Jan 22 2007
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UFOs and “The End”
Over at Unknown Country, in a piece titled Superstorms, Aliens and the Bomb, Whitley Strieber makes intriguing comments and observations about the possible links between the current climate emergency, the escalations in world tensions, and the recent spate of UFO sightings (including O’Hare) that have occurred. Strieber offers the theory that the visitor phenomenon may have been trying to secure a record of human DNA in the event that we wipe ourselves out.
On a similar path, in emails I’ve received recently, I’m detecting more and more the view that “the end is nigh” for us and that big changes, and increased UFO sightings, are going to become the order of the day. Notably, and thankfully, none of these emails have been from rabid, religious fanatics who believe that we are all about to face the wrath of God and burn in hell, or anything like that. But an increasingly disturbing, unsettling undercurrent that things are going to go belly-up very soon and that there will be, as one emailer wrote: “intervention, change, and a new beginning.”
In an article in the current issue of UFO Magazine, titled Life in the UFO Matrix, researcher Peter Gersten also discusses end-times style issues and the connection to the UFO puzzle - which he no longer believes has extraterrestrial origins, but that he is convinced is evidence of a form of “non-human intelligence” in our midst. Commenting on our civilization and existence, Gersten says: “I think, as in TV programs, computer programs, other types of programs, there’s a beginning and there’s an end. Right? I think this particular program - I call it a cosmic computer program - is no different.”
I’m also hearing from “abductees” reporting escalating visions of nuclear disaster, environmental collapse and much more. What’s interesting about these accounts is that none of the people are connected; yet all are suddenly talking about out-of-the-blue, disturbing developments in the environmental issue that will push us down the path towards near-extinction.
Something is afoot. And I personally believe that both our world and our civilization will ultimately collapse, and it won’t be a pretty sight when it happens. But life will continue and a new cycle will begin. Is something “out there” trying to subtly warn us of the consequences if we don’t change our ways? Are “they” merely letting us know that it’s all too late for us, and time is nearly up? Are they evil souls, taunting us with nightmarish images of our inevitable future? Or will the UFO intelligence become the next ruling life form here after we’ve finished screwing it all up? Maybe it’s none of those scenarios. Maybe it’s all of them. I have no idea. Only that, as I said, something is afoot…
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January 22nd, 2007 at 9:53 am
I agree 100%. I think pretty soon (next 50-85 years) there will be major changes to the human race, And I don’t mean good ones. The fact that aliens have been telling us this doesn’t really matter. We won’t change until its too late. Alot of contacts have been saying the same thing all throughout time. “They said we are doomed unless we change our ways.” If et’s really wanted to help us, they would reveal themselves in a more obvious fashion. So until I see a ufo on the white house lawn, then I’ll get excited.
January 22nd, 2007 at 9:55 am
i don’t think this appocalypse-mania is a new thing. it comes in waves, and has since time immemorial. especially in times of crisis and uncertainty. it seems to feed an escapist need in people’s psyche, the desire to “cleanse” the flawed world we live in and start over.
not to say that aren’t real threats to the long-term existence humankind, obviously.
January 22nd, 2007 at 10:37 am
Smylex
Yep, it is a fact that we are repeatedly told by these things that we have to change - throughout the modern UFO era we have had the contactees and the abductees saying the same thing. It’s just the presentation of the message that has changed. I have a feeling that helping us isn’t their (the “aliens”) true agenda.
January 22nd, 2007 at 10:41 am
Ecks:
Yeah, these apocalyptic things do go in waves - Nostradamus and 1999, things going on right now. 2012 will be a big one too.
But I do find it intriguing that certain people reporting abduction style events are all now (albeit privately) talking about weird, apocalyptic dreams full of scenarios where something “big” will happen - not gradually, but a sudden, escalating environmental thing that will loom over us and overwhelm us.
May be all coincidence. But then, there’s no such thing as coincidences…
January 22nd, 2007 at 11:54 am
Doom and gloom - not my style. I think there’s far too much of this pre-millenarian stuff in ufology, and it’s just as bad as listening to the fundamentalist Christians go on about it (indeed, there are some striking similarities between the two - the former look to aliens, and the latter God).
