Friday, June 15, 2012

The End Of The World As We Know It



2012 has often been touted as the year the world would end. When we think about the end of the world, our minds would typically jump to scenarios that we have seen in movies such as Armageddon, 2012, The Day After Tomorrow or even the Time Machine and Wall-E. Either a meteor heading towards Earth, or insanely volatile climate, or the breaking apart of the moon, or even an alien attack would kill us all. Or at least, it would reset the world to the Ice Age where giant cockroaches ruled the planet.

I must admit, I have pretty much rubbished the claims that the world would end at the end of this year. I might even venture a scoff if you tried to convince me of it. Many of the scenarios from the movies above typically originate from man-made errors. We consumed too much, were too greedy, and we were too late in realizing the error of our ways. Most of the scenarios above were designed in part to scare the living day lights out of us, so that we repent and perhaps start recycling (if you haven’t already), or start driving hybrid cars, etc.

Dani Rodrik, a professor at Harvard University, has a different take on how the world would end. His version depicts the beginning of the end from a less likely source, albeit still man-made. He extends the great European debacle into a apocalyptic scenario where all hell breaks loose and ends with an interesting quote:
Many years later, Merkel, who has withdrawn from politics and become a recluse, is asked whether she thinks that she should have done anything differently during the euro crisis. Unfortunately, her answer comes too late to change the course of history.
The political inaction of the Eurozone leaders will lead to a domino effect that would be the end of us all. Do have a read. What is scary is that, the scenario doesn't seem too far-fetched at all. I had likened the Eurozone crisis as being on the sinking Titanic, but perhaps, I didn't think big enough.