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Politico: Bill Perry Is Terrified [of the threat of nuclear weapons]. Why Aren’t You?

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Sulik2

Member
Perry’s hypothesis for the disconnect is that much of the population, especially that rising portion with no clear memories of the first Cold War, is suffering from a deficit of comprehension. Even a single nuclear explosion in a major city would represent an abrupt and possibly irreversible turn in modern life, upending the global economy, forcing every open society to suspend traditional liberties and remake itself into a security state. “The political, economic and social consequences are beyond what people understand,” Perry says. And yet many people place this scenario in roughly the same category as the meteor strike that supposedly wiped out the dinosaurs—frightening, to be sure, but something of an abstraction.

This quote is great description of what is already happening, he is brilliant, but he is missing the forest for the tress. It didn't take a nuke, it took a plane flying into the World Trade Center and a few terrorist bombings in Europe for free Western societies to start collapsing into security states and its only accelerating.

I'm far less concerned with nuclear weapons then I am with climate change and automation. Both will completely destroy human civilization as we know it, they are are inevitable at this point and nothing is being done to prepare for them. Meanwhile, both Russia and the USA have gotten pretty good at not nuking each other.
 
US-Russia are on the same side and China would rather do a trade war.

The only serious threats are N. Korea and Iran.

I'm still scared of shit hitting the fan though.

Um no.....Russia is NOT a US ally. Trump may be buddy buddy with Putin, but even most of the GOP still opposes Putin.

And having the two biggest nuclear powers being allies would suck for everyone who isn't friends with Russia.
 
Um no.....Russia is NOT a US ally. Trump may be buddy buddy with Putin, but even most of the GOP still opposes Putin.

And having the two biggest nuclear powers being allies would suck for everyone who isn't friends with Russia.

This so much.

When Putin calls in on Trump's debt and makes him bankrupt just see what happens to the US.

There is a reason why a you don't elect people with massive debt, especially when that debt is owed to foreigners.
 
There are less warheads than ever, most existing warheads are duds, all first world nations are much less aggressive than they were during the cold war, an effective nuclear arms program requires extensive testing and North Korea isn't even 10% of the way there, and a realistic working cesium-based dirty bomb from am militia group can make a street corner extremely unpleasant but won't turn people into shadows anytime soon.

The sky isn't falling, so how about we just go on living our lives.
 
Um no.....Russia is NOT a US ally. Trump may be buddy buddy with Putin, but even most of the GOP still opposes Putin

That's why they approved a pro-Russia policy toward Crimea in their platform?
The only opposition we are hearing is McCain and Graham for the most part
 
I have a better chance getting shot on the street. And I'm not terrified of getting shot on the street. We should still do everything in our power to prevent it, but I'm not going to be afraid.
 

wildfire

Banned
Really there is a thousand different things that can ruin your life everyday. Eventually you have to just compartmentalize to where things just don't matter.

Nukes are scary and if they were to go flying everyone is fucked but that's out of our control. The United States has been a willing partner in disarmament but our partner Russia has been the opposite. So eventually it leads to people like Trump saying time to grow baby grow

Russia has been downsizing nukes as well. Revamping existing ones to be more modern isn't the same as reducing their number. Unbelievable!
 

DiscoJer

Member
We don't really know what he'll do, especially if backed into a corner.

Honestly, I worry that this extreme paranoia over Trump doing crazy things is going to blunt criticism of his actual, more dangerous policies and actions

"Trade War with China? Well, at least it's not a nuclear war, whew!"
 

DarkKyo

Member
Everyone needs to relax. No one in their right mind is going to launch any nuke anywhere.

NK is most likely to do it, but they'd be dealt with swiftly.
Beyond that the next biggest danger is India/Pakistan trading blows.
After that I can't decide if the bigger threat is terrorists getting their hands on a nuke or Trump using a nuke because he's an insane old man with paper skin and nothing to lose.

There are leaders who have nukes and the mental deficiencies to use them so I'm not sure why you think it's impossible
 

Future

Member
the fact that nukes exist and can change the world in an instant has been a thing for a long time. Any lunatic could change the world I see no reason why you'd be any more scared now.

Trump ain't gonna do it even though people upset at his presidency love to dream that crazy scenario.
 
the fact that nukes exist and can change the world in an instant has been a thing for a long time. Any lunatic could change the world I see no reason why you'd be any more scared now.

Trump ain't gonna do it even though people upset at his presidency love to dream that crazy scenario.

