ABSTRACT
We listened to the prophecies preceding the millennium. Words, words, words… Was it possible that men from Mars were going to land in our midst? That only those with access to an updated Noah’s arc would be saved come midnight of December 31? Was God to punish us all for our excesses—in ways only the media’s talking heads had advance knowledge? The French designer, Paco Rabane even envisaged huge planets that would come crashing to earth, and destroy all kinds of life, turning our world into ashes. Since that did not happen, many of his countrymen were celebrating their survival with a glass of wine, “le pot des survivants,” on January 1, 2000. On that day, our media went all out to announce, among other nonsense, that: “billions rejoice as era begins with few glitches,” that “the human spirit [is] at a threshold,” that we are “embarking on a new era, where the possibility of progress is almost endless,” and that “the ecumenium gears up, led by Pope John Paul II.”
