Bill Odiwuor Kawaka

The 2012 death theory, often believed to have been prophesied by the Mayans, says that the world spontaneously ended on December 21, 2012 because of some cataclysmic event. This idea caused mass hysteria for various reasons. Wikipedia states that in Maya literature, the idea of “world ages” is a tradition written about throughout history. According to the Popol Vuh, the gods had created three worlds that all failed before our current one. The world before ours, or maybe the world before 2012, ended after 5,125 days through the Mayan “Long Count,” leading to the modern belief that the Earth would expire on the next long count, 12/21/2012.

Even common phenomena have been linked to post-2012 hysteria, like the Mandela Effect, doppelgängers, and déjà vu.

But why even bring this up? We are 14 years removed from the so-called “end of the world.”

It is because of an observation I made through my sabbatical from social media. The world we live in during the modern age feels so fake, manufactured for profit, and filled with greed and indoctrination. Sure, this is not breaking news, but exploring the specific reasons why life feels so bad nowadays could open up space for actionable change.

Some examples include the privatization of privacy, like Flock cameras, or monotone piñatas. There is also manufactured discourse. Have you ever seen someone online who is so comically incorrect or flat-out evil when talking about political information? Next time, look at their account. If it is private and has fewer than 50 followers, or something equivalent, there is a good chance it is a manufactured bot created to systematically divide us.

Or even just the abundance of things everywhere. It feels like everyone is trying to sell you something, waste your time, or turn your attention into profit. In America at least, food quality has declined while the cost of living healthy has become almost unsustainable. This commercialized world has destroyed the love for quality, community, and raw passion, and that pisses me off.

But even I am a hypocrite. Every day, I strive to be better than I was before.

Negativity is so easy to spread. I believe hatred is poison, a ticking time bomb that will lead you to ruin. If there is any hope in this world, it comes from people like Gagan Singh, a second-generation farmer based in Abbotsford, British Columbia. He started a community group-buying system that provides healthy fruits, vegetables, and meat directly from farmers to the community, helping cut the cost of produce.

Although it is a small victory, it gives me hope to believe that as long as human nature persists, there is hope for our future.

Talk to me

Anywhere online @odiwrLinkedInGitHubGmailInstagram or o@odiwr.com.