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Biden warns of nuclear Armageddon / Sees Highest Risk Since Cuban Missile Crisis
Footnote - Thanks for the constructive criticism @Old_Joe. I’ve swapped the previous two stories around, thereby placing the more relevant one first, and also changed the caption to highlight Biden’s comment.
What is perplexing to me, and more than a bit troublesome, is that few today take the threat of a territorial conflict escalating into all out nuclear conflagration among the superpowers seriously. I remember the 60s vividly. Folks had seen images of what a couple relatively crude A-bombs did to two Japanese cities. Images of humans running around with flesh literally falling off, faces burned beyond recognition. Many of our homes in the 60s had shelters with stores of provisions. Some communities conducted air-raid drills on a weekly or monthly basis. Is the complacency today due to our possessing “less capable” nukes than 50 years ago? Of course not. Less precise / reliable delivery methods? Hell no. Today a sophisticated missile or drone can hone in precisely on anyone’s chimney if so programmed.
I’d feel better, I suppose, if I thought the leadership at the highest levels had become more stable today than back than and the respective populaces of the superpowers better educated, more literate, more aware of the magnitude of these weapons. That appears far from reality. Whenever I hear someone compare a relatively inconsequential explosion of a tank of hydrogen to a “hydrogen bomb” I cringe. For that reflects an utter lack of understanding (and a gross misunderstanding) of the the nature of nuclear weapons and nuclear technology in general. The “H-Bomb” is of course but one variety of nuclear weaponry, possessing a destructive capability hundreds of times greater than the two weapons that leveled Hiroshima and Nagasaki near the end of WWII.
"few today take the threat of a territorial conflict escalating into all out nuclear conflagration among the superpowers seriously."
@hank- Speaking just as one of the "few", I'm not sure that it's accurate to say that I don't take the nuclear threat seriously. I do. But there's been such an increase in the destruction potential that just digging a hole to hide in isn't going to do much of anything at all for anyone.
The potential causes and actors involved in this area are so far beyond any input from you or me that it's just not something that I can begin to deal with. What will be will be.
Thanks for commenting OJ. No intent here to chastise you or anyone else on this issue. From “Problem Solving 101” most of us learned the 4 or 5 basic steps of problem solving . #1 is to identify / define the problem. So while there is no magic solution to mankind’s self destructive tendencies or the incredible danger to humanity presented by weapons of mass destruction, it starts with awareness. That’s where I think most of the public as well as key global leaders may be failing. If people aren’t even aware of the real lethalness of the type weapons being flaunted, then the possibility of avoiding their use is diminished.
It’s not for me some haunting fear of waking up to a nuclear detonation. Like you, I’ve lived many years now. Nor is it so much a worry for the welfare of loved ones or folks I may know. What haunts me is the fear that civilization may perish some day due to the frivolity of the human race. Lost for infinity would be all the accomplishments our species has wrought: the science, art, architecture, democratic laws and institutions and the many religions along with the magnificent works of writers like Sophocles, Plato, Tolstoy, Shakespeare, Dickens, Twain, Williams. All the good our race has accomplished over thousands of years - all lost. That’s what haunts me. (And, it’s this overarching fear that drives Elon Musk, fruitcake though he may be, to strive to carry our civilization to Mars as one way to ensure its survivability.)
If they were playing by the "old" cold war game board, Michigan would still have too many targets. I'll borrow from Martha and the Vandellas lyric released in 1965:
Comments
+1What is perplexing to me, and more than a bit troublesome, is that few today take the threat of a territorial conflict escalating into all out nuclear conflagration among the superpowers seriously. I remember the 60s vividly. Folks had seen images of what a couple relatively crude A-bombs did to two Japanese cities. Images of humans running around with flesh literally falling off, faces burned beyond recognition. Many of our homes in the 60s had shelters with stores of provisions. Some communities conducted air-raid drills on a weekly or monthly basis. Is the complacency today due to our possessing “less capable” nukes than 50 years ago? Of course not. Less precise / reliable delivery methods? Hell no. Today a sophisticated missile or drone can hone in precisely on anyone’s chimney if so programmed.
I’d feel better, I suppose, if I thought the leadership at the highest levels had become more stable today than back than and the respective populaces of the superpowers better educated, more literate, more aware of the magnitude of these weapons. That appears far from reality. Whenever I hear someone compare a relatively inconsequential explosion of a tank of hydrogen to a “hydrogen bomb” I cringe. For that reflects an utter lack of understanding (and a gross misunderstanding) of the the nature of nuclear weapons and nuclear technology in general. The “H-Bomb” is of course but one variety of nuclear weaponry, possessing a destructive capability hundreds of times greater than the two weapons that leveled Hiroshima and Nagasaki near the end of WWII.
@hank- Speaking just as one of the "few", I'm not sure that it's accurate to say that I don't take the nuclear threat seriously. I do. But there's been such an increase in the destruction potential that just digging a hole to hide in isn't going to do much of anything at all for anyone.
The potential causes and actors involved in this area are so far beyond any input from you or me that it's just not something that I can begin to deal with. What will be will be.
OJ
It’s not for me some haunting fear of waking up to a nuclear detonation. Like you, I’ve lived many years now. Nor is it so much a worry for the welfare of loved ones or folks I may know. What haunts me is the fear that civilization may perish some day due to the frivolity of the human race. Lost for infinity would be all the accomplishments our species has wrought: the science, art, architecture, democratic laws and institutions and the many religions along with the magnificent works of writers like Sophocles, Plato, Tolstoy, Shakespeare, Dickens, Twain, Williams. All the good our race has accomplished over thousands of years - all lost. That’s what haunts me. (And, it’s this overarching fear that drives Elon Musk, fruitcake though he may be, to strive to carry our civilization to Mars as one way to ensure its survivability.)
I'll borrow from Martha and the Vandellas lyric released in 1965:
Nowhere to run to baby, Nowhere to hide