Groups in every generation throughout history have believed they are the ones who are going to change everything, or that the end times are near, or… etc., etc.
I have more faith in humanity than that - a faith grounded in our ability to survive and advance for thousands of years.
As for 2012, I look forward to partying up a storm on Dec. 31, 2011 - and then saying “I told you so” the day after - just as I did on Y2K.
Paul
January 22nd, 2007 at 12:47 pm
I don’t see things getting any better for humanity, but I’m a religious whacko, so whatever.
Since we’re discussing aliens and the End o’ the World I’m surprised that the alien invasion scenario hasn’t been mentioned. Seriously that’s like the perennial favorite connection between UFOs and the apocalypse.
January 22nd, 2007 at 1:34 pm
Paul
I actually agree. My main point in the “something is going on” comment was directed to the fact that it seems what has been an undercurrent in ufology for a while (the end is coming, etc.) is building up; and it will be interesting to see where it all leads.
I also agree with you re 2012. My point in bringing it up was to demonstrate how and why this fever may be developing. So, something is happening in that respect - even if just a fear of end-times that may be ingrained in the subconscious of a lot of people.
But that doesn’t take away the fact that the world is changing - and I am not at all sure we can get out of the mess we are in.
I don’t agree that we’ll survive another 1,000 years as we are now. I differ from a lot of people in the sense that I don’t see the end of civilization meaning the end of the world or the end of the human race. And I don’t view it as doom and gloom. It’s just life changing - maybe it will be for the better, maybe not.
I tend to see that our society in its current format will not survive. People, I’m sure will continue as long as there is air to breathe and food to eat.
But will we be living in a world as “advanced” as today’s is 100 years from now? I’m not sure.
As I said in a previous post, the Egyptians went belly-up, as did the Romans, as did the Greeks, as did the British Empire. People continued to live, however, and a radically different world developed - ours.
I firmly believe that our way of life will eventually be elbowed out - whether due to planetary cataclysms, events of our own making, or something else, I don’t know.
Take the war on terror: I’m not a rabid 9-11 conspiracy theorist. But, the terrorists HAVE changed the world (for worse, of course). And so, despite the claims of our leaders that new laws have to be brought in to maintain our way of lives, the fact is that those way of lives have already changed re. surveillance, etc., as a result of people flying into buildings.
An example: me and Dana went to Mexico 2 years ago on holiday, and the stewardess on the plane made the little old lady sat opposite us take her hat off as the plane was due to depart, for “security” reasons.
She must have been 85 years old! So, although this is a minor thing, it shows how tragedies (9-11) can change certain things overnight - to where a little old lady becomes a “security” issue.
If as a result of an act of terrorism someone’s -great grandmother becomes a threat to world peace, then imagine what would happen if something along the lines of Strieber’s Global Superstorm occurred. Society would become manifestly different immediately. Technological advances might stop as the world sought to cling on to life.
So, I have no doubt that the bigger the tragedy, the bigger the change. And the bigger the planetary catastrophe, then the scale of the change is is magnified who knows how many times?
Frankly, I’m often amazed that people think we will actually survive. Why should we? Every civilization that has become sophisticated and that has come before has either collapsed or been radically changed.
The dinosaurs ruled the world for millions of years - and then they died.
It’s no big deal. We come, we go, something else comes along. That’s life.
Not to sound depressing of course!
Just my views!
January 22nd, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Nick:
Just a quick point about two things:
1. The terrorists haven’t changed things anymore than Pearl Harbour did (or any war, for that matter). Again, people always think their era is unique, but the so-called suspension of civil rights and security measures being undertaken today pale in comparison to what has happened before. It’s all a matter of understanding history, and perspective. Speaking of which…
2. Yes, empires have fallen before, and will no doubt do so again. But there has never been a complete rupture with the past. The Romans built on what the Greeks had done; the western Europeans built on what the Romans had done; the Americans have built on what the British did - and so forth. Again, a matter of perspective, and seeing history as it is, a continuum.
Now, if Mac is right, and we all turn into robots or whatever, then that’s different. That would be a quantum change in who we are, as opposed to the political or social structures in which we live.
