The End Is Near

Nov. 12, 2009

The Detroit News

The end is near. Literally.

It's in your local bookstore, on DVD rentals, all over television, and it's coming to movie theaters -- first on Friday with the disaster blockbuster "2012" and then on Nov. 25 with the post-apocalyptic film "The Road."

At the same time, Web sites describing end-of-day scenarios, selling survival supplies and offering predictions abound.

Geez, world, worried much? The doomsday concerns that gained momentum in the post-nuclear 1950s seem to be accelerating in the new millennium, reflecting social anxiety possibly hitherto unknown.

"It's always on people's minds, especially now with wars breaking out and the economy the way it is," says Mike Williams, 26, of Novi. "Over the last couple of months, I've been seeing (apocalyptic pop culture) going up and up."

Much of the concern has to do with the date Dec. 21, 2012. That's when the ancient Mayan calendar will conclude, heralding the end of civilization. Or so some contend.

All manner of predictions about what that calendar's ending might mean are floating around, the Mayans never having left any clear instructions. Of course, the specter of Armageddon is nothing new, especially for those who are religious.

Despite the surplus of Internet sites that argue President Barack Obama is the Antichrist, most of the fervor is 2012-driven, although New Age seers, Internet alarmists and some serious folks have differing interpretations of what the end of the Mayan calendar means, if anything.

Lawrence Joseph, author of the best-selling book "Apocalypse 2012: An Investigation into Civilization's End" (Broadway), doesn't know if the end has anything to do with the Mayan calendar, but he does believe a major apocalyptic-type event is coming thanks to a combination of solar blasts and weak spots in Earth's magnetic field that will knock out the national power grid.

"Seriously, this is going to happen in 2012 or early 2013," says Joseph, 55, who has written pieces for the New York Times. "The Mayan prophecy could be all coincidence or some supernatural insight... but it's sort of beside the point right now."

Books like Joseph's, published in 2007, along with current events, have sparked some serious interest among those who want to prepare for The Big One.

"My readership has basically tripled in the last 14 months," says Jim Rawles, host of survivalblog.com, which he says has drawn hundreds of thousands of readers.

"People are rightfully concerned. Anyone who looks at what's going on in the world today, it's a logical reaction," says Rawles, 48, a former Army captain who says he lives "somewhere west of the Rockies," declining to specify where out of fear he'll be overrun by the needy when the end comes.

Others aren't quite as concerned, although they say society's preoccupation with things apocalyptic is telling.

"This is nothing new, it's a cyclical thing that comes and goes," says Gary Baddeley, writer and producer of a video called "2012: Science or Superstition."

"We're in a period where there's a lot of angst, and whenever there's a lot of angst people who want there to be an end to the world glom onto it," says Baddeley, who is based in New York City. "Everything changed on 9/11. It's been a decade of anxiety, and maybe that's what's behind it."

The Rev. Alex Riegel, 46, pastor of Unitarian Universalist Church in Farmington, plans to offer a class on the 2012 phenomenon Nov. 19. He argues that the doomsday preoccupation reflects a need for meaning in life.

"We just have this sense that we've been thrown into the universe without any control of the matter," he says. "We have this drive to find meaning, and the meaning of our lives is very significant if you're living in the end of times."

On the other hand, Riegel says, "The things we have to latch on to now are more menacing. It just takes one push of the button and you could probably destroy the whole planet. We've had to come to terms with the very real potential of the annihilation of the species."

That potential first struck mankind after Hiroshima, and popular culture has been filled with apocalyptic visions ever since, says Gary Hoppenstand, a professor of American studies at Michigan State University.

And the fear of self-destruction has only grown over the years. India and Pakistan are neighboring nuclear powers caught up in constant bickering, while Iran and North Korea seem on the verge of building nuclear weapons.

From "On the Beach" (1959) to "Planet of the Apes" (1968) to the "Road Warrior" (1979-1985) and the "Terminator" (1984-2009) series, post-apocalyptic stories have become familiar fare.

"This is not entirely pessimistic," Hoppenstand says. "Part of the fabric of this kind of story is looking at the survivors and finding hope in a post-apocalyptic world. That's the appeal of it."

And sometimes, films such as "2012" serve a purpose.

"It's sort of the cathartic function of horror films," Hoppenstand says. "You see all this terrible stuff and yet the movie ends and you walk out of the theater. There's been sort of a cathartic purging of those feelings."

But such relief may be fleeting.

"The reality is, it could happen any minute -- that's the part where you're not totally paranoid so they can't commit you," says C.J. Harrison, 59, a psychologist from Grosse Pointe Shores.

Harrison has been counseling laid-off workers lately, and she sees the distraction that doomsday theories offer.

"Whenever you have people with a vast sense of powerlessness, you have superstition," she says. "It's a lot easier to focus on that kind of big stuff than the everyday, mundane chore of being a human being."

Indeed, it may be easier to face the end of the world that's coming tomorrow than the bad news of today.

"Life is not usual. It's very unusual for some people right now," Harrison says. "It's easier to go to the end of days."