I couldn’t think of a better or more fitting title for this post today. This morning, shortly after logging on for work, news of the bombing in Afghanistan came across the wire. The whole situation over there has been a mess over the last 20 years, but noticeably so especially over these last few weeks as the US has started pulling out. A number of people were killed, including US service persons. Another tragic loss of life. But even so, this alone certainly isn’t “apocalypse worthy.” But one has to take in the context of everything else that’s going on right now. And it’s a LOT.

And the thing about what’s going on is that some of the events are global, and pose existential threats to our species. Of course the major one in that category I am speaking of is climate change. It has been just relentless this year, and reared its head in SO many different ways and places: killer heatwaves, unprecedented rainfalls that have caused deadly flooding, rain in places it’s never rained before, extreme drought in other places, exacerbating/contributing to massive wildfires. It’s just off the charts this last year or two. Even the most skeptical folks are starting to wake up to the reality that the climate is changing, RAPIDLY.

Then there is the covid pandemic – a truly global phenomenon that has touched every country on earth I believe. Of course, chances of it wiping out the entire species are extremely low, especially considering the fact that humanity has made it through other ones – the flu of 1918, the Black Death in the Middle Ages, etc. However, it exposes something else that most certainly DOES pose an existential threat, and that is a level of willful ignorance and disregard for the lives of others, including children, that is truly shocking – even to old cynics like me. The stuff that is going on in Florida and Texas right now, it’s right out of a dystopian novel. And it’s easy enough to just tell ourselves that those are isolated pockets of insanity. But I have a number of friends whose spouses or other family members are avid conspiracy theorists. My wife works with a woman who is one, as is her husband. There are far more of these people out there than any of us would like to believe – and they definitely pose a threat to our species. Imagine if covid had like a 90% mortality rate, and we were trying to contain it, with all their misinformation. It would be a BAD thing for humanity, for sure.

And what drives that existential threat is the rise and global reach and influence of social media. In fact, someone who commented on my last video mentioned that and asked if I would address the dark mentalists more in my next one, especially in the context of social media, explain if/how they are using it to do what they do. Absolutely, they are using it, and it is DEFINITELY having a negative impact on our world, as referenced above. Another effect is has is creating this situation right here:

https://www.cnn.com/videos/business/2021/08/25/onlyfans-ban.cnn

Now to be sure, social media didn’t create the whole “women as sexual objects” thang. No, that’s been around for a long, LONG time. But it has certainly increased the visibility of women and girls as she, and also increased the expectations on what a “pretty” girl is supposed to look like. It has also laid bare just how screwed up our values as a society are: we value this woman more for her face, butt and boobs than we do her skills as a healthcare worker – and all of this in the time of a pandemic. Honestly, that article is what sent me over the “apocalypse edge” today. If there were any better example of a modern day Babylon…

This is all good and well, we are in the apocalypse, the end of days is here, yadda yadda yadda lol. But so what – what can we do about it? Well, that’ what I’m here for! I am planning on doing a 2, maybe more, part video series called “Crash Course on Spiritual Survival” during which I am going to talk about the spirituality I practice, how it is grounded (as I see it) in science, why that’s important, and then the actual spiritual dynamics of what’s happening, the focus on ignorance over evil, and how – just as Willy said – we all have the same ultimate destiny – to be healers. I even made an outline, on the suggestion of a fellow “doomscroller” I have gotten to know via Twitter.

I’m looking forward to doing the vid, and am going to try a different technique for video capture – going to just use my phone instead of the computer. It will give me more flexibility, and I think the video will look better. I will be curious to see if anything ELSE happens between now and then. I did notice a post about this sunspot today, and had a bit of a prescient feeling about it… who knows, we’ll see if it pops off like I am thinking it might. If it does, well, there will just be another thing to talk about it!