"Dedicated to doomsday hopefuls everywhere..."
I don't think I really put much thought into that when I made it the tagline of this blog. It sounded funny, and it sort of fit the theme I was going for. Or maybe it just fit with my own long standing draw toward apocalyptic themes.
Lately, though, when I open the blog and think about whether to post something, I find myself wondering what that tagline actually means. The blog started as a joke. Somewhere along the way, it turned into a mirror.
What is so bad about modern living, anyway?
I think the biggest and most obvious draw is actually pretty simple. People cannot stand the modern reality we find ourselves in and inevitably think, "Even post apocalyptic doom could be better than this."
By becoming preppers, a lot of people are really just fantasizing about a life more aligned with our base survival instincts. We have systems in our DNA, at least in my view, that sit mostly dormant in a world where survival is taken for granted by the masses. Certainly by people who somehow believe an apocalypse would be preferable.
Meanwhile, people in third world countries dream of having first world problems.
I get the urge to escape what I will call first world modern reality. Nine to five jobs suck. We are bombarded with ads for things we do not need and do not even want throughout our waking lives, and probably our dreams soon enough. Governments are corrupt. Working for corporations is arguably a form of modern slavery, just with nicer clothes and less obvious chains. Believe me, I get all of that.
Still, would an apocalypse really be better?
Doomsday Parties, revisited
I started this blog after writing a post about Doomsday Parties, funny at least to me. I had been watching the Doomsday Preppers show and was honestly kind of disgusted by the whole thing.
On the one hand, it was people being exploited by a TV network, encouraged to broadcast their worst instincts and quirks for entertainment. On the other hand, it was genuinely delusional behavior on display. People stockpiling booze so they could establish a post collapse barter economy.
Really? That was the plan?
Those were the kinds of thoughts running through my head when I started all this.
For my part, I love post apocalyptic everything. I played Gamma World with friends as a teenager. I have always been drawn to world ending movies, whether they involved religion, zombies, nukes, or all of the above. I still love the Fallout games. I still occasionally end a game of Civilization by nuking at least one enemy before achieving victory.
Which is probably a sign that I should never be given the keys to the nukes. Ever.
At the end of the day, though, I recognize the draw these themes have for me. It is a weird form of escapism. Real life is hard sometimes, and unlike Gamma World or Fallout, there is no reset button.
Those games let me simulate survival instincts that modern life mostly suppresses. When those instincts do surface, it is usually because a layoff is looming, or some asshole cuts you off and flips you the finger while you are already driving 85 in a 70. For most people, outside of first responders or military service, those instincts just do not get exercised anymore.
And that is probably the real fantasy. Not the end of the world, but the return of clarity. Fewer abstractions. Fewer meetings about meetings. A life where actions matter immediately and consequences are obvious.
So why Doomsday Seekers, then?
Sure, it is an escape from an otherwise dull existence in the corporate meat grinder. But beyond that, I just enjoy it.
I do not actually want the world to end. I just want something to interrupt it.
I have been leaning too hard into AI lately, and let's face it - everyone who would bother reading this blog has at least a vague fantasy or fear involving Skynet. That stuff is not going anywhere. But I want to get back to why I started this in the first place.
If you are here for the same reasons I am, you probably already know what I mean.
This is not about rooting for collapse. It is about acknowledging our collective fascination with it, and maybe laughing at ourselves a little along the way.
