Do you feel a world-wide cataclysmic event is imminent?

[Skip Intro]

By imminent, I mean in your lifetime, perhaps, or that of your children. And by cataclysmic event, I mean the upheaval of civilization, perhaps the end of our species.

I don't care if its Peak Oil, or bush's WW3, or an asteroid or Armageddon or some super-bacterial plague or overpopulation or dwindling resources or economic meltdown or global warming matured. Nostradamus has been interpreted as having some world-wide chaos event around 2012. The Mayan calendar ends that year also. Don't forget "The Bible Codes" and the end times authors and tv celebs.

I guess signs are everywhere, if you buy the premise. But I also guess that argument could have been made at any point in our existence.

So what I'm really asking is, what does your gut tell you on this, if anything. Are we quickly approaching "the end?"

[DrWeird]

1. I hope it's rapture.

Then we'd have lots more room.

[Skip Intro]

2. Maybe I can finally get a house!

:D

[MidwestMomma]

53. And think of all those really nice cars they drive!

:D

[foreigncorrespondent]

4. ROFL!

I was thinking that as well.

Hey can we all have equal rights once the idiots are gone? And will you guys accept me in your country?

[sendero]

23. Yeah...

.... how about "in case of rapture can I have your car?" :)

[alittlelark]

49. But there are only 35-60 mill of them

not that much more room.....

[Andy_Stephenson]

54. Hell that is just in the deep south

add in the rest and there will be at leat 60-75 mil.

[rwheeler31]

3. No

We live we love life and we will survive.

[foreigncorrespondent]

7. Yes WE do, but...

...a lot of repukes and xian fundies don't!

[sadiesworld]

5. Well, with * in office...

one can't be too pessimistic.

[seabeyond]

6. not an end of the world kinda gal

but..............

i dont have to have a car, my husband knows how to hunt and find food.........adn well hey, find some water and we are set. really happy i married the man i did, bet he could build us a wood shack too, lol.

and new mexico mountains arent that far.

[Skip Intro]

12. Ya know, the thought of a nice cave and an abundance of canned goods

have seemed like a plan to me more than once in the last few years.

[Indiana_Dem]

8. Yeah, I've felt that way since I was little only I thought

it would be when I was around 35 but I'm now pushing 40 so i don't know. But i know I've felt this way since I was around 5 or 6. I don't know why.

[Lorien]

51. Me too

and we're about the same age. Yes, I do think some very bad is coming, and soon. :-(

[blackcat77]

9. If you want to look at it in a religious sense...

...we are ALL approaching the end. Our OWN end which is absolutely inevitable and certainly coming soon.

So I don't worry about asteroids or earthquakes or any of that stuff. Stuff like that makes a good story on a slow news day and of course, good Hollywood as well. But life on earth has been around for millions and millions of years and I don't see it ending anytime soon.

[Ladyhawk]

48. Life will continue, but will human life continue?

[AndyP]

10. I can see this happening

It's not like we don't have the ability to wipe ourselves out. :nuke: :nuke: :nuke: :nuke:

[Jawja]

11. Yes, I can feel it coming...

the big LOUD THUD when George W. Bush is blown out of office in November after the American People make their disgust known to the world....

[leftofthedial]

13. yes

but I just took some Maalox and that may save us.


Nonstop mass media fear mongering, a surfeit of religious idiots, conmen in power, and a frighteningly ignorant populace make for amazingly gullible times.

[LifeDuringWartime]

14. yes, the calendar does end

but its not meant to signify an armageddon-type event. more of a new beginning, if you will. people far too frequently refer to this as doomsday.

[Codeblue]

44. No Sir

The Mayan calendar ends in 2012 and their texts point out that this is when the world will end. The amazing thing is, they predicted that man's creations would turn against us and plunge us into an apocalypse. Pretty good prediction for people that had not even the simplest of mechanical devices.

[dubae524]

73. extinction

I don't think the world was expected by them to end in 2012, but rather it was expected that the world would enter a new era.

Besides, I think natural disasters would only drastically cut down on the number of humans on earth at most. We're pretty adaptable. After all, it may have not been a single asteroid after all that wiped out the dinosaurs:

http://www.cnn.com/2004/TECH/science/03/02/coolsc.dinosaurs.extinction/index.html

[LeahMira]

78. The Mayans aren't alone...

The Mayan calendar ends in 2012 and their texts point out that this is when the world will end. The
amazing thing is, they predicted that man's creations would turn against us and plunge us into an
apocalypse. Pretty good prediction for people that had not even the simplest of mechanical devices.

