tim (05/05/83)
In response to some people on the net who think it would be better
to blow up the planet than to succumb to Communism. (as if that is
really the choice we are offered) I don't think people who say that
have really taken the time to reflect on the meaning of nuclear war
and extinction. In the first place I would suggest that they read
"Fate of the Earth" by Jonathan Schell which lays out in depressing
detail the latest reports by the National Science Foundation and
a United Nations Scientific Commission on the effects of Nuclear War.
Given that those well-researched and documented reports come to the
conclusion that many people have already reached, that we all know
anyway-namely that nuclear war would mean the extinction of the
human species-Schell asks the question,first, why have we failed to
deal with the possibility of our own extinction? Second, accepting that as
a possibility, just what does extinction mean?
That is a very depressing thought but we have to think about it in order
to understand what the concern about nuclear war is all about. And also
to understand why there is nothing that would justify a nuclear war.
(unless you think the human race is basically evil and deserves to be wiped out!)Extinction of the human race means that there would be NO CAPITALISM, NO
COMMUNISM, NO ANYTHING HUMAN!! True enough a nuclear war would wipeout
Communism (along with millions of innocent Russians who just happened to
live in a Communist system) but it would also wipeout Capitalism, democracy,
music, theater, painting, every human endeavor. There would be nobody
left to salute this great victory over the horrors of Communism because
there would be nobody left. Nor would there be anybody left to reap the
bounties of Capitalism. PERHAPS, some "E-T" might come by our desecrated
planet and wonder at the stupidity of a species that destroyed itself.
But is this the legacy we should want to leave any other intelligent life
in the Universe? The legacy of our own self-destructive violence?
Therefore it not a question of being in "Russia's interest" to prevent
nuclear war, nor of being in the "United States' interest" to prevent
nuclear war, it is in the interest of the whole human race and our
survival as a species. I happen to think that human beings are wonderful
creatures that have created some of the most beautiful things in the
world's history and I would like to see us continue to do so. That is
why I support the call for a nuclear freeze, to stop the insane nuclear
arms race and to begin to make America, Russia, and the whole world secure
for human beings to live,love and work as long as possible.
Tim Sevener,decvax!pur-ee!iuvax!isrnix!tim