Dear IAJS Membership,
On June 15th, Jon Mills will present his paper to initiate his seminar that will close on the 19th. The paper is below. Also, Jon has recommended that you view his video as a warm up to the discussion and that like is below.
Here is a link to our IAJS discussion list rules for participation for those of you who are unfamiliar with them.
I look forward to opening this seminar in what promises to be a lively discussion.
Robin McCoy BrooksIAJS Online Seminar Chair
Title of Seminar: And Then There were None: On the End of the World
Overview: Once the four horsemen of the apocalypse, namely, flood, famine, fire, and war, including pestilence and death, have been replaced with global pollution and climate change, rapid proliferation in the world population, shrinkage in natural resources such as water and food, terrorism and sects of death, technological hubris and risk (e.g., biogenetics, nanotechnology), economic corruption and squandering, and the prevalence of psychopathology in politics, governance, and national leaders. The problem of evil makes these global prophecies of fate all the more expeditious.
And then something happened: The Event that changed the world. The invisible foe came without warning striking as an aggressive strain of influenza. It consumed people by the masses. Thousands died in a matter of days. The whole country of China was soon under quarantine. Iran, South Korea, Italy, then all of Europe, the Middle East, India, and North America followed. Africa was the straggler. It sprawled throughout every inhabitable continent and infiltrated the planet like a rhizome. Within one week it enveloped the globe.
Rapidly going from denial, to mitigation, to suppression strategies, states of emergency went into effect all over the world. All major sporting and entertainment events were cancelled; all academic conferences, concerts, art museums, theatres, public libraries, places worship—closed. Times Square was empty. Schools, universities, daycares closed. Then followed restaurants, bars, all government agencies, including the courts—institutions of democracy all came under siege. Then came the banks. Supply chains and grocery stores ran dry. Stocks sank, tripping circuit breakers and grinding all trading to a halt. Quarantines enforced. Unemployment soared.
Healthcare systems were completely unprepared. Thousands more died. Hospitals had no beds. Thousands more died due to collateral damage and the inability to receive medical care. Then the preponderance of jobs petered out. The workforce was suspended. Global economic devastation was immediate.
We are witnessing the largest catastrophe in recent human history, a metaphysical weeding out the herd. We don’t know what the future will bring. When the dust settles, the death toll could be in the millions, with new mutations of pathogens released into the atmosphere as we breathe this very moment—the new Black Death.
The seminar is prefaced by this video on the subject of my book I am currently writing.