I have no idea how many read this or know who I am, but for the uninformed: I grew up during the latter days of the Cold War.
Part of my mental architecture from those years are these pop culture markers:
A Canticle for Leibowitz, Gamma World, World War III (the NBC miniseries), The Day After, Threads, Hackett's Third World War, Alas Babylon, On The Beach, The Last Ship, 99 Luftballons, The Horseclans, Snowbrother, Down to a Sunless Sea (very underrated), Testament, The Pelbar Cycle, The Survivalist, Miracle Mile, This Is The Way The World Ends...
[References to the above can be found on this solid list here.]
And they have remained there, despite receding quite a bit in the wind of change.
But now those old feelings are back. I'm not sure what the strategy is behind this sort of tough-guy posturing, especially with the repeated hints regarding the grim change in Putin's headspace. The latter of which seems to be borne out by his speeches and forced resettlement of Ukrainians.
But sure, why not?
In the meantime, I've carefully avoided any use of the N[uclear]-word around the children. The pandemic already left enough to deal with.
And yet, I'm going to have to address it sooner or later. What a time to be alive.
Growing up I was always within a mile or so of some ground zero. The attitude was: don't worry- at least you'll be spared the horrors of the aftermath.
ReplyDeleteI remember some time ago watching an episode of Shipping Wars, and one of the items being moved was some sort of tornado/bomb shelter. A young couple on the show joked about getting one to survive an apocalypse, either zombie or nuclear. The two older drivers, who were from the same strata as you and I, instead commented: "*Survive* that? No thanks."
"This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds." -C.S. Lewis “On Living in an Atomic Age” (1948)
ReplyDeleteGood advice. There's still much to celebrate. But the cloud is not good news for those with the brood switch.
DeleteIf you read the entire essay, it's not so much about celebrating anything, but just pointing out that human life was always on a knife's edge throughout history. Not that I'm thrilled with the idea of bombs dropping, just that our ancestors had just as much to worry about themselves - but they still lived.
DeleteI will have to dig that up for reading in full.
DeleteBut I genuinely do think "sensible and human things" are worth celebrating in a world given to the insane and inhuman.
Oh! apologies, dale. Here is a link to the full essay:
Deletehttps://hebrew-streams.org/works/hayom/CSLewis-Living-in-an-Atomic-Age.pdf
Of course it was a big meme during corona. Even Mike Rowe quoted it.
https://m.facebook.com/TheRealMikeRowe/photos/a.151342491542569/3455448987798553/
And quite true about celebration. May you and yours find plenty of simple things to celebrate this mother's day.
No apology needed, Nate--and thanks!
Deletehttps://redstate.com/streiff/2022/03/31/russian-attack-aircraft-with-nuclear-weapons-on-board-violate-swedish-air-space-as-sweden-mulls-nato-membership-n543522
ReplyDeleteNow they're threatening Sweden.
https://freebeacon.com/national-security/putin-loyalist-threatens-nuclear-strike-on-europe-if-nato-force-deploys/
ReplyDeleteAnd Poland, Germany, and the Baltic states.
I read "A Canticle For Leibowitz" when I was in high school. Not a good ending.
ReplyDeleteNo, but one that rang very true.
DeleteWhile I have been guilty of some eighties and nineties nostalgia...
ReplyDelete"Threat of Global Thermonuclear War" was not one of the parts I missed.
Music, yes.
DeleteNuclear hair-triggers...not so much