Nuclear War - What's In It For You?

A post about - nuclear war?

No, not exactly.  But, the title was so catchy, I couldn't resist.  Just ask any headline writer or any author.  The title of a book, a blog post, or a newspaper article, plays a major role in hooking the reader.  So, my reader, you have been hooked.

Of course, the writer or author then has to reel its reader in.

I follow a blog called "Awful Library Books".  It is written by two public librarians in Michigan.  They consult with other libraries on various topics, including weeding their collections of books that are outdated - a process also called "library deselection".

During that process, they blog about books they find that are just plain awful.  When you look at a "topical" book from the 50's (yes, 50's books still in library collections!), the 60's, 70's, or even 80's through the lens of the 2nd decade of the 21st century, you find some books just haven't aged well.  Sometimes the outdatedness is hilarious.  Sometimes, scary.

Sometimes, sobering.

Today, the Awful Librar Books bloggers wrote about a book called "Nuclear War - What's In It for You?" by the "Ground Zero Project"  It dates from 1982.  Besides having a catchy title for a blog post, it asks you: "Why Do You Feel Scared with 10,000. Nuclear Weapons Protecting You?"

Good question. 

I grew up in the "duck and cover" days and we in the United States had lots of nuclear weapons pointed at the then-Soviet Union.  Trouble was, the Soviets had as many pointed back at us.  Yes - many of us put this into one corner of our minds and went about our daily lives.  What else could we do? But, to this day, when I hear a siren go off or see a flash of sunlight out of the corner of my life - for one instant, I know my time is up.


I found this book on Amazon (it seems to be out of print, though) and two people reviewed it - both people gave it a positive review.

The book talks about a nuclear attack on a major U.S. City - Detroit, to be exact.  (no comment). It describes the first nuclear war (yes, World War II, where the United States used 100% of its nuclear weapons).  It talks about the U.S.-Soviet Arms race I grew up during.  It even talks about "Star Wars" (not the movie, but something my generation will recognize.) 

But, although outdated, this book teaches a lesson it probably never intended to teach.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

We are still scared.  Only the names have changed.

Once again, nostalgia ain't what it is cracked up to be.

The World on the Edge of Forever

The world was about to end.  We understood on that at some level, that afternoon in October of 1962 when we walked home from school.  We said goodbye to each other, that afternoon, saying "See you tomorrow - if there is a tomorrow."

We didn't know why we were saying that.

We didn't know what the world ending meant.

We didn't know that our world was teetering on the edge of forever. Thankfully, that knowledge was left to our parents, and the other adults of our world.  You know, those adults who were supposed to keep us children safe.

We didn't know that our President, that handsome President Kennedy, had appeared on TV on Monday, October 22, 1962.  Headlines in newspapers warned that the speech would be of the highest national urgency.

Our young President, in office for less than two years, told the American people that the Soviets had set up nuclear missiles on the island of Cuba, less than 100 miles from the Florida Keys.

For the next week, the world held its collective breath while the two nuclear superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union, manuvered, finally realizing they had to back off from the brink. They found a way.

Some historians consider October, 1962, the most dangerous month in the history of the world.

My spouse has memories of walking home from school, to eat lunch (this was common back then), and hearing sirens go off.  He and his friends, in a panic, ran towards their homes as fast as they could.

I don't know if my fellow bloggers, some  of which barely remember the Soviet Union, can imagine what those days in October were like.

50 years ago, the world was a very different place.  We should never forget that, for the Cuban Missile Crisis has lessons to teach us today.

Nostalgia sometimes isn't pleasant. 

Sometimes, you don't want to remember.