If another Cold War-esque Era were upon us, would it be beneficial to America? It seems in my not-the-most-knowledgable view that the decades long cold war between us and Russia strengthened us in many ways, and led us to learn something about ourselves and our government that might have helped us socially. How about economically, did big business making ships, weapons, ammunition, etc, lead to a stronger, more vibrant economy? Would another cold war do the same thing?
In what ways would it benefit America, and in what ways would it hinder our growth (if by growth you mean something OTHER than a series of pointless wars and excursions)?
How would the dynamics of the world in these times make such a Cold War different? Would such a cold war even be possible? (It sure looks like it is leading down that road, but things could always change, lets just hope Russia and China don’t work together)
Military spending can be a necessity but it’s still an expense. The economy is better off if we don’t have to spend trillions on defense.
Bipolar diplomacy forced us to overlook a lot of international problems because we sought allies. The external threat of an enemy nation was also used to justify a lot of domestic hanky panky.
Trade relations are another issue. We’re better off being able to do business with the whole world rather than having the world split into “our” half and “their” half.
And the real problem is there’s always the chance of a Cold War turning Hot. People get concerned today about North Korea having a nuclear bomb. The Soviet Union had thousands of nuclear bombs and the means to deliver them.
No. There are other costs than monetary.
My father was called back on active duty when the Berlin Airlift heated up the Cold War. (He’d been a navigator in the 8th Air Force.) When I was 4, he died in the crash of a SAC RB-36. With 22 other men. (By then, I had 2 younger sibs.) The 50th anniversary of his death coincided almost exactly with the Invasion of Iraq. How many more fatherless children, I wondered? (Of course, that War’s also produced some motherless children.)
Do we have a choice between endless wars of Empire & the slower attrition of a “Cold War”?
I vote for neither. But that’s just me.
As for the sometimes heard contention that the Cold War “unified” us, that’s just crazy talk. People were as unified over the Cold War as they are over our current adventures against Islamism. In fact, less unified, because we used to have a large segment of people who were ideologically sympathetic with the Soviet Union, while no such people who are ideologically sympathetic to the Islamists exist today.
So we had fights over military spending, fights over covert actions, fights over “supporting dictators”, fights over supporting “freedom fighters”, fights over nuclear weapons, fights over domestic policy, fights over economics (people seriously advocating we should be more like the Soviet Union), and on and on, and hung over everything the knowlege that if we made a mistake hundreds of millions of people would be incinerated in a nuclear exchange.
So other than that, yeah, the Cold War was great for America.
Another cold war would be great for militarism, defense spending, and the sneaky bastards in and out of government who quietly believe the real enemy is here at home.
Fuck cold wars up the ass with an auger bit, as I see it.
A cold war would strengthen the military-industrial-media complex. I think they have way too much power now and are dangerous to the world. The last one was mostly fake exaggerated by the military in Russia and the US to enhance their power. They have lied to us before and will do it again.
I see no benefit. Only more wars about money and resources.