And 12/21/12 is the beginning of a new era. After all that is what they really said, not that the world would end...
Culminating in the crumpling of the Republican Party Dec 20, and a number of major tipping points in US society that happened in the last couple months...momentous when added up:
-perhaps now the Republican right wingnuts will become the true minority with governance by Democrats aligning with the few non crazy Rpublicans
-perhaps going over the "fiscal cliff" will give Obama power to lead to a new path out of deficit spending with historically fair tax rates restored for the rich, and as in 1992 putting the country on a path toward a new economic boom
- majority acceptance of gay marriage showing a path to acceptance and closure of this cultural war
-acceptance of legal marijuana demonstrating a path to end the useless drug wars and showing a path to cutting down narco traffickers by cutting off their most lucrative business
-a visceral public reaction to the Newtown massacre peeling off rational people from the NRA and ending their ability to stop all gun controls, ending their invinceability
-Hurricane Sandy demonstrating the danger of global warming and starting a process toward healing the planet
-Fox news dips to irrelevance in keeping seniors awake only by interviewing fake Santa Clauses about fake wars, and losing their credibility and political relevance.
The Maya thought in epochs, not years, and none of these huge issues will resolve in a year. But in a decade or two, we may look back to December 2012 as the beginning of a new age of enlightened thinking, and marginalization of the crazies. And that would indeed be the beginnning of a wonderful new era.