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Dutch Apocalypse

Adam Elenbaas
liferaft-image.jpg

 

A recent Dutch Newspaper, De Volkskrant, released an article saying that thousands of Dutch citizens are preparing for the end of the world in 2012. Although the numbers are greater in the United States, the particular buzz of this article is fascinating.

While most Dutch citizens cite the Mayan calendar as the source of the end-times prophecy, according to De Volkskrant, there are many cataclysmic theories circulating.

Perhaps most startling is the mention of Dutch citizens already buying survival equipment (even a life raft) and feeling enthusasitic about the prospect of armageddon (one man interviewed felt irritated by what he called the growing immigration problem in the Netherlands and said he wouldn't mind seeing the country destroyed in 2012).

The sensationalized article should stimulate healthy dialogue. As we approach 2012, will the popular media choose to cover the story in a manner that provokes fear, and will the apocalyptic glamor cause people to stock up on survival supplies like Y2K all over again?

 

 

 

 

Comments

RS survey question?

Submitted by moriartyb on Mon, 06/30/2008 - 11:43.

There was a RS survey recently with a question along the lines of "do you believe something will happen in 2012?"

Any chance that someone could divulge the outcome of that question??

 

Thanks 

B

Art Apocalypse

Submitted by FoolishPeople on Mon, 06/30/2008 - 18:31.
Could be something to do with this... http://www.foolishpeople.com/foolishpeople/2008/06/the-end-of-the-earth-...

That Loud Sucking Noise

Submitted by Hoopes on Tue, 07/08/2008 - 00:36.

"Add the tidal force of the super massive black hole at the center of galaxy to this equation..."

Hmmm.  And just how much force would you calculate that to be?

That black hole is 25,900 ± 1,400 light years away!

 

a bit more reason for concern than Y2K...

Submitted by vivifidal on Tue, 07/01/2008 - 19:13.
Its not something a few lines of computer code can stave off, in spite of the general populaces lack of faith in computer coders as happened in Y2K, but is most likely survivable for those willing to adapt to a massive influx of new paradigms. Knowing the Dutch cultural propensity to mix pragmatism w/ a decent blow off of steam when indicated, the end result will be a bit of a spike in the Dutch birthrate in 2013 and a somewhat forgiving attitude to slightly obscure lines of paternity.

People Ranting

Submitted by Hoopes on Tue, 07/08/2008 - 00:32.

What was most startling to me was this part:

"De Volkskrant interviews Petra Faile, who along with her husband has bought a life raft and other survival equipment.

"When her husband comes home from his construction job and starts complaining again about the Poles she answers: ‘Don’t let it bother you. In another four years it will all be over.’

"‘You know’, Petra says, ‘maybe it’s really not that bad that the Netherlands will be destroyed. I don’t like it here anymore. Take immigration, for example. They keep letting people in. And then we have to build more houses, which makes the Netherlands even heavier. The country will sink even lower, which will make the flooding worse.’"

It seems that 2012 mythology is becoming an excuse for xenophobia. Given its existing associations with racism, we should probably expect more of the same.

(By the way, does De Volkskrant translate as "the people ranting"?  That would be appropriate.)

Spiritual Y2K

Submitted by Hoopes on Tue, 07/08/2008 - 00:40.

"As we approach 2012, will the popular media choose to cover the story in a manner that provokes fear, and will the apocalyptic glamor cause people to stock up on survival supplies like Y2K all over again?"

Do you really need to ask? From ABCNews (7/3/08):

Will the World End in 2012? Thousands Worldwide Prepare for the Apocalypse, Expected in 2012, by Christine Brouwer

http://www.abcnews.go.com/International/Story?id=5301284&page=1

I've been using the phrase "spiritual Y2K" to describe the 2012 hype.  Just because Y2K was a bust doesn't mean the mythology didn't play a central role in the inflation of the dotcom bubble of the late 1990s.  Expect phrases such as "sunspot maximum safe" to be used for marketing cell phones, computers, and HDTVs. People will, as they always have, make and lose fortunes thanks to widespread gullibility.

Some other worthwhile articles:

The Final Days, by Benjamin Anastas (New York Times Magazine, 7/1/07)

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/01/magazine/01world-t.html

Five Years: 2012 and The End of the World As We Know It, by Tom King (Lawrence.com, 12/10/07)

http://www.lawrence.com/news/2007/dec/10/five_years/

The Fat Lady's Aria? Humanity's Last Stand? Or Just Another Apocalypse Soon? by Mick Farren (Los Angeles CityBeat, 6/18/2008)

http://www.lacitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/the_fat_lady_s_aria_humanity_s_last_stand_or_just_another_apocalypse_soon/7137/

Required Reading for the Apocalypse

Submitted by Hoopes on Tue, 07/08/2008 - 00:50.

Adam Parfrey is a visionary who made some valuable compilations in the lead-up to Y2K which are (of course) even more relevant now:

Apocalypse Culture edited by Adam Parfrey (Amok Press, 1988, ISBN 0-941693-02-3)

Apocalypse Culture: Revised and Expanded edited by Adam Parfrey (Amok Press, 1990, ISBN 0-922915-05-9)

Cult Rapture: Revelations of the Apocalyptic Mind by Adam Parfrey (Feral House, 1995, ISBN 0-922915-22-9

Apocalypse Culture II edited by Adam Parfrey (Feral House, 2000, ISBN 0-922915-57-1)

Here's a wonderful Dutch website:

Exit Mundi: A Collection of End-of-World Scenarios

http://www.exitmundi.nl

A Solar mega-eruption is likely this september 2008!

Submitted by Last man standing on Sat, 09/06/2008 - 23:26.
Astrophysics has recently proven that we live in an electric universe and that the sun gets it's energy from the Galactic Sun, and then the Great Central Sun, etc. Edgar Cayce stated that the sun was cool inside way back in the 1940s, of course, no one believed him. He has also predicted a pole shift for this time. We do not know where all the energy comes from, but if we live in an electric universe then everything is subject to polarity reversals. When the sun passes through the Galactic equator for the second time in this approximate 23,200 year precessional cycle, we may have a pole flip on the sun. This doesn't seem bad until you realize that it also entails a solar reboot where the Sun's field collapses and spews forth massive amounts of excess energy. This energy goes into the poles of the Earth and further heats up the Earth. The earth is already heating up from graviational pulls on her axis from the galactic sun and constellations near that direction. This is tough on the Earth and has caused her in the past to heat up, and then break up, into volcanism, earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic winter and poleshifts. This is why we have a city 2,300 feet deep in the caribbean and a seaport at 13,000 ft above sealevel. 2012 is a built-in self cleaning mechanism for the earth, this occurs every 11,600 years like clock work. There is no real escape, so the best defense is love and advanced spirituality that can "transition" you into the new age at a higher level. Egyptian astronomy predicts an eruption for September, 2008