Perhaps you, Dana, Linda and I can hang out on Dec. 31, 2011??
Paul
January 22nd, 2007 at 2:47 pm
Nick:
Your right it is the history of all life to die and be replaced by something else. Even the universe has a finite amount of “life”. When you factor in how we have been taking care of the planet we may be hastening our own demise.
Just speculating but if some catastrophe is coming, could the hybrid babies abductees report seeing not be hybrids at all, but genetically altered humans capable of surviving and repopulating the Earth?
January 22nd, 2007 at 3:07 pm
Paul
I would say the difference between Pearl Harbor and what is going on today is this.
Call me a rabid conspiracy theorist (go on!), but…anyone can see that while there is a genuine war on terror, that same war is allowing for the passing of all sorts of bills to infringe on civil liberties and it will only get worse.
Unfortunately, the post 911 world allows agencies to say that this or that has to be passed or legalized, or stopped, “because of 911″ or “because of the war on terror.”
That’s the difference as I see it: the terror card and justification for using it to clamp down on civil liberties and to snoop into our business will exist long after the terrorists have (hopefully) all been exterminated.
January 22nd, 2007 at 3:09 pm
Seein:
If hybrids are a reality, then that could be a very viable answer. Maybe this ties in with Mac Tonnies’ theories about cryptoterrestrials rather than extraterrestrials.
However, I am not so sure that what is occurring in abductions is a physical event. I suspect strongly (based on a few things I’ll be revealing later this year) that there is major deception at work in abductions and that we are seeing a false picture of what is really taking place. Cryptic, I know, but it will become clearer!
January 22nd, 2007 at 3:11 pm
Paul
I forgot your last point: yep, hang out on Dec 31 2011 sounds cool. And I predict we’ll (all) still be alive to deal with the next day’s hangover! But the people 100 years on? Hmmmm….not so sure…
January 22nd, 2007 at 7:32 pm
Nick:
They put thousands of Japanese in camps because of WWII. They used WWI to persecute socialists and communists. And on and on… the stuff we’re seeing with the War on Terror is penny ante compared to some of the things that have come before. The difference is that the current generation is either unaware of them, of has forgotten.
See you on the 31st!
Paul
January 22nd, 2007 at 8:17 pm
Whitley Strieber is a deep cover Opus Dei operative disseminating crypto-ultramontanism. fnord.
January 22nd, 2007 at 8:51 pm
We all face “doomsday” from the day we are born. No one gets out of here alive. The question seems to be if it is worse to die all together in some event of world-wide magnitude or perhaps alone in a nursing home. The End of the (your) World is Coming!
Also I keep hearing that man is destroying the “natural order”. Are men not “natural”? If so, then our works are also.
January 22nd, 2007 at 9:35 pm
Haven’t abductees been telling us about ecological and other unnamed disasters since the 1980s? The Contactees warned us about nuclear war in the 1950s.
Could it be that the collective unconscious is is rumbling around again? Perhaps these fears we have for ourselves are manifesting as messages from the extra-humans.
I for one, welcome our new extraterrestrial overlords.
January 22nd, 2007 at 9:47 pm
Paul
I don’t think the current generation has forgotten - it certainly hasn’t in the UK.
My family is from the city of Norwich, UK, which was bombed to pieces by Nazi scum in WW2, with people having to go into bomb shelters every night.
There was food rationing, curfews, and people were subject to serious punishment if they left living room/bedroom lights on at night that might aid Nazi bomber pilots in seeing the city illuminated.
So, even in the UK the situation was tough, but there was a war going on. Certainly, UK people haven’t forgotten.
Elsewhere, I don’t know.
However, the clamp-down, and new regulations, in wartime UK and the situation with the Japanese in the US post-Pearl Harbour ultimately ended. I’ll bet you any amount of money that even if the war on terror was ended tomorrow, those new guidelines put in place post-911 will still exist.
January 22nd, 2007 at 10:05 pm
Remus
Yep, you’re absolutely right: all of us face doomsday from the day we take our first breath, and I’m sure that is something that unconsciously (as Greg suggests above) may lead to messages from our “space” friends.