The Mayans are not the only group that have predicted something happening around this time. But my understanding is that changes will come that will radically alter the way things are now. I tend to believe that people who are alert to their surroundings will know when and what to do... maybe by watching what the animals are doing?

[Codeblue]

91. Well I really don't know

Nor do I really care when the world will end or life as we know it will change completely. I just go with the flow. Whatever happens, happens I say. I think people that freak out about the end of the world will be the ones who suffer the most. Or people who have to have everything planned out ahead of time instead of just taking things as they come.

[demnan]

15. No I don't

but I think some of the religious fundies would have you think that because they want people to live in fear. If you live in fear, you can't think.

We survived the Cold War and we survived 9/11. We will survive Bush.

[Lorien]

52. 9/11 was nothing

compared to the environmental catastrophe that even the Pentagon believes may be right around the corner (my Geologist friends in Antarctica agree).

[kalian]

16. Yes...its called Peak Oil....

[Melsky]

17. What is peak oil?

What is the catastrophe associated with it? I've heard this term a lot but never knew what it meant.
Thanks

[kalian]

21. Some links....

Best one:
http://www.lifeaftertheoilcrash.net/

Very important one to read:
http://www.npg.org/specialreports/bartlett_section1.htm

Some others...
http://www.peakoil.net/

http://www.gulland.ca/depletion/depletion.htm

http://www.oildepletion.org/roger/index.htm

I would recommend that you do your own research and come up with
your own conclusions. Its a VERY real issue and one that we WILL
be seeing and experiencing in our lifetimes....like within the
next couple of years. We're currently in "phase one"...

[bpilgrim]

25. it's when the production of oil reaches it's maximum

and forever begins to drop as demand rises

our way of life is dependant on oil... CHEAP oil.

the whole way down will be painful for everyone and it's likely to trigger MAJOR WARS even another WORLD WAR especially if we continue our present course.

more...
http://www.globalfreepress.com/article.pl?sid=04/02/20/0450215

google peak oil you'll get plenty of info.

:hi:

peace

[Ready4Change]

33. Basically Peak Oil says...

At some point oil is going to get less plentiful, and demand for that oil will continue to rise quickly. The result is that oil gets Much more expensive very quickly, and there is no way to counteract the rise in it's cost. That rise will continue until the oil is gone, probably within a few decades of the Peak Oil moment.

The "Peak Oil" disaster comes from the idea that our civilization has become so addicted to cheap oil that it can't survive without it. Also, that civilization is so short sighted that it won't take the steps needed to even lessen the worst of the effects of the coming crisis.

The severity of the crises effects vary on who you talk to. Some think it will be a mild depression. Others think it will precipitate the deaths of billions, as well as trigger a vast World War over the remaining oil supplies. Some dispute whether oil can even run out in the first place.

I lean towards the death of billions stance, and want us to put full resources into developing alternate energy technologies.

That's my .02 on it.

[Ready4Change]

18. One of your examples. Peak Oil.

I'm not sold that we're into it right now, even if gas prices pop above $3 this summer. But I'm sure we'll see undeniable effects start within 20 years, more likely within 10. And since I have no faith that our civilization can be forward enought acting to prepare alternatives in time, I'm sure that loss of cheap oil is going to cause major problems. Worse problems than the depression.

[Minstrel Boy]

19. I don't fear a single, cataclysmic event, but

I feel like a lobster in a pot, saying "Is it me, or is it getting hot in here?"

There is a convergence of crises - rapid climate change and peak oil but two - which is being met by a manic fascism which threaten to return humanity to a feudal, pre-industrial state in the lifetimes of many of us. But more likely, given the proclivities of our species, we'll virtually eradicate ourselves first in desperate resource wars.

The earth will try again, though without oil, another industrial age is unlikely. Though, perhaps, in several hundred million years, we'll be the oil for creatures which we can't imagine.

[Indiana_Dem]

28. Creative thinking! That sounds plausable.

[Cleita]

20. No, not really.

Unless an asteroid hits us then whoopi! I have faith that there are more intelligent humans than stupid ones and even thought the stupid ones are pretty visible nowdays, the intelligent ones will eventually straighten out the problems we face.

[htuttle]

22. Fellow Dinosaurs,

I'd like to address the ridiculous notion of our imminent extinction...