I think Trump asking why can't we use nukes repeatedly is what has people on edge.
 

Zeus Molecules

illegal immigrants are stealing our air
No fuck off with this shit. Hes not launching nukes. All hes going to do is rework shit to benefit his businesses, like every other crook in politics.

4 years is a long time for fuckery..... Hell he hasn't even sworn in and look at what's happened.
 
I find comfort in the fact that if I were to be killed in a nuclear holocaust, the ones responsible for it would likely die along with me.
 
K4JeCpV.gif
 

btrboyev

Member
The simple truth is enough time has past that today's generation simply forget about the horrors of what a nuclear weapon is capable of.
 
His biggest point to me is how non government organizations can do it. Not to mention governments that would

There is likely to be a large event by a milliant group.

But I figure chemical and it will be bad. So bad and Depressing
 

Goro Majima

Kitty Genovese Member
If nearly every nuclear weapon is controlled by basically billionaires, I don't think we have a lot to worry about because they've got a whole lot to lose.

I am concerned about terrorist organizations getting ahold of WMDs of any kind though.
 

besada

Banned
As I learned during the Cold War, there's no point in worrying. Live your life. If it comes, it'll be over quick. The decision to fire or not fire nuclear weapons is so far out of your hands, that there's very little you can do (and basically nothing for the next four years) to influence it one way or another. So stick it in a box in the back of your head, tape it up, and go on with your life. Whole generations managed it before you, and you'll figure out how to do it, too.
 
People are aware that russia has a group of oligarchs that control basically everything and of another group of those in the us that effectively controls everything as well.

And somehow, people think that these oligarchs would profit more from you guys dead rather than alive.

I wish people though about this for more than 5 seconds with a semblance of objectivity.

How are these people suposed to control you all when you are dead.

Russia and the US are never going to war, Trump is a moron but he also likes to have things around the world. Putin is an autocrat but the oligarchs backing him in Russia and himself prefer people having the luxury of being able to able to buy their oil and not having to give it up because they are starving to death.
 

Maxinas

Member
Yeah because people like putin, trump and kim jung un are totally in their right mind.

Let's be honest here, if nuclear war would began, we'd end up destroying ourselves in the process. The people you listed are hated, and even feared, but they aren't Joker-tier insane. Unless an absolute, nihilistic madman were to get their hands on a nuke, nothing will happen, it's really all a dick measuring contest and always has been.
 

kyser73

Member
I grew up in the Cold Ear and didn't spend my time terrified then, and I don't now.

A directed state-level exchange is still really unlikely, even one between minor powers like India & Pakistan. A badly made low-yield IND (improvised nuclear device) has some degree of traction, but again I'm more concerned about some nutter with a knife going off in a packed shopping mall.
 

duderon

rollin' in the gutter
The "if it happens, it happens" mentality is completely apathetic and explains exactly why Trump was elected. This is the most immediate danger to civilization as we know it and people don't care. If there is a nuclear strike or war a whole lot of people will suddenly care and it would have been completely preventable. Maybe it is in our nature to self destruct, but throwing our hands up collectively and giving up guarantees it.

If you want a good primer on how close we came to nuclear war watch The Fog of War.
 
I am pretty concerned about it, that's why I didn't vote for a guy that has a tantrum at every perceived slight to be the one in charge of the button. He however, won anyways, so now I just have to hope that somebody drills the concept of Nuclear Deterrence to his brain once he gets sworn in.
 

Opto

Banned
I am pretty concerned about it, that's why I didn't vote for a guy that has a tantrum at every perceived slight to be the one in charge of the button. He however, won anyways, so now I just have to hope that somebody drills the concept of Nuclear Deterrence to his brain once he gets sworn in.

My hope is that a secret service member or the football carrier refuses to let it happen
 

Creaking

He touched the black heart of a mod
Because the only thing to fear is fearlessness. The bigger the weapon, the greater the fear. Something something HYENA!
 
Reading now. Thank you.

The "if it happens, it happens" mentality is completely apathetic and explains exactly why Trump was elected. This is the most immediate danger to civilization as we know it and people don't care.

Many American's today have not known fear. They've never had to be afraid. Never had to do nuclear bomb drills. Never had to -- as Bill Perry did -- go to bed every night wondering if that day would be his last day on Earth because of nuclear weapons. They're too far from our understanding. They're black & white on an old fuzzy TV. Too distant to appreciate.

It's the distance that creates the apathy. And when something happens, it'll be too late.
 
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