But regardless, in the bigger scheme of things, it will not matter in the slightest if we survive as a species or not. Humankind is a mere grain of sand time-wise when we look at how long the world has existed. The dinosaurs ruled for millions of years.
No way we’ll compete with that. The dinosaurs may not have traveled to the moon, or had computers or reality TV, or an underwear-free Britney, but they outlasted, and outplayed everything else for an amount of time that is almost boggling to imagine.
Twenty million years from now, I’ll bet no-one is taking about the great world of the 21st century. It will be a blank “Huh?” or whatever passes for language then.
I think it’s a simple as this: people get jittery re end of the world/”end-times” scenarios because it reminds them that one day they (and all of us) will die. And maybe if they see a grand design behind the end coming (such as being “saved” by the “aliens”), it makes a strange kind of sense and justification out of the cruelness of something giving us life and then just taking it away when we reach 70-plus.
There may be no grand design. It may just be that we are born, we live and then it’s “see ya” - game over. Now, that may not be the end. I happen to think that “something” happens after death - but what it is, I ain’t got a clue. And no-one else does until they find out for themselves - at all.
But if the end is all it is, it’s no big deal. Just have fun now. And when we wink out, at least we can say we had a good time in the process.
Of course, we should try and ensure that the next generation and the one after that, and the one after that (etc, etc) gets a fair chance at survival too; but I see the need for a drastic overhaul of our society for that to occur.
January 22nd, 2007 at 10:05 pm
But Nick, the West has dealt with terrorism for decades now, the British especially. It can go on for years, decades even, and it will lead to a give and take in civil liberties - it certainly did in the UK. I recall walking through Prestwick in the late 1980s and seeing soldiers with sub-machine guns, which was quite a shock at the time to someone who had never left North America. Indeed, one might say that the US has simply caught up with where Western Europe has been for a long time, to no great detriment to their democracies - and eventually many of those terrorist threats were either defeated or gave up (the IRA, for example, at least for now).
I think the War on Terror is akin to those, or perhaps the Cold War, which saw frequent swings in the civil liberties vs. security argument (remember the McCarthy witch-hunt?). We just like to think that our era is different, but it isn’t, if viewed in its proper historical context.
Paul
January 22nd, 2007 at 10:07 pm
I meant to add:
I’ll bet you any amount of money that even if the war on terror was ended tomorrow, those new guidelines put in place post-911 will still exist.
I’d take that bet in a minute. $10, my friend.
I’ll even go one further - I predict there will be a swing back towards the civil liberties side before anyone declares victory in the WoT.
But that still won’t satisfy the conspiracy-mongers.
PK
January 22nd, 2007 at 10:13 pm
Paul
Ok - $10 it is! I truthfully don’t see myself as a 911 conspiracy theorist, but I do see certain people using the WoT as a means to conveniently bring in new legislations (in addition to legitimately needed legislations) on the back of a real threat. And those same people will be loathe to let them go, even when the WoT (hopefully) is resolved.
January 22nd, 2007 at 10:26 pm
Greg wrote:
“Haven’t abductees been telling us about ecological and other unnamed disasters since the 1980s? The Contactees warned us about nuclear war in the 1950s.”
There have been similar messages given for much longer than that. From the diary of Jane Lead, 17th Century Prophet and Founder of the Philadelphia Society of that era:
January 6. 1700.
§. XXIV. About Three a Clock in the Morning, I was awaken’d with a Sound as of many Voices, harmonizing together as in one Voice; saying Arise; up to your Watch-Tower: for there is a great Day that is drawing near, for Expectation of what is ensuing upon and after the opening of the 1700th Year, which belongs to, and is to be understood by those only, that have past the First and Second Watch, and are entering upon the Third; as the Break of a new springing Morning, that shall rise brighter and lighter, till the whole Earth shall be fill’d; for many Stars out of this Orb shall rise in order hereunto; and go forth and appear to lead the way into Wisdom’s All-plenteous and Blissful Land.
