I am receiving complaints that my book, Apocalypse 2012: A Scientific Investigation into Civilization’s End, is causing a lot of fear. Nothing I have written in my 25-year career has caused so much distress as this book appears destined to do. Although my vision for 2012 has many positive, uplifting aspects, there is no denying the very scary side and for that I do apologize.
People already have more than enough to worry about, and I am truly sorry for any psychological and emotional discomfort my book may cause. I particularly regret burdening parents, whose worry-load for their children is barely manageable under normal circumstances, and also young people, who are supposed to have so much of their lives ahead of them.
But fear, though unpleasant, is not always a bad thing. It is downright helpful if it alerts one to the significant possibility of danger. That ancient Mayan prophecy and contemporary solar physics both point to the year 2012 as a potentially catastrophic year, is, by my lights, a significant possibility of danger. Better that we should be goaded now into preparing and defending ourselves than remain blissfully oblivious and get cosmic sucker-punched five short years from now.
Regardless of how much credence one places in predictions concerning 2012, the fact of the matter is that, at this point in history, our defenses are down, and no one is building them back up. Even after the unimaginable disaster that Hurricane Katrina wrought on New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, there has been little preparation for what might come next. Is it your opinion that, in the area where you live, the public places where people might seek refuge - schools, auditoriums, athletic stadiums, etc. - have been adequately equipped with food, water, medicine and other necessities for survival?
True, FEMA, the Federal Emergency Management Agency that so badly botched the New Orleans disaster relief operation, is in the process of being dismantled. But has a new and better relief organization taken its place? We are sitting ducks.
Afraid? Good!
