocalypses.
About the Author: Ken Strongman (www.kpstrongman.com) has years of experience and a growing national reputation as a mediator and arbitrator. He has successfully resolved more than a thousand disputes in the fields of construction defects, real estate, intellectual property, and employment. He is also a Mediator and Arbitrator for FINRA.
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