As I was considering These Voices from whence they did sound, I had a sudden Glance of Light broke forth, and saw numerous Figures appearing in shining Garments of a Silver brightness, with Golden Shields on their Breasts and Vials of Golden Oil in their Hands. And in a silent inquiry of my Mind what these were? It was Answer’d, They are Holy Watchers sent down from the Heavens, to pour out the Consecrated Oil, into those Vessels that were Sanctuary proof, that so they might be enabled to hold out the Third Watch, with those of the Higher Order: who did further note to me ” That some Persons and Families that were found under this Vow of Consecration, and watchful Sequestration, their high Faith should Unite withal, and secretly Assist and Support their Hands to hold out the Probation-Hour. For it was said to me, That must of necessity be, before the Mighty Deeds and Works, that are to usher in the great Dominion of Christ’s Kingdom, can be brought forth.”
I posted some further diary entries Jane wrote to a entry at the Unexplained Mysteries forum. If anyone would like to read of Jane Leade’s experiences with hybrid presentations (heavenly chymistry), UFOs, temporary paralysis, the taking of skin samples or transports to other worlds, the post can be found at the link below (I hope):
http://www.tiny.cc/nyymc
Leades complete works online:
http://www.passtheword.org/Jane-Lead/
I will let others hash out the meaning of what Leade writes in her diary entries. I will however state unequivocally that it is -absolutely not- a byproduct “cultural influence” or too many episodes of ‘Outer Limits’.
With titles such as ‘The Sign of the Times’, The Revelation of Revelations and the fact that Philadelphia (the namesake of her society) comes from directly from the Book of Revelations, one has to wonder just who it was whispering these prophesies in Jane ear. She simply called them “the Magia”.
There is more, but this should be enough for some to chew on for now.
~Jonah
January 22nd, 2007 at 10:36 pm
Society has been undergoing desensitizing treatments since… well, maybe the early 1960s and the assassination of JFK. The steady diet of vulgarity, violence and crime at most every level has left the average Joe without much that would surprise him. If you wanted any social group to be easily led to a particular conclusion, no matter how remarkable in concept, this would be a necessary step.
There may well be a deep secret being kept from the people. It may be that we are not alone but then again, it may be that the secret is what we will be presented with to take us to the next fork in whatever road we are being groomed to follow.
I agree that human civilization looks headed for a big crash however, things have been bad before. Those years leading up to and including World War 2 saw people being killed on a biblical scale. The chance was there for global subjugation or at the very least, mass destruction. We were lucky in that we only realized the destruction.
The Cold War threatened… nay, promised to clear the planet of life with the simple press of a button. Have you ever listened to the song, “Eve of Destruction�
The difference between both of those listed instances of peril and today’s version is that our world is no longer hopeful. We have, like sheep being led to slaughter, resigned ourselves to some big death event… the ‘end times’ or ‘Armageddon’ or… whatever. I can’t help but notice that the world governments seem just too comfortable with this mind set too. There’s no effort to raise morale, no passionate pleas for unification during the crisis. In fact, most politics today appear determinedly aimed at division. That is indeed quite depressing.
Is it by design?
Maybe we are part of some dark plan to enslave mankind under a yoke of alien manufacture. Maybe the world’s nations have been given a deadline to unify or face invasion. Maybe we are being dressed to meet our bride and she has very big eyes, grey skin and her limo driver is reptilian. But then again, how many times have we had to look any further than our own race for the face of evil and deception?
One last note. I have seen UFOs and I believe the odds favor extraterrestrial life here and now. Further, there may be some hope that some day, humanity will leave the nursery of Earth and dance with them amongst the stars. But for this moment in history, I think that our worst enemy is our own global leadership and that their eyes are not set upon the heavens. If anything, they are cast in the ‘other’ direction.
January 22nd, 2007 at 11:13 pm
I think our “mere grain of sand” status is best expressed thusly.
January 22nd, 2007 at 11:26 pm
I find myself agreeing a lot with Paul Kimball on this “larger historical context” business. History moves in cycles…like the Egyptian priests at Sais told Solon in regard to Atlantis, as recorded by Plato in the “Critias”. It doesn’t move in the uniform linear manner that orthodoxy would have us believe (read some Michael Cremo or John Anthony West for some interesting revelations, not to mention Sitchin), but everybody seems to think THEIR generation is the be-all, end-all generation at the summit (or precipice) of mankind’s history on the planet. Hubris, mostly.
