2012 Panic Grips Public

The movie 2012 and all of the promotion surrounding the film has already set off a mild panic attack among the public. Things will likely get really hectic and strange in the days leading up to the December 21st, 2012 “end of the world” date stated in the movie.

End of the world concerns have always been with us, says Alexander Riley, a sociology professor at Bucknell University who’s incorporated eschatology (the study of the end times) into his college courses.

Last weekend’s box-office smash hit “2012″ primarily uses an ancient Mayan prophecy to spin a tale of world destruction. “It’s been a constant part of the landscape in the Western world for a long time,” he says, though it’s been particularly present in recent times, perhaps driven by ever-quickening social and technological change, he adds.

The hype and fears surrounding 2012 are much like those that developed during the coming of the year 2000 and the fears about technological collapse — in the form of the Y2K bug.

“We love adrenaline,” says Peter Hankoff, a writer-producer of documentaries for the National Geographic Channel and the Discovery Channel, among others. “We always have this need to be vigilant or hypervigilant. So when something like this comes on our radar of the possibility of the end, it peaks our adrenaline level. … We love disaster, and we love to avert it.”

“The problem is, when you’re faced with the facts, and faced with finding real concrete proof … 2 plus 2 equals 4, no matter how many times you add it up.” Believing in the end offers power to the dispossessed, he adds: “[If] there’s this level of feeling of insignificance, what’s the greatest equalizer in the world? The end of the world.”

There are already reports of NASA being flooded with email from people requesting information and voicing their concerns about the year 2012. Some people have even stated their intention to kill themselves rather than waiting for the horrible destruction as depicted in the 2012 movie.

It would be a mistake for governments around the world to discount the fears surrounding 2012 and not at least try to calm the public. People can and do believe the most incredible things. The approach of December 21, 2012 will probably cause far more concern and even terror than the Y2K fiasco of nine years ago.

The great danger to civilized society is that people who believe that the world will end on a date certain may feel unrestrained in their behavior. If people think that there will be no tomorrow there is no telling what they may do today. Normal concerns, even for investors, will become insignificant. Who cares if the dollar goes up or down or if there is a bull or bear move underway in the stock market in the days preceding the end of the world?

The clock is now ticking a countdown to December 21, 2012. What are you planning to do on December 20th?