One in seven thinks end of world is coming: poll

[Blanquist]

What does this say about the ignorance of people? Or their pessimism about the current state of affairs?


(Reuters) - - Nearly 15 percent of people worldwide believe the world will end during their lifetime and 10 percent think the Mayan calendar could signify it will happen in 2012, according to a new poll.

The end of the Mayan calendar, which spans about 5,125 years, on December 21, 2012 has sparked interpretations and suggestions that it marks the end of the world.

"Whether they think it will come to an end through the hands of God, or a natural disaster or a political event, whatever the reason, one in seven thinks the end of the world is coming," said Keren Gottfried, research manager at Ipsos Global Public Affairs which conducted the poll for Reuters.

"Perhaps it is because of the media attention coming from one interpretation of the Mayan prophecy that states the world 'ends' in our calendar year 2012," Gottfried said, adding that some Mayan scholars have disputed the interpretation.

Responses to the international poll of 16,262 people in more than 20 countries varied widely with only six percent of French residents believing in an impending Armageddon in their lifetime, compared to 22 percent in Turkey and the United States and slightly less in South Africa and Argentina.

But only seven percent in Belgium and eight percent in Great Britain feared an end to the world during their lives.

About one in 10 people globally also said they were experiencing fear or anxiety about the impending end of the world in 2012. The greatest numbers were in Russia and Poland, the fewest in Great Britain.

Gottfried also said that people with lower education or household income levels, as well as those under 35 years old, were more likely to believe in an apocalypse during their lifetime or in 2012, or have anxiety over the prospect.

"Perhaps those who are older have lived long enough to not be as concerned with what happens to their future," she explained.

Ipsos questioned people in China, Turkey, Russia, Mexico, South Korea, Japan, the United States, Argentina, Hungary, Poland, Sweden, France, Spain, Belgium, Canada, Australia, Italy, South Africa, Great Britain, Indonesia, Germany.

[The Jay]

Reuters also called the May Day Occupy in New York a dud.

[Firebrand]

Do you know that an alternative interpretation of the whole mayan calander thing is that the word end might actually mean change, so that would mean that the world would change in 2012. Hmmm revolution 2012 :D
I use that one to mess with the brains of doomday predictors. Its amazing how quickly they back off when you start arguing that the mayans predicted world revolution.

[WanderingCactus]

I wish the world would end this year. I've got shit I'd still like to do, sure, but it'd also be pretty damn cool to go out at the very end.

[Book O'Dead]

Yes, the world is coming, coming, coming...

One big orgasm.

Also, in the You Tube era, the end of the world will find plenty of people with viddie cams ready to capture it and be the first to post it on line.

[Zav]

Do you know that an alternative interpretation of the whole mayan calander thing is that the word end might actually mean change, so that would mean that the world would change in 2012. Hmmm revolution 2012 :D
I use that one to mess with the brains of doomday predictors. Its amazing how quickly they back off when you start arguing that the mayans predicted world revolution.
I'm going to use that. The Doomsday 2012 crowd annoys me.

It could wait five years. I may be an Anarchist, but Revolution 2017 would be so much more awesome, especially in Russia.

[Os Cangaceiros]

I'm one of the 6 out of 7 who thinks that we won't be that lucky.

[bcbm]

i am down for some good ol fashioned millenarian rabble rousing. we must create the end of the world and bring on the kingdom of god

[bcbm]

by killing the rich

[Ele'ill]

On the day the world ends
A bee circles a clover,
A fisherman mends a glimmering net.
Happy porpoises jump in the sea,
By the rainspout young sparrows are playing
And the snake is gold-skinned as it should always be.

On the day the world ends
Women walk through the fields under their umbrellas,
A drunkard grows sleepy at the edge of a lawn,
Vegetable peddlers shout in the street
And a yellow-sailed boat comes nearer the island,
The voice of a violin lasts in the air
And leads into a starry night.

And those who expected lightning and thunder
Are disappointed.
And those who expected signs and archangels' trumps
Do not believe it is happening now.
As long as the sun and the moon are above,
As long as the bumblebee visits a rose,
As long as rosy infants are born
No one believes it is happening now.

Only a white-haired old man, who would be a prophet
Yet is not a prophet, for he's much too busy,
Repeats while he binds his tomatoes:
No other end of the world will there be,
No other end of the world will there be.


