As the new American president took office on January 20, 2017, the dooms day clock advanced thirty seconds, to two and a half minutes before midnight, the closest it's been to midnight since the end of the cold war. The clock moves forward when the risk of human extinction increases and moves back when it decreases, as it did after the fall of the Berlin wall.
With the rising tide of extreme right-wing authoritarian politics and extreme wealth and income inequality, humanity may be on its last legs.
The following dialogue is between two chimpanzees named Abu and Mabu: I use A and M to distinguish the speaker.
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M: Did I tell you about the big kaboom?
A: What's that?
M: Well, guns that kill people and animals go bang and big guns used to kill a lot of people go kaboom! They're much more powerful. The big kaboom is gazillion times more powerful than those that just go kaboom! It's the one that can destroy entire tribes, and enough of them can destroy Mother Earth!
A: What's the reason for it?
M: The biggest tribes in the world went on a race for dominance of the planet: the one with the most big kabooms gets bragging rights and gets more respect at inter-tribal gatherings.
A: Now, that's just preposterous! They're putting Mother Earth at risk over a pissing contest?
M: That's not exactly what humans would say, but you put it rather well!
A: How do humans put it?
M: They believe, or are made to believe, that the more big kabooms they have, the safer they will be.
A: They actually believe that?
M: Humans can be made to believe anything. With well-oiled propaganda machines, those in power can tell the masses that black is white and they will be believed.
A: It can't be! They're intelligent people!
M: If they were so intelligent, why have they built so much destructive power that can blow up the planet to smithereens?
A: It's just insane! Is their mission to destroy Mother Earth?
M: Even though they already have way more than enough destructive power to do that, they continue to have contests to see which tribe can build the most!
A: That's beyond insanity!
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What will it be, an environmental holocaust, nuclear holocaust, or biological holocaust? Our astute world leaders have been working feverishly to build up the arsenals and can deliver all three. Much has been done in the name of national security, but such stockpiles will one day destroy life on earth. For a while, the stockpiles were being reduced, but now the race is on again.
The dooms day clock is ticking: it's just a matter of time! And when the time comes, our mission on earth will have been achieved: we will have proved our distant cousins right. But is destruction of Mother Earth our real mission?
CZYTASZ
The Crazy Apes: A Satire of Human Society
LosoweA baby gorilla asks his father, "What are humans?" The father replies, "They are monkeys without hair, who believe they are masters of everything around them. They build shelters that go up to the sky. Their ego and greed know no limits and take fro...
