@mattblaze@federate.social @nyrath@spacey.space @simplenomad@rigor-mortis.nmrc.org The arms race was scary but as it turned out wasn't apocalyptic. The WW2 vets who ran the world until about 1990 weren't stupid or insane; they did everything they could to avoid nuclear war OTHER than unilateral surrender. And no, mutual disarmament was never realistic given the irreconcilable differences between the two sides.
@mattblaze@federate.social We might approach the nuclear precipice again if we ever returned to a situation of two rival zero-sum systems, one or other of which inevitably had to die. Fortunately Kennan was right that Communism could be contained and eventually outlasted.
@nyrath@mattblaze@simplenomad "Duck and Cover" may account for much of the generation gap between the WW2 vets and the Baby Boomers. The vets knew from personal experience how hideous war was; but they also saw what happens to people conquered by totalitarians. The Boomers by contrast grew up with an existential fear of annihilation; to them militarism was suicidal insanity.
@retech @scifi@a.gup.pe @sciencefiction @scifi@kbin.social @cyberpunk@lemmy.zip @cyberpunkhub @cyberpunk@lemmy.ml What I'd like to know is if the telescreens in "1984" continually transmitted the signals from their cameras or if they had to be remotely activated. Because if the latter, anyone with a modest knowledge of electronics could have rigged a warning light to let people know when it was safe to talk.
@mattblaze@federate.social @nyrath@spacey.space @simplenomad@rigor-mortis.nmrc.org The arms race was scary but as it turned out wasn't apocalyptic. The WW2 vets who ran the world until about 1990 weren't stupid or insane; they did everything they could to avoid nuclear war OTHER than unilateral surrender. And no, mutual disarmament was never realistic given the irreconcilable differences between the two sides.
@mattblaze@federate.social We might approach the nuclear precipice again if we ever returned to a situation of two rival zero-sum systems, one or other of which inevitably had to die. Fortunately Kennan was right that Communism could be contained and eventually outlasted.
@nyrath @mattblaze @simplenomad "Duck and Cover" may account for much of the generation gap between the WW2 vets and the Baby Boomers. The vets knew from personal experience how hideous war was; but they also saw what happens to people conquered by totalitarians. The Boomers by contrast grew up with an existential fear of annihilation; to them militarism was suicidal insanity.