Devil's Advocate

In 2003 when the war wagons hit their peak leading up to 'shock and awe', I explained my theory to a friend of mine during a car ride. It went something like this:

"We're gonna invade Iraq, which had nothing to do with September 11th, and we're gonna flush all the good will we've built up worldwide down the toilet. Muslim countries will hate us more, we'll wind up encouraging another generation of suicide bombers, and because wars cost a shitload of money we're gonna bankrupt ourselves, and that balanced budget Clinton delivered a couple of years ago will be a sad memory. All the people being shouted down as un-American for dissenting now will play 'I told you so' roles and the whole country is going to slide into a massive collapse in ten years."

My friend, who I no longer talk to for reasons unrelated to that, told me I was being over-dramatic.

So I've spent the last year looking at all these worldwide disasters, natural and man-made, environmental and economic, and I'm starting to think all these little strands that are hanging out there, if you draw them together, maybe, just maybe, the end is really nigh. Maybe 2012 is going to be a massive upheaval that ends life as we know it.

Or, maybe the global crush for instant news that was obscure years ago just brings stuff to light that usually went unnoticed, and nothing is really happening at all. 

Or maybe I've just had too much to drink tonight, and I really can't see things happening before they actually happen. And I'm also watching War, Inc. and convinced that movies this bad starring John Cusack as a hitman (again) are surely a sign of an apocalypse.