End of civilization prediction may not be too far-fetched

Way back in the 1970s, a brainy group of MIT professors and researchers developed a computer model that predicted the “end of civilized life as we know it” by 2040.

And as part of that computer prediction, the first major change that will usher in this decayed social structure will occur in 2020.

Now please understand, predictions on the apocalypse are a dime a dozen. In fact, two “end-of-civilization” predictions based on scripture came and went within the past two months. Remember the “blood moon” soothsayer forecast two weeks ago?

Given that the 1970s prediction came from the highly-respected minds at MIT, it’s worth exploring their thought process.

The MIT model was based on trends in “pollution levels, population growth, availability of natural resources and quality of life.”

And to be fair, some of those dire forecasts have proven true.

But what grabs your attention is the 2020 date as the starting point for this global disaster.

With that magical date just around the corner, it obviously brings to mind a Presidential election.

Coincidence? Perhaps.

I put little stock in such dire predictions. And though I disagree with the rationale of this MIT forecast, it does make you think.

If civilization as we know it is in its final stages, it will not come from pollution or over population. The lack of civility will be the ruin of civilization.

And it doesn’t take an MIT researcher to see the erosion of civility that has become our world.

Long-abandoned civil discourse has been replaced with angry polarization. The battle lines are no longer blurred. It has become us versus them. And each of us is left with defining the us and the them.

Peaceful protests have been replaced with violence. Fiery rhetoric leads to open wounds, and anarchy today is more than just a word from the history books.

Long-simmering racial tensions have resurfaced to new levels of hostility. The tsunami of illegal immigration clearly threatens society on countless levels. And the open hostility on other issues of the day relegates civility to the back burner.

The core problem is the lack of an obvious path out of this newfound anger and distrust.

One stark observation of this computer model prediction is at the center of this downward spiral.

“Sovereignty of nations is no longer absolute. There is a gradually diminishing of sovereignty, little by little by little.”

Absent the ability of nations to control their borders, this long-forgotten prediction may well come true.