War isn’t new, terrorism isn’t new , genocide isn’t new , racism isn’t new, authoritarianism isn’t new, greed isn’t new, careless disregard isn’t new, insensitivity isn’t new…in fact one of the lamentations of Isaiah is, I believe, that there is “nothing new under the sun”. It is all cyclical and it all repeats itself. Only the names, faces, and specifics seem to change over time. And somehow it seems to get dealt with.
Another thing to watch, particularly with America, is what I view as the “pendulum effect”. Political and cultural thought seems to work like a clock pendulum, swinging back and forth. It swings to the right, to a point, then it reverses itself and swings back to the left. When the tolerance level for things “leftie” reaches the maximum stroke, the pendulum starts back to the right again. Right now it is headed left, after a right swing for some years.
And so it goes.
As to the 2012 thing, you can party all you want on December 31st, 2011. The day after that is NOT the “doomsday” date. The whole 2012 bugaboo ties to the Mayan Calendar and its end of an age (called a “world”). But Jan. 1st 2012 doesn’t mean anything. The “end of the age” (whatever that is intended to MEAN) is set by the Mayans as December 23rd, 2012…just before Christmas Eve and nearly a full year after your Dec. 31st, 2011 party-hearty.
There is also the factor to consider that many students of this calendar stuff don’t believe a physical destruction of the planet is what is meant by the “end of the world” phrasing. They think it means a new dawning of a spiritual age (the “Age of Aquarius” for real) where hard-core humanist materialism gets kicked to the curb. IS that what it means?
Quien sabe?
I plan to stick around and see. Might be interesting.
January 23rd, 2007 at 1:32 am
Bill:
You wrote:
Political and cultural thought seems to work like a clock pendulum, swinging back and forth.
Exactly!
People in the 1950s thought their world was the be all and end all. Then came the 1960s, and they thought they would never go back to the old, conservative America. Then came the 1980s, and now the 2000s. It will move bnack again. That’s the great thing about America - its demonstrated ability over the centuries to withstand just about any shock (including civil war and two world wars), and emerge, not just intact, but stronger. The same applies to cultural shifts to one extreme or the other, and legislative shifts, which is what Nick is talking about.
Paul
January 23rd, 2007 at 1:34 am
Nick:
And those same people will be loathe to let them go, even when the WoT (hopefully) is resolved.
A country that can get rid of Nixon without a coup or bloodshed (heck, without even having to impeach him), and which survived McCarthyism, will endure George II.
Now whether it could survive Hillary is another matter altogther. Let’s hope we never have to find out!
Paul
January 23rd, 2007 at 1:47 am
I don’t know. An ever pervasive sense of gloom has fallen over me lately and I can’t shake the looming destruction feel.
I remember Opus the penguin asking the world. “Why have we gone to the wide shot?” right before a chunk of space shuttle landed on him.
Every spiritual group is forcasting some kind of immenent doomsday scenario whether it be christians, contactees or moslems. Even the buddhists don’t seem to be their usual cheerful selves.
But the most stinging sense of dread is that I might fail my endocrinology quiz tomorrow. So on that note I’m going to bed and if the world comes crashing to an end I guess well call it a snow day and I can stay in bed instead of going to lab.
But just to spin you guys up here is a bible verse from one of Jesus sermons that was directed at this conversation specifically.
2Pe 3:3-4
“Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts, And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as [they were] from the beginning of the creation.”
Good night!
Jess
January 23rd, 2007 at 6:55 am
Jess wrote: “But the most stinging sense of dread is that I might fail my endocrinology quiz tomorrow.”
Jess — I think, with all of the real and xenoestrogens floating around the planet, we’re all in danger of failing endocrinology and reproduction 101. That’s one of the big differences between the “End” times we’re in and times past: the tons of chemicals we dump annually are making it impossible for healthy sexual reproduction to happen — and that’s in all species, not just humans. It’s certainly troublesome to contemplate how ubiquitous these chemicals are. We don’t need aliens or earth changes to wipe us out — we’re doing a good job of setting time bombs that will do the extermination.
