Perspective

The end of the world isn’t what it used to be, right? For one thing, it’s closer. And it’s less a single, zombie-fueled event and more of a steady, slow-motion unraveling—a collection of crises (or, as the French might call it, un clusterfuck).

One need only to glance at the headlines to see the rise of a world profoundly different from the one most of us have known: [insert individual cause of today’s weltschmerz]. Even as technological breakthroughs promise clean energy, abundant food, and ways to sound really smart in emails to your boss, they require guardrails we seem unable—or unwilling—to create.

I’ve been in enough airport lines to understand why people think we’re doomed. What challenges us isn’t a lack of solutions; It’s our refusal to act on them. Solving climate collapse, authoritarianism, and inequality demands the sacrifice of comfort, money, and power for the sake of a future we won’t enjoy personally.

Lately, I’ve heard mutterings of “let it burn.” I get it. Nihilism winks at me seductively from across the bar, too. Maybe I’m wired wrong, but that sentiment disturbs me. Ever the fool, my hope runs too deep (cue perpetual heartbreak). And humankind has a knack for resilience, somehow surviving countless existential threats—or at least kicking the can far enough down the road to say, “Phew—that was a close one, Jim!” in bold Comic Sans. So, while we teeter on the brink, we also have great potential to teeter the other way.

This issue explores the question of “the end of the world” from every angle: the macro, the micro, and everything in between. Our contributors offer imaginative takes—stories, reflections, and flights of fancy—that grapple with endings and beginnings, reimagine what “the end” means, and explore how we might navigate a world on the brink.

The “tragedy of the commons” warns that shared resources, when left unchecked, will be exploited to ruin. But it also shows us that collective action can preserve what matters. Hope—and action—isn’t guaranteed. It’s a choice. And perhaps, in the end, it’s our greatest invention.

With hope,

Xx Bangs

-----------------------------------------------

Allison Bothley is a writer and mom based in Orangeville, Ontario. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from the New School and her work has been published in the Globe and Mail, Tones of Citrus, and The White Wall Review. Allison is the creator and publisher of BANGS zine and a supporting member of the Dufferin Arts Council.

@bangs_zine