Prophesies and predictions about a dreadful future and the end of the world have existed for thousands of years and continue today. There is a fascination in thinking about, and thus preparing yourself mentally for, the worst-case scenario. Who hasn’t thought about what they would do if a major disaster affected them or their family? While some of the predictions have come true, sort of, and current dire warnings may come true in the future, a review of some of the predictions, allegations, and facts seems in order.

Though one could go back further, let us begin with Nostradamus. He began writing his astrologically based four-line quatrain predictions beginning in 1555. In the almost 500 years since, some can be characterized as coming true especially those earlier ones concerning events which might have been predicted by any astute political observer. His most famous prediction, which has definitely not come true, is that the “King of Terror” would rain down from the skies in 1999 and remain for seven months.

The Reverend Thomas Robert Malthus theorized that the population of the earth will, sooner or later, be held in check by famine and disease. Though there are still hungry people in the world today and short-term famines have caused loss of lives, the Earth supports vastly many more people than 200 years ago and modern agriculture enables us to produce huge quantities of food. The Industrial Revolution exponentially increased the production of food and goods for all people.

In the 1970s the “global cooling” prophecy took hold. Dr. George Wald, a biologist from Harvard, said, during the first celebrations of Earth Day in 1970, “Civilization will end within 15-30 years unless immediate action is taken.” If that “end of the world” prediction had come true, we would not be here today and would have been gone for the last 15 years.

During the 1990s, alarmists began talking about “Y2K.” The Y2K crisis began when someone realized that computers were only programed to record the last two digits of the year, not the first two. Asking if this would make a differEW,ence to the smooth mathematical operations of your computer system was a logical and sensible question. The worldwide, hysterical response was not.

What is the moral of the story? The world has been predicted to be ending many times. It has not. Should we “protect” the earth and treat it with respect? Yes, of course. We should treat both the Earth and the people who inhabit it with respect. Does that mean we need government and elite, self-appointed leaders to dictate our every action? No, we need government and these people to get out of the way.

Imagination and hard work has solved most of our problems, resulting in a standard of living for a vast number of people which was unimaginable years ago. That same imagination and hard work, by mostly unsung heroes, has made fools of many, many supposedly smart and wise people and negated their dire predictions. The world hasn’t ended yet, and isn’t likely to anytime soon. And if it does, the government bureaucrats, regulators, and tax collectors can’t stop it.

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and not necessarily those of the Public Interest Institute. They are brought to you in the interest of a better informed citizenry.

Deborah D. Thornton is a former Research Analyst with Public Interest Institute in Mount Pleasant, Iowa. Web site: www.LimitedGovernment.org. Contact her at Public.Interest.Institute@LimitedGovernment.org.