It is worth noting that the Mayans did not predict that the world would end on 12/21/2012. All they did was choose to end one cycle of their calendar, and begin another. Using that to predict doomsday is like saying that the world would end every December 31st when people swap out their calendars for the new year.
For whatever reason, this apocalypse prediction has received record amounts of attention, but it's not the only one out there. Cult leaders, New Age pseudo-scientists, and overly panicked sci-fi writers have been predicting the end of the world for over a century, and darned but if the sun don't insist on rising the next day, but they attract followers in swarms regardless. If one was to count all these failed Ragnaroks by way of tally marks, you could probably cover both sides of an 8.5x11 sheet of paper. But the continuation of the world hasn't stopped the continuation of prophecies, nor of people's belief in them.
American media hasn't been shy about cashing in on all the hullabaloo, either. Nat Geo has no less than three 2012 TV shows, including one that overtly emphasizes that yes, the world will end. (They also have the series Doomsday Preppers.) There's also been a movie and multiple videogames making a quick buck out of the panic (although in terms of chaos, the USA is only the second most 2012ed country; the blue ribbon goes to Russia).
Why? is the eternal question. What is so appealing about the end of all things? Perhaps it's comforting to have an unsolvable problem because you have an excuse not to solve it. As Lois Bujold wrote, "If nothing can be done, then you're not some kind of s*** for not doing it." Is there something about the way the world is today that makes people want to tear it all down and start from scratch? That makes them sound like anarchists. Do they have some idea that by believing in the day of reckoning they can survive it? Is it just handy to know when everything will come crumbling down, so that they're ready for it? Comment please, and explain these crazy humans to me.
I had forgotten all about this until I read your post! You make a good point in your second paragraph about how if the mayans "predicted" the end of the world, then we would "predict" that every Dec. would be the end. I think a lot of people are really using the upcoming "apocolypse" as a joke. For example, last year our school put on a show called Lagniappe and the whole thing was based around joking about the Mayan "prediction". Also, I think people are kind of using it as an excuse to do crazy things. So, when someone asks them why they just did that crazy or stupid thing they can say, "because we're about to die anyway!"
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