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APOCALYPSE CLOCK

The Apocalypse Clock is not an original idea; it is a parallel to The Doomsday Clock. The Doomsday Clock was created in 1947 by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists as a way to discuss the perils of atomic war. They have in modern times adjusted their clock to look at not just atomic war but any type of global catastrophe including global climate change or threats from new technological developments such as nanotechnology. Here at the Dystopian Times the Apocalypse Clock looks at something a little bit different, what we are looking at is the likelihood that society as we now know it will disintegrate into disorder creating dystopian times.

08 Mar 2011
11:58 and 30 Seconds

Unrest in the Middle East! Not a new item at this point but definitely a worry as we watch the unrest spread from Tunisia to Yemen to Egypt to Bahrain to Libya. We’ve seen demonstrations on the streets of a number of other countries as well, both in the Middle East and in developed countries as well. The current unrest will jack up oil prices, damage global economies and in the end this can cause more unrest. The real question right now, is this a wave of trouble that will be limited to the smaller and unstable regimes remaining in the Middle East and North Africa? Or will this become a global trend that causes major unrest in the western world as well or maybe even bring down a country like India? So, because the unrest has remained, the impact to the economy and remaining questions we are now moving the Apocalypse Clock to 11:58 and 30 seconds, if the unrest continues to spread globally we go to 11:59 and at that point friends, it’s time to start stocking supplies and preparing for the fall.

05 FEB 2011
11:58

Hello friends, last week I was sitting down with the thought that I would move the Apocalypse Clock back to 11:57. The Korean peninsula situation had seemed to quiet down and the world was moving back to its normal level of insanity. Then all hell started to break loose in Tunisia and I decided to wait and see how things developed. It wasn’t long at all before Yemen blew up a bit and then the big daddy—the current protests in Egypt. I know some folks will consider what is happening in the Middle East as an Arab thing, it’s not folks, it’s about the prosperity gap in these countries, the same prosperity gap and unemployment that exists in Spain, Greece and parts of the United States. So for now, we’re staying put at 11:58.

22 Nov 2010
11:58

We’re moving the Apocalypse Clock to 11:58 and 30 seconds, friends there are some seriously scary happenings on the horizon. First and foremost is the exchange of artillery fire between the Koreas, the first significant exchange in 40 years and causing rhetoric from the south including, we need a massive response to this invasion. War on the Korean Peninsula immediately involves the United States by treaty and the fact that we have tens of thousands of soldiers in Korea. Also a very high chance China becomes involved as there would be an end to the 60 year cessation in hostilities, a very dangerous situation.

Additionally, with Ireland taking a nearly $160 million dollar bailout, global financial markets are very unhappy today. This leads to fears that both Spain and Portugal’s economies could follow suit. Although Portugal, (just like Ireland recently said), has said it will not take bailout money. A resumption of the Korean War along with the current instability in the financial markets could quickly take the Apocalypse Clock to 11:59.

What does 11:59 mean? At 11:58 you should continue your normal survival preparations and double check batteries, expiration dates etc…At 11:59, you need to greatly increase your planning and storage, immediately review your plans for an emergency situation and increase your long-term survival supplies. The real fear is an economic crash more than any direct attack on America, unless things got out of control with China’s involvement causing war between us and the Chinese. Were that war declared, it’s midnight and time to implement your plans.

23 Oct 2010
11:57

There has not been an Apocalypse Clock update for several months due to several things. Although the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill that moved the clock forward to 11:58 has ended, other pressures kept the clock at 11:58. Tensions with Iran and North Korea and continuing problems with US economy were additional pressures that held the clock stable. However, with the oil spill completed, North Korea in one of its quieter phases due to the announcement of Kim Jong Il’s succession plan and Iran actually making noises about potentially opening up negotiations on the nuclear issue, there does seem to be increased stability in the world. For that reason, tonight we dial the Apocalypse Clock back to 11:57.

