New Nineveh

Posted by Baceseras on February 20, 2010 at 20:58

In Reply to: New Nineveh posted by G. Cauldron on February 20, 2010 at 19:04:

: In one episode of the Simpsons, Lisa predicts that in 50 years, the planet will be nigh uninhabitable primarily due to climate change. She refers to this global wasteland as a "New Nineveh." I looked up this phrase, and it doesn't have the connotation Lisa ascribes to it. Any clue as to why the writers chose this term as a kind of synonym for apocalyptic dystopia?

: Thanks much!

[The ecological alarmist Paul Ehrlich with his wife Anne Ehrlich published a book in 2005 called "One with Nineveh," predicting "repent-or-perish" consequences for mankind's environmental failings and sins. The title, "One with Nineveh," is borrowed from Kipling's poem "Recessional," where it stood for vanished kingdoms through history, a reminder to imperial England that empires lose faith and strength, and vanish in time. The "repent-or-perish" theme originates in the biblical Book of Jonah. - B.]