Fear Fest: Mutually Assured Destruction, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.
OCTOBER 31st, Mutually Assured Destruction, or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb.
“War …
War never changes…
Since the dawn of human kind, when our ancestors first discovered the killing path with rock and bone, blood has been spilled in the name of everything, from God, to justice, to simple psychotic rage.”
-Ron Pearlman as the Narrator of Fallout
Here we are. We made it. I’m not going to lie, I fully expected to quit halfway through this thing. Through trials and tribulations, I managed to hang on. So here we go the final fear of Fear Fest.
MAD or Mutually Assured Destruction refers to a scenario in which one super power launches their nuclear stock pile. This creates a chain reaction that causes a retaliatory strike from one or more countries. If this happened between the US and Russia, there would be no need to include any other countries. We’d crack the Earth like an egg.
With the geopolitical theater as fragile as it is, this could be a real concern. In the 60’s we were worried about the Russians. However since the collapse of the soviet bloc there have been concerns of weapons being sold, stolen, or otherwise procured by nations or groups with anti-western agendas. However, the more likely threat is from out of work scientists looking for a pay check. With the prevalence of the internet, scientific information can be shared at an alarming rate.
The thought of nuclear war makes me sad. Mostly because I want to live in the world AFTER the bombs drop. Anyone who has had a conversation with me knows that I love the post-apocalyptic setting. I understand to get my wish a lot of people have to die. Because of that, I’m cool with going to my grave never getting to roam the wastes, gun in hand looking for salvage. In fact, it’s probably better that I don’t live in that world; I like hot showers and cold beverages. So I have to get by on day dreams and video games, the Fallout series in particular. Hell I drive around in a Jeep that looks like it belongs to the Brotherhood of Steel. (Yes, this is my real vehicle; Art by Ryan Dunn)
The post-apocalyptic world would be a frightening one to live in. The fallout would turn the sky black, and a global cooling would make life hard. First the plants would die off, and then the herbivores that subside on those plants would go. This of course causes a chain reaction that would destroy the food pyramid. Even if you have a fallout shelter and sufficient supplies, all you’re doing is putting off the inevitable.
THE ANSWER: Duck and cover is bullshit. It was pretty much a means of keeping order in people’s final moment. Can you imagine what would’ve happened in a high school class if they didn’t do duck and cover and a real bomb was heading their way? You would have had the school bullies and football players hopping onto whatever females were handy and go out with a bang. A MAD scenario is unlike any other civilization killer as the very ground we walk on would kill you. When faced with the reality of radiation sickness or dying of starvation in a box in the ground, I don’t know what I’d choose.
