Celebrating the Eschaton as a Rite of Passage

I was 13 years old when Y2K rolled around. I had my stash of MRE's (Meals Ready to Eat). We lit off fireworks, got drunk, and smoked cheap cigars. I wasn't worried per se, but there was that excitement of not really knowing what the future would bring, and the recognition that the future was right at hand.

The post-9/11 babies will be entering the age of pubescence when 2012 rolls around. They will be growing pubic hair, developing acne, learning to masturbate, and sneaking into their parents liquor (or pot). They haven't known a world without youtube, and they've undoubtedly read/watched mounds of conspiracy theory information during their shockingly unsupervised exploration of what us old folks call "cyberspace".

I'm going to suggest that every 12 or 15 years or so that a new date be scheduled for the end of the world so that each generation can celebrate it! What a ritual that would be! What a cool rite of passage. And each generation can hypothesize, create their own frivolous mythologies, be fearful and optimistic, and prepare for the day only to have it pass with little fanfare other than their own parties.

2012 emerged pretty organically. But us grownups are smart. We tell children all kinds of bullshit myths like Santa Clause, the Easter Bunny, etc. Why not collude consciously next time and reschedule the end of the world for the next generation?