(didn't William S Burroughs do a riff on that somewhere?)

[Indiana_Dem]

24. Maybe the end of life as we know it in our lifetimes...

The bible does talk about 1/3 of the population dying through wars famine, pestilence and this would all be very possible what with resource wars (as stated above), droughts and pestilence from global warming or climate changes, etc. I can definitely see it happening. Doesn't sound like such a fairy tale to me. It didn't say that everyone would die, it just says a fraction would die, but just think of the portion that might have to live through this. I think I'd rather die.

And about the rapture....I may be born-again but I certainly don't see anything in the bible that says anything about any rapture or secret rapture. I don't think fundies will be able to escape that easily like they think. After all, Jesus didn't escape the physcial death either. Those people that think that stuff just don't read it and think on their own. That was a funny statment written above though! lol

[Rex]

26. Gut says yes

we're dogmeat man!

[MrSlayer]

27. No.

[Forkboy]

29. The Earth could use a break from us

[Media_Lies_Daily]

30. The Conveyer will probably stop in a few decades.

[arewethereyet]

31. Spring Training is starting, maybe its that !

[Indiana_Dem]

32. Look at this!

Walter Renquist who is a geologist, I believe, wrote about this:

Myth: Export the population problem to outer space

This also may seem like an idea too absurd to discuss. However, it is amazing what can be suggested even in high government circles. In those early space exploration times, some thought that the answer to the population problem was to export it from Earth. Hardin has identified the source of this myth stating: "In 1958, four years after the founding of NASA —the National Aeronautics and Space Administration—its congressional guardian, the Science and Astronautics Committee, supported the idea of space migration as an ultimate solution to the problem of a 'bursting population."' Hardin adds, ". . . when an agency is fighting for space that counts—space at the public trough—its administrators are in no hurry to correct statements that increase the size of their budget."(14)

Regardless of their logic or otherwise, ideas of populating space persist. In 1996, an article in a national magazine proposed that most industrial plants on Earth be replaced by those built on the moon and that the population pressures on Earth be solved by colonizing Mars. Some quotes from that article follow:

"The only way to keep the economy expanding infinitely is to expand our resource base infinitely. The universe is a big place. Human ingenuity is such that we will find innumerable ways to economically prosper in space"

"We will have escaped the trap of a closed, cyclical economy; the riches of the solar system will lie before us."

"The moon, with no ecosystem to damage, can become the seat of heavy industry. The earth, relieved of its population pressure and industrial burden as people migrate, can be allowed to regreen."(16)

http://www.greatchange.org/othervoices.html

I think someone wants to ship a bunch of us to space to manufacture goods!!! Egads!!! Maybe that's why Bush wants to go to Mars!!

[maggrwaggr]

56. I fear Bushco is gonna nuke somebody

before their time is up next January.

[Sugarbleus]

60. Thats what crossed my mind once too....Life on Mars, how charming lol

[Nikia]

34. A big change may be coming

We'll leave it at that. Both posts which I have attempted probably make me sound nuts.

[Indiana_Dem]

37. Where else did you post?

[seabeyond]

39. nikia i have heard

a few on here that could probably go further and no one is cause they would probably sound strange, lol lol

wonder here.........and in giggle. ya

[brokensymmetry]

35. Probably.

There's peak oil, which has been discussed. We also see a lot of other resources being used up - old growth trees from tropical rain forests as an example.

And then, there's water. We take water for granted - but it isn't. There are a number of fossil aquifers that are being drawn down around the world - and when the water is gone, they won't refill. Populations in the Middle East, India and Pakistan are growing rapidly, and they depend on crops grown from the water of a few rivers. If conflict breaks out over water, famine could result - and hungry people might be very willing to do all sorts of things. Nuclear weapons in Pakistan and India add to the mix.

Plus, we have credible indications of substantial climate change. Not only can that result in economic dislocations, it can - again - cause regional disruption of food production.

Will everything continue to hum along smoothly? Maybe. But I sorta doubt it.

[Codeblue]

46. While I agree that water

is precious and our aquifers are drying up too rapidly (especially out here in Colorado), but the ecological circle says that there will be the same amount of water on Earth infinitly, unless we ship it to space. It is renewed as rain, snow, hail and the like. While it may not be fresh water, we could desalinize the water and drink that.

[brokensymmetry]

47. Sure, we can desalinize water.

There are, however, a couple of issues. The first issue is cost - pumping water out of an aquifer, or from a river is relatively cheap. But desalinization is more expensive.