80--RJaMkFw

[bcbm]

ugh i knew open mic night on revleft was a bad idea

[Ele'ill]

ugh i knew open mic night on revleft was a bad idea

the end of the world is an open mic night

[Psy]

Speaking of 2012 doomsday:
j-rxe9Ayb8c

[Hexen]

This whole "2012 end of the world" nonsense is hyperbole due to Western misunderstanding of Maya mythology/culture due to Christianity that is deeply embedded in our society.

Yao9JgQrklM

[Omsk]

We should not believe in idiotic doomsday prophecies and you should be disciplined not to open a million useless threads every day.

[zoot_allures]

I doubt the end of the world is coming anytime soon, but I wouldn't be surprised if major, global societal collapse happens in my lifetime.

[BE_]

It's all bullshit. The world isn't going to end, and there won't be a "revolution" or a "world change" like they say.

[Althusser]

Goddamn some people are stupid. I don't like to go off on rants about the stupidity of some people, but I had a conversation with someone in my school who seriously believes in the four horsemen of death.

His argument: The Four horsemen of death exist. War, famine, pestilence and death continue to happen on this earth; therefore, the four horsemen exist as invisible sentient beings.

I could have laughed. I could have said, "You're a fucking moron." But I know I'll be seeing him again in the future. So I said, "Water exists." Does that mean there is an invisible "water being" or "god of water" that lurks the earth.

[Magón]

I just can't wait for the end, because then I tell you all you were fucking wrong.

[ed miliband]

can't believe nobody has trotted out the now cliche "it's easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism" line yet

[Deicide]

David icke was right! I was right.. I told you I wasn't craaaaazy..

[Klaatu]

Unprecedented Maya Mural Found, Contradicts 2012 "Doomsday" Myth
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2012/05/120510-maya-2012-doomsday-calendar-end-of-world-science/

[Rusty Shackleford]

ZD74-1G9o_U

[nomad05273k]

I love a good conspiracy theory but c'mon...the end of the world...

[ÑóẊîöʼn]

The world's not going to end any time soon. Even this recession crap we're going through is a manifestation of contradictions in the macro-socioeconomic structure; it's not like a whole load of mines and factories and people have burned down or sunk or exploded.

All that bullshit like conspiracy theories and apocalypticism does is to paper over the fact that capitalism is inherently unstable and quite simply not fit for the ethically required function of maintaining the well-being and dignity of the greater portion of humanity.

[Valdyr]

"End of the world" movements and sentiments become increasingly popular as the existing order becomes destabilized (capitalism), because in a way, there is a possibility that the world as we know it (capitalism) may come to an end.

Not to say capitalism will actually fall in 2012 (I wish), but this is at least one of the dynamics behind the emergence of apocalyptic movements I think.

[Zealot]

This stupid shit won't die down until it's December 22 and then shortly after there will be another idiot making a different prediction. I hate these charlatans; they keep getting my hopes up.

[freethinker]

Superstition is so sad..

:glare:

[ВАЛТЕР]

A lot of it comes from bullshit conspiracy theories which are being further propagated by the media. I mean the History Channel is constantly having shows about Masons and Aliens and other nonsense.

Conspiracy theories serve bourgeois interests as they are defeatist. So of course now that capitalism is in crisis, the conspiracy nuts are out and about spouting a bunch of nonsense.

[honest john's firing squad]

(Reuters) - One in seven people are fucking morons, according to a new poll.
http://www.revleft.com/vb/yoyoyoyoyo

[Mr. Natural]

The organization of capitalism is mortally opposed to the organization of life. Capitalism acts as a cancer of living systems, and capitalism's globalization has effectively metastasized life on Earth.

So we're absolutely fucked as things stand. The human species will either be extincted under capitalist relations or returned to a New Stone Age without anything to hunt and gather on an ecologically devastated planet.

Is it time yet to develop an effective revolutionary organizing theory? Just asking.

My red-green, let's-get-organized best.

[The Machine]

by killing the rich

"Anyone who comes on this board and advocates death to others by violent means or condones terrorism will be banned"

ruh roh

[Rusty Shackleford]

"Anyone who comes on this board and advocates death to others by violent means or condones terrorism will be banned"

ruh roh
nah, you can do it peacefully. plus, they arent 'others,' they're just parasites. so, dont fret my friend!

[Klaatu]

Originally Posted by honest john's firing squad
(Reuters) - One in seven people are fucking morons, according to a new poll. If that many morons are fucking, that also means they are reproducing! :scared: :D