|
|
 |
MANGAWHAI'S NO.1 NEWSPAPER
|
|
|
Beginnings, Odds and EndsThe world's end predicted due to the expiry of the Mayan calendar was really a bit of a fizzer. Some called it 'the worst apocalypse ever'. But personally I've had worse. My brother in law reckons that the world did actually end but no one noticed. Some mused that perhaps the Mayan calendar makers had fudged a decimal point or forgotten to carry the ‘2’ or something and were a month or so out.
But no, we've made it through another year and it seems we're stuck on this wobbly old world for a bit longer. Whatever way you want to look at it, the sudden and conclusive end of the world and cessation of all human life is just a bit too cosy and comfortable to be true. It can now be officially stated that the end of the world has been postponed due to technical difficulties and will be rescheduled at a future date not yet determined. Of course global disaster (natural or otherwise), cosmic cataclysm, or wrath of God aside there is no guarantee that the end will not come for any one of us at any time – especially as it most certainly will come for all of us some time. After all, dying is not difficult, any fool can do it and all are expected to sooner or later. Indeed it can be as simple as falling off a log. The woman camper accidentally shot while brushing her teeth was probably expecting to carry on a bit longer, illustrating once again the irony of life or, in this case, death. Had she known that death would claim her that night I doubt whether she would have bothered to clean her teeth. Had she not cleaned her teeth she would in all likelihood still be alive. Now another year has died of natural causes and must be laid to rest, a new year has been born and christened 2014 by other than the Mayans. Will it see any improvement in the world that spawned it? Is it a sickly child? Will it be a case of postnatal depression? Another dysfunctional family? Has the father been located and what level of support is he offering a young 2014 as it grows? We live in the days of miracles and wonders. A high speed, wireless, digital, user friendly, social networking, technologically adept, secular, scientific, safe society – or so we say. In spite of all this, or maybe in some ways because of it, humanity still grapples with problems as old as (or maybe even older) than the world itself. Today’s 7 billion strong global village has few actual differences from villages anywhere at any time. The peasants still till the fields, the serfs still labour long. Lords still fill their barns by exploiting the work of vassals, and many too is the knight errant prepared to tilt a lance for the cause. Highwaymen pirates, smugglers and pillagers are still in abundance – as is the village idiot who remains with us in ever-increasing numbers. There is no shortage of them. A fair percentage do very well in the entertainment industry. The rest, it seems, take up careers in politics.
|
|
FOLLOW US  
|
CONTACT US
|