Is The End Of The World Nigh?

It's that time again, the end of the world is nigh and this year of 2012 is a biggie, with all the soothsayers putting their faith in the Mayan calendar which ends on the 21 December of this momentous year. A year, depending on which cult you believe, that will either bring about a positive physical or spiritual transformation (Might we actually evolve?) or it will see the end of mankind, or at least the beginning of the end of mankind.

To most intelligent humans, the Mayan calendar is out by a few years - 11 to be exact - the beginning began when the American people voted into one of the most powerful positions in the world - a chimp - going by the elaborate moniker- George W Bush.

But we can't just blame one man, or even a few, and trotting out the list of big corporations raping earth's resources for a quick buck isn't going to work either. Who are these faceless people playing the global economy, putting profit before common sense, creating an ever complicated bureaucracy, even deciding in a round-about way who lives or dies? They are us, the people, the highest yet dumbest form of life on earth.

It's very easy to blame the banks when we suffer recession, blame your government for an unwanted war, blame the food producers and the supermarkets for the chemically fortified and plastic-wrapped food - as you jog down to the bottle bank nibbling on an organic croissant - smugly thinking that you're doing your bit when your not really, you're just delaying, by the tiniest fraction, the human race's greedy dash towards ignorant self-extinction.

You, with your big car, big house, trinkets, gadgets, cupboards bulging with useless junk. And so what if your car is electric, or your house energy efficient and your products stamped with a green planet. You still consume, produce and expel more of the earth's resources than your third-world neighbours. They know the true value and effort of recycling, their food comes in 25kg grain sacks and their trinkets hold more value because they were carved and made with their own hands.

The western world is crying recession while they continue to gorge themselves till the end of the world. 'Yes, but we do our bit for charity. We are moved to donate money and time to help out those less well off than ourselves.' I know you do. And that's the problem. You pity the people in the third world countries, and the media do a good job in tugging our purse-strings, making us feel good inside - 'I've done by bit. Well done me.' But instead of pitying them, you should learn from them, because if the end of the world is indeed nigh, the western world is very ill-equipped to deal with it.

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