January 23rd, 2007 at 7:17 am
One of the more positive things to come out of the twentieth century was the vast improvement in humankind’s ability to research its own history and to comprehend the world around it. This has enabled us to examine previous civilisations and consider the factors that destroyed them.
Unfortunately our ability to change the direction of our own society is restricted by the old attitudes that gave rise to the Industrial Revolution and colonialism, i.e. grab big chunks of undeveloped land and process them into consumer goods, no matter what the cost in terms of pollution or resource warfare.
Though it’s fair to make comparisons with the end of the Romans and other empires, I think the situation today is much different. It’s obvious that while social problems can gradually kill civilisations, they vanish very quickly in the face of environmental catastrophes: the Mayans, Anasazi and Greenland Vikings perished with climatic changes, despite being fairly advanced and adaptable for their time.
Furthermore, science has shown there is a cyclical pattern to events like mass extinctions and ice ages. There was a notable mass extinction of land mammals just 10,000 years ago which curiously coincided with the rise of the first civilisations. The fact that many apocalyptic myths allude to cyclical ends of the world demonstrates that at some point in the past this fact must’ve been known (or guessed at).
If one is in a position to join up modern climatology and paleontology with ancient myths (rather as Velikovsky did with astronomy and myth) it becomes patently clear that warnings about the “end of the world” aren’t groundless. And it’s much bigger than the collapse of a system of government.
January 23rd, 2007 at 7:28 am
I doubt I could survive High-Handed Hillary either. From all the amazing questionable stuff she got away with while in the White House, often with regards not-her-right-to-do staff firings to records that would mysteriously “vanish” and then miraculously “re-appear” later….not to mention having a college idol and mentor dubbed “Tommy the Commie”…I have this “rising hackles” feeling you’re looking at an agenda-driven, “entitled” egomaniac on a power trip when you look behind that fakey, affected smile of hers. Bush can be bad…and a complete nincompoop at times…but there seems at least a moral center there that tries to stay a course (even if not always the best course). With Eva Peron Jr. you gotta wonder!!!!!
I do think, though, that we definitely do NOT need to count on “our alien friends”(dolphin or otherwise)”saving” us from ourselves anytime soon. Whatever their agenda may be, I tend to think it more neutral towards humanity, if not outright negative and manipulative.
So we have to soldier on…on our own.
My feelings on “end times” swing back and forth, from anxious to hopeful. A lot of this comes from uncertainty, I know, and from the knowledge that change is on the horizon. Human beings are rut creatures. We like our ruts. they keep us comfortable emotionally and psychologically. If you want to find out about rut-comfort, get yourself a copy of “The Ordeal of Change” by Eric Hoffer (philosopher-author of “The True Believer”)and read it through. It has some incisive observations to make.
January 23rd, 2007 at 11:52 am
I think I will wait to party until Dec. 31st 2012 - never know if year 0 was included.
The BEST news on this whole end of world front is that the REAL population of the world is expected to begin dropping — yes dropping from the declining birthrates — to the tune that we may only have 2 billion here in 2250.
January 23rd, 2007 at 2:39 pm
Part of the source of widespread unease is technology-engendered. We used to live in a world that was spread out and geographically compartmentalized. People got news (and ideas) of other places, but it wasn’t virtually instantaneous and you therefore had some time to psychologically assimilate it.
Now you are bombarded and assailed with a superabundance of information…some of it factual, some of it conjectural, some of it misinformed, some of it disinformed, and some of it just plain nutso…and it comes at you all the time, and from every direction. Keeps you intellectually off balance. The internet and the blogosphere is part OF it. Before, there might have been some group of guys who knocked back some brewskis in Philadelphia and had a notion among themselves that Vince McMahon was really a lizard space alien who wanted to rot everyone’s mind with the WWE. In days gone by this notion would likely have STAYED in their bar or in their neighborhood and not gone much further than six blocks. They’d be local kooks and their kookiness wouldn’t spread very far. Be today they can become bloggers and spread their ideas all over the world.It can’t be contained. Its always “comin’ at ya”. Its from the right, from the left, from the world-enders, from the terrorists-are-heroes whack jobs, and on and on.
