Vetspective: Is it the End of the World as We Know It?

Originally published by RallyPoint; authored by Alex Gallo

“It’s the end of the world as we know it…and I feel fine…”

This is how Michael Stipe, the lead singer of REM, in a deadpan style and something of a call-and-response pattern frames his knotty, raggle-taggle stream of consciousness about the state of the world in REM’s popular 1987 song, “It’s the end of the world as we know it.”

These days, this song too often seems to play in the back of my mind as I intellectually and emotionally navigate our complex, 21st century world.

Russia invading Ukraine: “It’s the end of the world as we know it.”

COVID and Omicron: It’s the end of the world as we know it?”

My New York Giants: “It’s the end of the world as we know it!”

This state of mind and the associated events have become part of the soundtrack of our lives. A soundtrack that has come so hard, so fast, and so seemingly unrelenting that I do sometimes wonder: Is this the end of the world as we know it? But the next thing I always say to myself is: “I feel fine…” Why?