Look at Y2K. People had their firearms ready and was robbing stores, freaking out over the fact they might die... its 2010 now, nearing 2011... lol
Where I'm going with this is, there will always be talks of "omg [insert year] is going to be our end!". Y2K wasn't the first in centuries that individuals predicted "the end". Both WWI and WWII there were talks and fanatics of the end linked to their current war(s). We still live.
From what I understand, the Mayan calendar is in cycles as stated by another individual. 2012 is the end of the calendar cycle, not the end of the world. The calendar will just start over.
Yes, there is profit involved with 2012 today.
If you notice, there's talks of 2020.
We will be just fine... lol