10 Jun 2010
11:58

The reason we’ve moved the Apocalypse Clock forward today is the recent oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. A month ago the Horizon drilling platform exploded and sank, unfortunately the blowout preventer that should stop any oil leak failed. As of this time the amount of oil spilling into the gulf has not been revealed, however the spill seems to be significant with few chances of being controlled since it is at a depth of five-thousand feet. If the well can only be controlled by relief wells then the spill will continue until August and could easily become the largest of all time. The impact of this on the US economy is still debatable but the fear of a hurricane forming and worsening the spill puts us at the point of moving the Apocalypse Clock to 11:58 as this is a potential domino in a larger collapse of the economy.

28 May 2010
11:57

Current tensions with Iran have remained stable; the economy on both sides of the pond is erratic as hell, however there is a reason to move the clock forward and closer to midnight. Recently South Korea, supported by the United States, has come to the conclusion that North Korea is responsible for the recent sinking of a South Korean warship. This has ramped up tensions on the DMZ between the Koreas and highly increased the rhetoric. Although technically still at war, a resumption of significant aggression between these countries would have significant impacts upon the world economy. Not to mention ramping up tensions between China and the west, and should China come to the military aid of North Korea, the US is already committed to the south, we would have our third active warfront and the potential beginnings of world war III.

15 Apr 2010
11:56

The Apocalypse Clock is not an original idea, it is totally and completely stolen from an old idea, The Doomsday Clock. The Doomsday Clock was created in 1947 by the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists at the University of Chicago as a way to discuss the perils of atomic war. They have in modern times adjusted their clock to look at not just atomic war but any type of global catastrophe including global climate change or threats from new technological developments such as nanotechnology.

Here at the Dystopian Times our clock, the Apocalypse Clock, looks at something a little bit different. We aren’t looking necessary at some major global disaster, although we include those as well, but what we are looking at is the likelihood that society as we now know it will disintegrate into disorder creating a dystopian time.
The clock is a simple device; the closer to midnight, the more likely an event or events are to occur to send us into a dystopian spiral. We see a large number of possibilities for this to happen, not just the standard apocalyptic event. Of course if we are to have a nuclear war with the Russians, a global outbreak of a vicious disease like Ebola or H5N1, a comet strike from outer space in New York or another world war then dystopian times are likely to occur. However there are more subtle ways into which we may fall into dystopian times.

Many of the more subtle ways that society can collapse come from a series of dominoes falling and tipping each other over. For example, were a nuclear war to erupt between India and Pakistan, an event that at times has been close to occurring, this could trigger a number of other dominoes. The fallout from the war could spread into China causing large scale health issues across the country. This in turn could cause a massive slow down in the Chinese economy, without a strong Chinese economy the US would have few options to sell its debt and there would be a serious impact to trade balance as one of our major markets would be depressed. This significant drop in the US economy could trigger a world-wide depression.

More likely what could trigger dystopian times are a series of unrelated events. For instance a combination of a terrorist event in Saudi Arabia significantly disrupting oil production, in combination with a major hurricane in the Southeastern Coast of the United States and a regional conflict breaking out between Israel and Egypt could have a negative synergistic effect upon each other and drive the world into a global crisis that could lead to the dissolution of society as we know it.
The point of the Apocalypse Clock is to gauge how close we are to one of these type of events. For reference, the clock typically sits at 11:55 which represents the typical stresses occurring in our world at any given time. Unrest in the Baltics, tension between Iran and Israel and Iran and the West, and the ever present threat of a significant terrorist event utilizing a nuclear weapon are all current tensions on our society. As tensions increase on the world the clock creeps toward midnight, so our goal here at the Dystopian Times is to keep you posted on the events in the world that impact the clock.

At this time we have the clock set at 11:56 mostly in relation to the tensions that currently exist with the Iranian nuclear ambitions and the current tensions that exist with North Korea. So stay tuned and we’ll keep you posted.