So...what does that imply for lots of things from industrial processes to food growth? I believe it makes prices go up. That probably won't be a problem for you and I, but in a country like Pakistan it could create some unrest.

And the other thing about desalinization is that it requires energy, at the very time that energy costs seem to be going up. More nuclear plants might be the way to go, but those tend to be costly too.

Consider Colorado. Right now, you enjoy great water from the Oglala if I'm not mistaken. What would happen to Colorado's economy if water were far more expensive - and had to be piped from a desalinization plant instead of pumped from a well?

And, lest I forget my manners...welcome to DU! I hope you enjoy it here! :hi:

[Codeblue]

74. Well thanks for the welcome.

Seems everyone else has forgotten their manners...its the first welcome I've recieved. But I'm not saying that desalinization is a plausible solution. I'm just playing devil's advocate a bit and arguing the other side. I agree we need fresh water to survive cheaply and easily.

[Indiana_Dem]

81. I'm sorry codeblue, welcome to DU

:hi:

[Codeblue]

84. Heh thanks holyrollerdem.

[Deja Q]

36. Cooperation or extinction... we know what we want to do, but can we do it?

Shortly after peak oil will cause the market to irreparably crash because our "need" is greater than availability. BLAMMO.

Maybe that's why big corporations are doing everything to make more money at the cost of us.

When the crash occurs, their money will not save them.

The bright people will have to do that evil "C" thing: Commune-ism. People will learn that self-suffiency et al really isn't as great as they thought it was and they will have to rely on each other to survive.

Think about it.

Can people do it? Not the way the repukes had/have been... The 60s generation was right all along... pity their attiutudes wore off...

Of course, we might find ways to destroy other countries to get their oil and other countries who oppose us because they want it too.

Think about it.

Will the peoples of the world combine to fight this as a world of humans? Or still play little toddler sandbox where they mark off corners for each country and then proceed to throw sand in each others' eyes. Don't forget NAFTA, even our man Clinton wouldn't play fair. :spit:

You can bet your sweet bippy humanity won't take a chance to trust each other.

I say it'll happen before 2012. 2007 or 2008 seems more realistic, especially if current estimated oil supplies are correct (appx 1000 billion barrels as of 2002 and our need for the stuff continues to rise and after peak occurs, it goes down just as how it went up. 25 years from now, we'll have 1970s-like collection rates and it'll be bloody expensive per barrel because of the difficulties in collecting the stuff. But with our current demand with no rationality in sight, we'll be crashing in a far shorter period of time...

Not to forget, the US currently uses 20 million barrels PER DAY. That's 25% of the whole world's usage. 80 million barrels per day = 2.4 BILLION barrels per month. Now multiply in that 1000 billion barrels remaining... :scared: If collection and other rates remained the same, we have 35 years before the oil is utterly GONE, folks. But we know the score; collection will become expensive and difficult and everything surrounding oil will skyrocket in price.

2007. Bet your bippy.

[freeforall]

38. If that's what we want...

I believe that our collective thoughts create our collective reality, and as I hear so many people "expecting" some kind of end-times scenario, I think we will have one. Of course, with determination and integrity, we can choose a different future.

Edit: typo

[Indiana_Dem]

41. Actually I've been really trying hard to redirect my thinking,

but the more news and things I see around me lead me to another conclusion.

My grandfather has always been the most optimistic and positive person since I was able to discern such a thing (he's been on this earth almost 100 years now-born 1906-and still is sharp as a tack) but lately he says he isn't too sure anymore. He always said people will always pull together and make something work out in the end. In the last 3 years he has begun to change his mind and says everyone is not educated enough and people are too uncompromising. He was a businessman and a politician for 35 years and has followed national/global politics, cultures and the environment since he was young. He grew up seeing the first cars and planes, saw the first two world wars and participated in the second, saw society industrialized, he has always talked to people around the world on his Hamm radio, always a member of the Smithsonian Institute, Sierra Club and Audabon Society, subscribed to the National Geographic and contributed money to all those organizations. He doesn't think people are as educated or care enough anymore to make positive compromised change at a peaceful level. He says there used to be an aura of everyone WANTING to learn and gain knowledge but not anymore. This is coming from a very positive person.

