It's finally happened. Over the past few months, the United States has seen four of the 10 worst hurricanes in its history, a major earthquake in California and the imminent eruption of Washington's Mount St. Helen for the first time in almost a quarter century. The world is in a state of suspended animation as countries from Kenya to Russia wait with fearful apprehension for the next terrorist attack. The most powerful country in the world is losing its influence at a time when its guidance is needed most. And throughout all of it, the public is, by and large, totally oblivious.
That's right folks, you heard it here first: The apocalypse is upon us.
Now, this is by no means a biblical apocalypse. You probably won't see the Messiah, whoever he or she might be to you, riding down State Street on a white donkey any time soon. Nor should you expect pestilence, flaming hail, death to the non-believers or whatever else is in your favorite legend of the end times.
But things are still not all that rosy. Global warming is hitting pretty hard-you can see it here in Madison, as September saw weather that was far better than any this summer. Americans live in perpetual fear of the next terrorist attack even as we are blissfully unaware of what exactly is going on. And we choose not to do anything about it.
Whether you agree or disagree with President Bush (and I freely admit that I am against pretty much everything he does, starting with what he eats for breakfast), our leaders are doing very little to help the situation. Global warming? Why, there's no such thing if you ask Bush. It's probably just another el Ni??o. The terrorist threat? We got that under control by getting involved in Iraq and creating a fertile breeding ground where our troops can get killed. Nuclear proliferation? Who cares? As North Korea, Iran, Pakistan, Israel, India and others all develop nukes that make the whole world less safe, and thousands of old weapons remain unaccounted for in the former Soviet Union, we can always point back to that time when Newt Gingrich stopped the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty, which was signed by dozens of other countries and whose function would have been exactly what it sounds like, from making it through the House of Representatives. And speaking of the former Soviet Union, how much closer to becoming an autocrat does Russian President Vladimir Putin have to get before we stop looking at him as a great ally and start seeing him as a power-hungry man in a power vacuum of a country?
But as much as we may criticize our leaders, the real problem lies within us. If only we would stop talking and start doing, we would all be better off. Political leaders must pander to the uneducated masses in order to get re-elected, and often we are worse off for it. Regular citizens, however, are not accountable to anybody but themselves and their consciences. Criticize Bush's ridiculous environmental initiatives all you want, but the fact is we do nothing to improve the situation when we drive a car to go a quarter of a mile. We can whine about presidential leadership, but many Americans are strangely comforted by having a man in the White House they perceive as an everyman-in other words, just as dumb as you and I. And if the average American bothered to educate himself or herself on the issues, it would become obvious pretty quickly that, despite what some oilmen might have us believe, Jacques Chirac is not a ridiculous coward and Vladimir Putin is far from a champion of democratic ideals.
So yes, friends, the apocalypse is upon us. But it is an apocalypse that, with a little work, we can prevent from happening.
Sam Berns is a senior majoring in political science and religious studies.
