I grew up in the early-to-mid 80’s. At least that is when I was a young adult. Typically Generation X.
Anyway, there was this rumor going around. I guess you could call it a rumor. Most kids my age thought we’d have a nuclear holocaust soon, that we’d never even live to see adulthood. (You realize at the time, the Cold War between the US and the USSR was in full swing.)
Yeah it was funny how some kids reacted to it. Some shrugged it off. But I recall some were terrified by the prospects. (Side note: you realize why it would be impossible to provide a cite for this. But trust me. Kids used to say it. FWIW I grew up in SE Michigan. But I heard it mentioned on national tv too.)
Anyway, and don’t take this the wrong way, but why don’t people fear nuclear devastation anymore? I am not saying that they should. But it’s really probably more likely now than ever before. Back then there was this famous case where this little American girl wrote a letter to the USSR (again sorry, no cite). And upon being invited there, the Soviet premier assured her the USSR would never have started a nuclear war. And neither would we.
Now, Islamic extremists would think nothing of leaving a huge crater in the earth where the US once was. Sorry but it’s true.
Why don’t people worry about this like they did in the 1980’s? And my second question: should we?
EDIT: actually my title should also be why aren’t we as afraid of nuclear devastation. Oh, well.
If a terrorist of any stripe, or even a terrorist state were to get a hold of nuclear weapons and deploy them on our soil, it would suck. Lots of people would die. Depending on how it plays out, it could go from really bad to the worst disaster in history.
However, it pales in comparison to the threat of a full scale nuclear exchange between countries with tens of thousands of nuclear devices each.
Yeah, the threat of a rogue state or terrorist seems more likely than super powers setting the world on fire. Of course even one bomb will be awful, but the odds are good that it lands on someone else.
A hefty chunk of those weapons are still in their silos still pointed at the same targets they were in the 1970s. And newer ones are being built.
What’s been lacking since the collapse of the SU is simply the globe-spanning expansionism by overt means. Replaced by sub rosa exporting of social unrest worldwide with the kinetic efforts reserved for the “near abroad”, eg. Ukraine, Chechnya, etc.
If by “someone” you means some other person I (checks location) agree. If by “someone” you mean some other country I’m less agreeable.
One of my sayings:
I know for absolute certain that no Islamic terrorist organization possesses a working nuclear device. How do I know that? NYC still exists.
Substitute Tel Aviv for NYC if your preferences run that way.
I think most of us are too concerned about the effects of climate change to give the less-likely scenario of nuclear catastrophe much thought. Actually, right now, maybe people are too concerned about COVID to give climate change much thought. We don’t seem capable of worrying about more than one possible catastrophe at a time.
Just as I hit Reply, I was blinded by a flash of light and instinctively ducked. It was just the sun reflecting off a truck driving by, but it’s interesting how the old duck-and-cover training kicks in. And the timing was quite the coincidence.
And that is exactly the reaction that terrified the world. That an innocuous act on one part would cause a retaliation on the other.
There were a few instances during the cold war that one side or the other had reason to believe that the other had launched. Fortunately, cool heads prevailed, and it was double and triple checked before anyone pushed a button.
From a peak of almost 70,000 to 13,000 now. Not nothing to be sure, but not a ‘hefty chunk’ by my definition.
I grew up in the 1970s and was in the military beginning in the mid 1980s I remember the discussions on a nuclear war, and a film or two, but I don’t recall me or my friends being worried.
I think some of the factors in having less concern (and I think there is less) are:
1. The cold war is actually over with less tension
2. There are alligators closer to the boat such as world debt, global warming, etc.
3. A belief that technology has increased safety for inadvertent launches.
People are concerned about their lives, what is in the news and social media and fears stoked by politicians and their ilk.
Spending on nuclear weapons is higher than ever (mostly by the US). But with Covid, there is simply too much other stuff to be worried about. The biggest dangers MIGHT be North Korea or Iran, but these seem to be controlled. A terrorist might cause significant damage, but it would be fairly local. No nation is interested in ensuring its own destruction.
I was 11 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Nothing since then has been a quarter as scary. There is no ideology around now that would make a full scale war feasible. I am surprised that there hasn’t been a nuclear incident, though.
At the moment I think climate change is far more likely to kill off tens of millions rather than nuclear war.