I'm basically of the theory to look for the good in everything collectively as you say. As I grow older, however, I find I want to know the obstacles and attempt to avoid them or solve the problem before it occurs, thus, I find myself pondering possible realities and wanting change the expected outcome. The problem is that I can't change others if they don't want to change. Very frustrating.

[freeforall]

42. holyrollerdem, I hear you!

That first post was my optimistic side talking, LOL!

My "realistic" side thinks it would take one helluva miracle for everyone to get their yins and yangs together and work for a better world. And I fantasize about what THAT would look like. It's a nice dream though.

Unfortunately, it seems that even with major disasters (e.g, earthquakes, 911, wars) people will rally round and cooperate and change their attitudes for a short while, but it soon wears off. So - what's it gonna take...?

[Indiana_Dem]

45. Well, I was HOPING it would happen with someone like

Kucinich as our leader--for starters. He seemed to have that drive to fix our problems and try his hardest to promote more collaboration and working together. He has a kind of respect for others that my grandfather has. But it looks like it's not going to happen.

Even though I'm a born-again Christian, I fully believe in the karma theory--in Christianity called "agape" love. This world has a great lack of it right now. All I can do is try to do what I can do by being as active and vocal as I can be without getting too hostile when people dismiss my concerns as paranoia! I just think people in developed countries are too spoiled and don't feel the need to think about serious matters for themselves. Things are too easy. But then again, if they were somehow immediately shoved into the 18th century I'm not sure their (our) response would be too civil after having all of this luxury. That's what scares me the most.

[Sugarbleus]

59. Interesting assessment Holy...

I'm of the same "persuasion" as you. I like to think we can work to change things. I was hoping for someone like DK too.

As regards the thread topic; I do feel like something is going to go whirling out of control. On the other hand, it's really depressing in here tonight anyway...maybe I just need sleep. I still have a creepy feeling about everything. I can control myself, as you intimated, but I can't control what other people do....it's like screaming your lungs out that there is a broken bridge ahead but no one listens and goes flying off the end anyway, while I stand and watch helplessly...
it IS frustrating for sure.

[TrogL]

40. Mother has a way of striking back

I think we're gonna get a superflu that will make 1918 look like a case of the sniffles.

That or AIDS will go airborne.

[TrogL]

75. that was supposed to be Mother Nature

:spank: do not post drunk

[LiberalPersona]

43. A combination

of peak oil (famine, WW3, Great Depression 2, etc.) and the new ice age which I recently heard about and the effects of global warming which it is linked to.

Yes my gut has been telling me the last 3-4 years of my life that something is going to happen. It's only now that I know the details of what my gut was trying to tell me.

[Ladyhawk]

50. As a skeptic, I'm not supposed to listen to my gut.

But it says that something big is coming down the pipes. For the last few years, I've felt strongly that people are freakin' nuts and that we'll find a way to destroy ourselves. I have no "faith" in my fellow human beings. I believe that only 15% of people are good. The rest are either neutral, go whichever way the wind blows, or downright evil. Viewing my family and community, I'm pretty much disgusted with humanity. We lack the morality to save ourselves.

Life on earth will go on in one way or another, but it might do so without homo sapiens. We're pretty new on the scene, anyway. The earth did just fine without us for four billion years. It can do fine without us again.

[tobius]

55. The plan is already in motion, but the entire master plan

has not been revealed. The aliens described below made a deal a long time ago with the founders of the illuminati and M16- you and your descendents will enjoy great power for hundreds of years, but when it is time, you will reveal our Exalted Leader as proof that the inca calenders have accurately predicted the coming of the anti-christ.

This will aid them with a cover story when 75% of the population is eliminated. The other 25% will have to go underground to their world to live out their days as slaves. Slaves to the members of these secret societies and the mind reading aliens.


Colonel William Woodward of the United States Air Force-

"In that period of service I visited the Hollow Interior of the Earth six times, 800 miles deep.

Upon my arrival to Area 51 I was indoctrinated to the existence of tunnels beneath Area 51, and soon after I met several of the Underground Shuttle Operators that have a stature of 13 to 14 feet in height. These tunnels, that transverse the world, are built by a species of beings who have existed here before we, a very long time.

