The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists on Jan. 23 announced it had kept the Doomsday Clock at last year’s setting, 90 seconds before midnight. The group, founded in 1947 by Albert Einstein, J. Robert Oppenheimer and some University of Chicago scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project, identifies “ominous trends” that “continue to point the world toward global catastrophe” and symbolically sets the Doomsday Clock to underscore the closeness of these threats “to humanity and the planet.”
Near the end of this year’s statement, we find, “Everyone on Earth has an interest in reducing the likelihood of global catastrophe from nuclear weapons, climate change, advances in the life sciences, disruptive technologies, and the widespread corruption of the world’s information ecosystem.”
Scary as the world is now, we should probably be grateful for the momentary halt and think about what can be done in those precious 90 seconds.
I asked a friend in Texas with whom I regularly text about political matters and we agreed on two things: planting trees and supporting good political candidates.
Both of these seem mandatory.
Positive way forward
Throughout the country, it’s shockingly easy to find people whose stunning self-absorption whooshes the oxygen from attempts at rational thought or conversation. There are legislators and pundits who put progress toward a more humane world behind their rush to follow a rough and vengeful beast toward some horrific dystopia.
Even here in Evanston we have people in power who are oblivious to their responsibilities, exhibiting a shameless lack of care for our money, for our less fortunate residents and, worse, for our children.
But for here, for now, let’s count those as the few, because also here in Evanston, many are putting their time toward restoring what has been lost or is at risk. They are tutoring young and the newly arrived; pruning, weeding and picking up trash in our parks; creating beauty on walls, in gardens and elsewhere; riding their bicycles or walking the few extra blocks; gathering in homes, cafés and coffee shops, exchanging ideas over tea and muffins, coffee and bagels, beer and pretzels, or wine and cheese to craft a positive way forward.
They are looking for viable candidates for our local elections, which are only about nine months away. They are looking for was to make our city more affordable, livable and our air more breathable, for ways to enrich our children’s minds and make us all safer. They are, literally and metaphorically, planting the trees of tomorrow.
It takes a lot of thought to make good use of 90 seconds.
Mary Helt Gavin is the founder of the Evanston RoundTable. After 23 years as its publisher and manager, she helped transition the RoundTable to nonprofit status in 2021. She continues to write, edit, mentor and serve on the Advisory Committee.
Here in Evanston | What do to with 90 seconds is from Evanston RoundTable, Evanston's most trusted source for unbiased, in-depth journalism.