When Eric Hoffer (mentioned earlier) wrote “The Ordeal of Change”, he was writing in a world that was still “old school”: pre-massive media barrages and the internet. And if he thought change was an ordeal THEN for people, he should see it NOW!
We stagger around under informational overload, point-of-view overload, agenda-propaganda overland , sensationalism overload, conspiracy-theory overload….and it GETS to you.
It can’t NOT get to you. After a while it becomes morale depressing. Its a wonder we aren’t all suffering from clinical depression and, then again, maybe we ARE!!! And maybe that’s the root of all the gloom-’n-doom “Whoa is me, the end is near” negativism.
Maybe we need to go hit Walden Pond or somewhere similar for a week or so AND LEAVE THE DAMN CELL PHONES AND LAPTOPS AT HOME!!!!!! (Or are we now way too addicted to pull it off?)
January 23rd, 2007 at 4:10 pm
[...] UFO Mystic - Something is afoot. And I personally believe that both our world and our civilization will ultimately collapse, and it won’t be a pretty sight when it happens….link Posted in UFOs | [...]
January 23rd, 2007 at 7:44 pm
mrsgoat,
Well while I agree that environmental exposure to chemicals is less than desirable I would have to say that it is not quite as dangerous as all that. After all, teratogens that affect human and animal development generally have to be ingested. Mutations and poor health effects from environmental poisoning are generally rare when good pre-natal care is practiced. I don’t know about you but my cells seem to be phasing through mitosis just fine I would say that just about every baby I have seen born, came into the world with everything in the right place. (Thank God) If there is any concern to me it would be the existence of environmental estrogens in products like saran wrap and the recombinant bovine growth hormone found in milk products. This to me is more alarming because it alters development beyond reproduction.
Jess
January 23rd, 2007 at 9:04 pm
Paul, et al,
When you mock 2012 please make sure you at least have the correct data. December 31, 2011 is nothing. The date you should refer to is December 23, 2012. This is when the calendar starts a new cycle. :/ For Y2K, there would have been major issues had they not fixed a lot of the problems before the actual date.
January 23rd, 2007 at 10:55 pm
AND LEAVE THE DAMN CELL PHONES AND LAPTOPS AT HOME!!!!!!
I couldn’t agree more, which is why I’ve never had a cell phone, despite working in an industry where it’s almost impossible to not have one.
I’ve walked around Walden Pond a few years ago, and I remain determined to keep a little piece of it and what Thoreau was getting at close to my heart in this ever-changing world.
PK
January 24th, 2007 at 3:33 am
[Ooh, Nick - you won't have anything to do with cellphones, either? Truly, you're my hero!]
Nick, Paul Kimball and others rightly point to recurring trends throughout history, but there IS one aspect of these trends they’ve possibly forgotten about - sheer SCALE.
All previous phases of these trends were accompanied by continuous escalations in technological weaponry capacity, escalations which required corresponding hikes in costs to develop them, hence it was the US who eventually built the first A-bomb.
In the case of the A-bomb, in particular, this not only meant access to them was restricted on a financial basis, but use of them was similarly prohibitive, requiring as they did a huge industrial/socio-political infrastructure to manufacture, maintain and mobilise them.
And that’s the difference between Pearl Harbour and 911: Pearl Harbour required all of Japan’s formidable industrial/socio-political will and effort to bring it about, whereas 911 only required a handful of extremely driven men.
In the present, though, the scale of requirements has instantly gone into reverse, back, in effect, to the starting position of the previously mentioned developmental cycle, so that it’s now increasingly conceivable small highly motivated groups, possibly even solitary individuals, could be trying to develop doomsday type computer viruses capable of wiping every piece of data we have out, or even to use them to seize control of the world’s nuclear arsenals.
And, if anything, it’s now even more conceivable such groups and individuals could be brewing up equivalent genetic based horrors even as we speak.
January 25th, 2007 at 8:23 pm
Hey Nick,
You might want to check the link to
Unknown Country in your post. Not sure it goes where you want it to…
~J