Immediately on my arrival to Area 51, I was made aware of the tunnels and all the workings of the facility itself. They told me that the first 15 levels of the Area 51 facility were man made; that Levels 16-27 were already there. Nobody from our government made them. We were just facilitating them. "
http://onelight.com/colb/part1.htm

[Indiana_Dem]

77. To add another dimension to your story you must include

"The Book of Enoch" which is the supposed prelude to the Bible that the pharisees and Christian leaders felt it was not to be included in the writings. Enoch was mentioned in the Old Testament and Revelations so the writngs must have been relevent to some in those times. It describes the giant fallen away "angels" who taught man the secrets of alchemy and mathematics....take it for what you will but I can guarantee if you like to read about what you just posted, this is the ultimate because it actually was written thousands of years ago. Even if it isn't true, it's definitely good reading just as J.R.R. Tolkien is.

[420]

57. It depends on my mood...

Just visit rense.com and one can be convinced that, THE END IS NEAR!!! Yet, if you read the headlines (intelligently) one can assume that, THE END IS RELATIVELY NEAR!! Also, if you go by word on the street you might guess that THINGS ARE ALMOST O.K. IF YOU DO WHAT YOU'RE TOLD! And when you combine all the messages that are thrown in your face everyday, one can only assert that you should just go home and get drunk and maybe a bit stoned (subtle?), but don't be gay and don't get married if you're gay and buy stuff too, unless it's porn or "unAmerican," fly your flag (American you goddamned commies) and raise your kids to be slaves to the future set for them. Nah, everything is just fine. There is no global warming. The skies are being watched for "demon-rocks" or "kings of terror." Etc., etc., etc.

[Sugarbleus]

61. Wow...........I'm popping open my bottle of Chivas right now...lol

[420]

62. Oh, you're such a sheep

Don't you know that's just what they want you to do? :smoke:

Put on your hat my dear, it'll help you to arc in the microwave :crazy:

[Sugarbleus]

63. ???????? I was actually making a joke. I don't drink. Perhaps I should

Light up a big fat DOOBIE instead????????????? That will make me brighter? shutup.

[420]

64. Uhhhh.....

Sorry, I done been drinkin'. Tooooooo much. Much more then you ever could because you're a woman. Your credibility is not in question... LOL =)

</sarcasm>

[Indiana_Dem]

79. Welcome to DU 420!

:hi:

[Mairead]

58. I think it's possible that we'll have another world war

Whenever populations rise far enough, that seems to be the 'preferred' method of reducing them. It gets rid of the proles while the wealthy make money. And it does feel to me as though we're having that kind of pressure being manufactured right now.

[OKNancy]

65. No - Doomsayers have been around for ages

and while we ( humans ) have had some rough times, it has certainly been worse than it is now. For example, the Plague wiped out half of Europe, and just one-hundred years ago the flu was killing more people than died in all of the wars combined.

As a species, we are interested in self-preservation. Although it may not seem like it now, liberal thought becomes the norm if given enough time. Also there is no stopping scientific thought...at least somewhere in the world.

It's just the conceit of those living now that make this ideas of gloom and doom seem plausible. This was really brought home to me in the aftermath of Sept 11th when I heard people saying "oh no this is the worst thing to ever happen". Well it wasn't if one looks at other events much more tragic and threatening our existence ( the Civil War for one small example)

I don't believe in "gut" feelings or any magical thinking of any kind and that includes Karma or any other unscientific nonsense, so I'm sure that my ideas are formed with this in mind.

[Codeblue]

76. A gut feeling is an instinctual feeling

Your gut is simply the human instinct still around from when we lived in caves and worried about being carried off in the night by saber-toothed tigers. Instinct is a powerful thing, and though it may not always be right it is definetely a good idea to pay attention to what it is saying. If you dont get that feeling deep down that something is wrong, you've strayed too far from your instinctual existence.

Humans have an instinct for a reason, it has been ingrained in us since the beginning of time. We don't feel frightened in a car on a two lane highway going 65 mph with cars coming straight at us at 65 mph because we havent had to time to develop that instinct. But if you go stand on the edge of a cliff, you really want to look over the edge and see how far down it is, but you do it cautiously and timidly, because at the beginning of human existence we developed an instinct to be careful around cliffs. Our ancestors fell of many cliffs. Instinct is a good thing, just learn to liten to it.

[truthspeaker]

66. Maybe. Who knows?

No one can predict the future. But I suspect we'll continue to muddle along as we have for the last 200,000 years or so.

[BonjourUSA]

67. Let's be cynic.

8 billion of humans and more on the earth is too much and a great origin of bothers.

