I wish somebody well known would write a sci-fi book, and someone famous in Hollywood would make a big-budget movie or TV series about how we discover that there is a civilization-ending 5km sized asteroid on track to hit Earth in 30 years in 2048, with 95% probability, and how we do absolutely nothing about it because it turns political.

In the movie, nobody in power wants to raise taxes or sacrifice growth, so they start focussing on the 5% chance that it might miss us and bring “asteroid skeptics” as “balanced counterpoint” to all other scientists, and then someone gets elected on saying that the asteroid itself is a myth by the Chinese and grant-grabbing NASA in a plot to slow our growth and stifle business investment. Most people get tired of all of this and continue to go about their business, study business management and brokerage accounting, enjoy beaches, skiing and gadgets and make babies.

In the movie, among other things, the government releases a detailed study on the anticipated effects of the asteroid impact on the day after Thanksgiving – and everyone is so used to living with the maybe yes maybe not end of the world in 30 years that nobody cares and just goes about their business shopping and making Christmas plans.

The movie should end on the day prior to the impact, with everyone indifferently going about their daily business as always.