We Were Warned

SUBHEAD: It looks like the apocalypse has been rescheduled for the first quarter of 2013.

By Juan Wilson on 21 December 2012 for Island Breath -
(http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2012/12/we-were-warned.html)


Image above: Los Angeles is destroyed in this poster for movie "2012". That was the flick with the subhead "We were warned." From (http://blogs.babble.com/babble-voices/take-10-jaime-morrison-curtis-jacinda-cannon-boneau/2012/09/26/its-the-top-ten-movies-about-the-end-of-the-world-and-i-feel-fine/#2012).

Okay! Okay! Move along people. Nothing to see here. No end of the world... at least a quick supernatural ending anyway. Just the slow agonizing kind brought on by too much of a bad thing - like too much industrialization, too much burning of fossil fuels and too many people. But that's boooorrrring.

That's so Yesterday
We recently posted and article by Ugo Bardi detailing the drop in online interest in both "Peak Oil" and "Climate Change" (http://islandbreath.blogspot.com/2012/12/losing-interest-in-disaster.html). The articel postulates that when people face immediate difficulties, they tend to emphasize short term solutions and have no time to worry about the ultimate reasons of what's befalling them.

I would add that when people are despondent with their current surroundings they display a fascination with celebrity, sensationalism, and fantasy - all resulting in only short term escapism. Whatever stimulates them wears off quickly.

Moreover, when one is truly cornered by a terrible event it can simply be a matter of self denial. Reaching for magic and miracles to replace reality.

The Lazy Brained
There is a lazy-brained way of seeming brainy. I noticed this first with fairly intelligent people who were not highly educated. The seemed to have a need to seem interesting and informed about some new compelling subject that was exciting.

It could involve:
  • a  conspiracy theory, a scientific oddity or supernatural manifestation. 
  • the end of the world, an alternate reality, or a religious awakening.
  • a cure for cancer, a free infinite source of energy, denial of a historic fact.
  • the Masons, extraterrestrials, or the CIA.
It could also be any combination of these things, as long nobody has heard of it before. The point is, that it should get reactions like; "Wow! "Amazing!" "That's heavy!"

Now it seems that everybody is trying to get into the amazement game. Here on Kauai we certainly have our fair share of new-agers and space-cadets. In this tropical paradise, in the twilight hours of empire, can we afford to drift away from reality to dreamland? Maybe when we are done weeding the garden.

This Just In
It looks like the apocalypse has been rescheduled for the first quarter of 2013. The inside word is we will be having a planetary coastal event as the Pacific tectonic plate cracks this spring. See you up in Kokee.

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