The natural regulation of the births seems to begin. But it's too slow for reducing the world population in a few years

The war never massively kills people, only a good epidemic is efficient ! (For example, the WWI was a great bloodshed but very very less efficient than the spanish flu), nevertheless we are able to think the war could be more productive with the nuke. But we are going to search the WMDs into the countries which could use them !

AIDS isn't very devastating ! In Africa, this disease kills very much people but the population is always increasing. The nature must find something else.

A strong dictatorship is good too. Staline and Mao have been both better than two WWII. But we don't let anymore the dictators correctly make their job, we even overthrow a minor one like Saddam in a little country of only 23 million.
The hope isn't absolutely lost, we're recovering the religious wars. That could be a very good way for quickly spreading out the shit everywhere. With a little chance, the local bloodcheds will be numerous and successful. "Kill you each other in My Name" has always worked well.

Don't let us trust the great fear of the humanity since the cavern age : Armageddon. This fashionable idea is unlikely, just a juicy business for preachers.

Perhaps the climat change should be a good solution. New epidemics, new starvations, great floods... Can't we only trust the industrialized countries for the stabilization of the world population ? A solution by the research of the well-being ! We are genius !

[Matilda]

68. Too many people. Resources depleted. Trees gone.

Water disappearing. Climate change. Pollution.

And George Bush.

No hope.

[rasputin1952]

69. The end of the earth is inevitable...

whether it is accomplished by the sun swallowing up the earth, by an asteroid of comet impact, or the earth just plunging into the sun is irrelevant. Some time in the future, the earth is history.

The problem rests on whether humanity will destroy or cripple itself on this planet, or will we destroy so much of the ecology that supports human and other life on this sphere, that life as we know it will go through drastic changes.

There are many fools in high places throughout the world. Rather than work for the common good of all, they are predisposed to enhance the material wealth of themselves and the acquiring of power to push others further into chaos. Fear is a prime motivator for these base thinking people. Of course, it is much more complicated than can be explained in a short post; but fear, caused by ignorance, is what these people use to complete their agenda. Once one gets past the fear aspect, those that would enslave the world are exposed, and in peril. But as long as fear is used, the blinders go on, and the human species becomes fixed on the goal of survival, and little else matters. The object of humanity should be to understand that although the fear can be real, the outcome could be far worse. People must look fear in the face, and challenge it; that is the only way the human threat can be defeated.

O8)

[Logansquare]

70. I'm not easily frightened by doom scenarios, but Peak Oil scares the

shit out of me. I live in a large city in a temperate zone--if oil supplies dry up in my lifetime, how will we get food or heat?

[cmf]

71. Population growth, too little resources.

That's what's going to do us in. It may not be as quick or flashy as a thermonuclear war, a deadly virus or an asteroid. But I think we're going to reach the Earth's threshold within my lifetime (I'm 27) and I'm scared shitless.

[plurality]

72. With many thanks to Tool...

Ænema

Some say the end is near.
Some say we'll see armageddon soon.
I certainly hope we will.
I sure could use a vacation from this

Bullshit three ring circus sideshow of
Freaks

Here in this hopeless fucking hole we call LA
The only way to fix it is to flush it all away.
Any fucking time. Any fucking day.
Learn to swim, I'll see you down in Arizona bay.

Fret for your figure and
Fret for your latte and
Fret for your hairpiece and
Fret for your lawsuit and
Fret for your prozac and
Fret for your pilot and
Fret for your contract and
Fret for your car.

It's a
Bullshit three ring circus sideshow of
Freaks

Here in this hopeless fucking hole we call LA
The only way to fix it is to flush it all away.
Any fucking time. Any fucking day.
Learn to swim, I'll see you down in Arizona bay.

Some say a comet will fall from the sky.
Followed by meteor showers and tidal waves.
Followed by faultlines that cannot sit still.
Followed by millions of dumbfounded dipshits.

Some say the end is near.
Some say we'll see armageddon soon.
I certainly hope we will cuz
I sure could use a vacation from this

Silly shit, stupid shit...

One great big festering neon distraction,
I've a suggestion to keep you all occupied.

Learn to swim.

Mom's gonna fix it all soon.
Mom's comin' round to put it back the way it ought to be.

Learn to swim.

Fuck L Ron Hubbard and
Fuck all his clones.
Fuck all those gun-toting
Hip gangster wannabes.

Learn to swim.

Fuck retro anything.
Fuck your tattoos.
Fuck all you junkies and
Fuck your short memory.

Learn to swim.

Fuck smiley glad-hands
With hidden agendas.
Fuck these dysfunctional,
Insecure actresses.

