LETTER | Doomsday has slipped in by the backdoor

LETTER | Doomsday could mean a day or time of catastrophic destruction and death of the world as we know it. Exactly when it would happen could be anyone’s guess. In 1947, scientists created the Doomsday Clock to warn mankind how close the world could be destroyed by nuclear weapons.

The furthest the clock had been set was 17 minutes to midnight after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The closest ever was last year when it was set at 100 seconds to midnight, citing “a breakdown in the international order” of nuclear actors and lack of action on climate change.

A mass detonation of nuclear weapons could easily cause widespread destruction and radioactive fallout globally. As of today, there are 13,410 nuclear weapons and just one could destroy a major city and kill millions of people.

While the complete and final destruction of the world could happen swiftly in a nuclear apocalypse, a series of pandemics could also wipe out mankind over a decade or century. As time is relative, 10 or 100 years may just be a split second compared to the age of the universe.

If we are unable to control this Covid-19 pandemic, the world could be destroyed over the next decade. Even if successful, people may not be able to deal with a series of pandemics over the next century. If so, mankind is doomed but most of the flora and fauna would probably thrive.

The only way to save mankind is to change the ugly side of human nature, which has remained unchanged since the dawn of civilisation. However, survival is possible when the greater good of society is accorded greater importance than personal freedom, convenience and desires.

What happened in Wuhan just after the novel coronavirus outbreak was starkly different from recent events in Europe, particularly on July 17 in France, when 114,000 people protested at 137 locations against vaccination that could help fight the rapid surge of Covid-19 infections.

Selfishness is everywhere and prevalent in our society led by greedy politicians reaping personal gains using the name of race, religion and rulers, as there is no shortage of supporters demanding entitlements or waiting for handouts without wanting to put in a fair share of work.

Like the United States, we have regressed more than progressed over the past decades. The decay was overlooked when people could live on credit and the country funded by borrowings but is now left hanging by this pandemic. Alas, doomsday has slipped in by the backdoor.

Should we carry on with business as usual without ensuring justice for all and fair play to triumph, the end could easily happen anytime between a decade and a century from now. We were led into this quandary from the time our leaders set the wrong direction half a century ago.

The same leaders and successors are still bent on continuing this treacherous path without changing course as they have no qualms exploiting the nation at the expense of the rakyat. To reset, a complete overhaul is needed to steer us away from heading straight towards doomsday.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.