By Ixtapa Soros
Remi Watts manages to put all the 2012-end-of-the-world garbage in a good light in his article [“Of eschatological concern,” Jan. 11, 2012]. While he claims that good can come of the situation regardless of how silly the doomsayers are, one has to wonder if his strategy is likely to do more harm than good.
Consider this description of how the end times according to Watts would go: as December 21, the supposed end of the world, draws near, people increasingly begin to wonder if it’s worth paying attention to. Like some sort of bad rerun of w, many will say to themselves, “there’s no harm in preparing. Having a few litres of water and some fuel around is a good idea anyway.”
Then, although everyone will try to act with the amicability of yesteryear, they’re secretly only thinking one thing: Am I going to be able to keep this fucker out of my bunker? If Watts’s wish comes to fruition, by October everyone will begin to get rid of all their money, investing in guns, food, fuel, medical supplies and trade paperbacks instead. If you thought the American housing crash was bad, imagine what a shotgun bubble will look like.
It seems far easier to quash all talk of prophecy. Adapting the end of the world to suit our needs will just cause headaches.