Learn to swim.

Cuz I'm praying for rain
And I'm praying for tidal waves
I wanna see the ground give way.
I wanna watch it all go down.
Mom please flush it all away.
I wanna watch it go right in and down.
I wanna watch it go right in.
Watch you flush it all away.

Time to bring it down again.
Don't just call me pessimist.
Try and read between the lines.

I can't imagine why you wouldn't
Welcome any change, my friend.

I wanna see it all come down.
suck it down.
flush it down.

[GreenPartyVoter]

80. Yes, I do

[belle]

82. I think some extremely nasty shit is quite possible, but...

nothing is inevitable. How *likely* this all is, I have no idea. I do think that there's something in the air, a "zeitgeist" of "the end is nigh," but whether the collective belief/myth creates the reality or vice-versa, I don't know.

The other thing I know: there's always something unexpected. if you go back and read Orwell or other political writings from just after WWII, you'll see that it was pretty common to belive, fatalistically, that WWIII with Russia was not only inevitable but just around the corner,"1984" scenario to follow or not. The fact that it played out the way it actually did is pretty fucking amazing, all things considered. It gives me hope.

[Indiana_Dem]

85. I read "1984" a long time ago and if you compare that

story to the "peak oil/climate change" scenario, the second scenario would slap us back to the 18th century without a mass means of being watched by "big brother" through TVs and newspeak because we wouldn't even have the resources to produce that kind of energy. We would have to go back to smaller agricultural societies and local governments. Advanced healthcare would not be possible and many could die of viruses, infections, and starvation like they did way back when. Except for maybe the small amount of the rich who would be able to have access to the "finer" things in life. The masses would be knocked back down to the lower rung of Maslow's hierarchy consisting of trying to survive with food, clothing, and shelter. We would not have the time to reach that (I think you call it) self-realization?? or self-actualization?? level.

That's why I think it's so important for people in developed countries like ours to research, develop, and discover new innovative ways for energy consumption and population control. We are the ones responsible for the possibilities. We are able to reach the highest level of Maslow's hierarchy right now.

Obviously, this present administration appears to be at the bottom rung of the hierarchy by initiating a war for control and dominance for our basic needs and is becoming a part of the problem rather than the solution. Obviously, this administration is struggling to preserve the survival of the rich in the long run, leaving the masses as having to fend for themselves.

[Paragon]

83. "Cocaine is a hell of a drug..."

;-)

[SmileyBoy]

86. You kill two birds with one stone if you fix Peak Oil and Global Warming.

If you fix those two problems by developing a new mass-produced and mass-consumed clean alternative energy source, then you've got those two problems take care of.

Now the other problem is global imperialism/warmongering (nuclear war threat) by the US. That problem is taken care of if Kerry is elected president. If Kerry is elected, then you could also start seeing the two other problems attempted to be taken care of.

So basically, it all boils down to this November 2nd. If * is (re)elected, we're basically fucked.

[Indiana_Dem]

88. It's our best bet we have going! n/t

[AnnaCatherine]

87. Evolution

...has a nasty way of getting rid of those it doesn't like. What I mean by that is, that even though humans are evolving everyday, we will eventually involve ourselves with self-destruction (a figment of nature). A cataclysmic event will no doubt happen with the roads we are current on. For a world to be intentionally moving forward and evolve into whatever...it has to be the perfect place (that will never happen).

Scientists know this. The more resources we give them, the better. We have begun by allowing them to explore new worlds (Mars) to learn about our own...even our own natural fate. That's the real agenda in my opinion. This planet has no choice but to die out. The universe is expanding constantly. We just do not know by how much that expansion really is. Nor do we know how much time we have left in this position of being a life sustaining planet. I think we should be exploring Venus as well. That's our future right there.

To answer the question, yes, I think so, but if there is something coming very soon, it will be man-made.

NOTE: the writer does not subscribe to the ancients so-called prophesies!

Thanks for reading!

[Indiana_Dem]

89. Welcome to DU AnnaCatherine!

:hi:

To comment on trying to find life on another planet--I'll let you guys that want to try it out go first! lol

I also believe the event will be man-made as well. However, contrary to your non-belief in prophecies, I believe many different prophecies say it will be a man-made event as well.

[AnnaCatherine]

90. Thanks for the welcome!

:yourock:

[AJ BENDER]

92. Boston Wins World Series !

That would be awful:nuke: