THE WRECKING BALL OF HYPE

THE WRECKING BALL OF HYPE



One of my major pet peeves is the fact that the whole world celebrated the Millennium at the start of 2000, when it did not actually begin until the start of 2001. The reason 2001 began the Millennium is that the B.C. years to A.D. years transition went like this: "4, 3, 2, 1, 1, 2, 3, 4...." There was no 0 B.C. or 0 A.D. With no zero in the system, the years went from 1 B.C. directly to 1 A.D. So, basically, math is not our society's strong suit, when it is believed that 1 + 2000 = 2000. It doesn't; it equals 2001, but the global ignorance was unsurpassed as we watched magnificent celebrations for 24 hours, as we crossed time zones, via television, from the comfort of our living rooms. But we were watching the cataclysmic fall of reason to the wrecking ball of hype, as we rang in a one thousand nine hundred ninety-nine year Millennium, wearing a necklace of genuine faux pearls that we also fell for. The number 2000 ends in three goose eggs, representing pop culture's collective IQ.

Even my own intellectual preening is moot. Jesus was actually born in 6 or 5 B.C. (Before Christ). Yes, Christ was actually born "Before Christ." When setting up our current calendar system based on the year of our Lord, supposed human intelligence fell prey once again to reality. After all that calculating, we were obviously off by a few years.

And now, in the Era of Tolerance, naming the years after Jesus cannot be tolerated. No longer "Before Christ" or "anno Domini," we now live in C.E. (the "Common Era"), and the years before "the religious figure preferably erased from history" are now titled B.C.E. ("Before the Common Era"). The world makes it circuit in a cosmic wasteland, where we worship numbers and forget the "One" who made us, preferring compassionate math that calls no answer wrong.



© JONATHAN TAD KETCHEN (JTK.CA)
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