WHAT TIME IS IT?
Uh-oh. (Photo credit AP)
Party time!
The year 2023 has barely begun and already I am faced with a major decision. A decision brought on by a group of scientists who I have never met although, like you, I am familiar with a public pronouncement they make every January.
The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists just gave us the most sobering news of the year, news that will be nearly impossible to overshadow, regardless of what happens with the now seemingly endless classified documents investigations.
No matter if, when or how many times Trump gets indicted on well-earned felony criminal charges, and no matter how much Trump and the media love the attention (and audience ratings) that come with long overdue accountability, it will pale next to the recent announcement by The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.
Cause and effect
The causes of the scientists’ communique are well known. The war in Ukraine, with Putin and NATO playing a game of chicken that includes careless talk of launching nuclear weapons. Challenges not only to democracy worldwide, but attempts to toss out the fundamental principle of the rule of law, which threatens to spiral democracies and authoritarian governments into unthinkable chaos.
Meanwhile, Mother Earth belches and groans like someone whose stomach is overstuffed with fried food, peppers, spices, soda and cheap alcohol. Mother Earth aches like human brains battered by daily overdoses of too often sinister social media platforms. Climate change has become a tsunami, opposed by a mankind without the urgent conviction to stop it.
Former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mary Robinson, succinctly said, “We are on the brink of a precipice. But our leaders are not acting at sufficient speed or scale to secure a peaceful and livable planet.”
Decision time
Like many retired folks, I carefully planned my retirement savings to last a lifetime. But with The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moving the Doomsday Clock to an unprecedented just 90 seconds to midnight, gloom has settled over the Earth like a dense, low fog hovering over a cemetery on Halloween.
Maybe the question is no longer will my retirement stash last another 25 years? The question is how much of it can I spend in 90 seconds?
© 2023 Douglas Freeland / The Weekly Opine. All rights reserved.