I watched “History Detectives” last night. What a great PBS show for us history and investigative buffs!
Some guy had a N.E.A.R (Nuclear Emergency Alarm Repeater) device from the 50s. He wasn’t sure of its purpose or history.
Turns out they were small electronic devices Americans could plug into a wall socket. Then if the Russian launched a nuclear attack, the device would buzz and everyone would be forewarned. Only problem was, how do you prepare to get blown away?
These devices were invented back in the “good old days” when the government was telling us we could actually survive all out nuclear war. You know, the “duck and cover” days.
Were human beings ever so stupid?
Slowly the truth came out. In WWII Europe, fair warning gave people time to run for the bomb shelters. But there were no bomb shelters effective against nuclear bombs. Even if there were, who really wants to live through a nuclear attack anyway? All you have to look forward to is a slow and painful death by radiation poisoning.
I realized as I watched this show, that I was born right around the time that the U.S. government finally admitted that we were all facing the age of mutually assured destruction, a time when we had to finally quit pretending that “duck & cover” was going to be effective, and embrace the fact that we were truly all in this together
A whole generation was raised in the “age of mutually assured destruction.” I find myself wondering how this awareness must have affected our entire generations’ psyches.
Of course most of us didn’t become aware of this reality until we were older, but I think this in itself could explain much of the clinical depression and suicide we see in the baby boomer generation.
Most of us probably aren’t aware of this psychic reality day-to-day, and yet it is there and it is real. It has to impact our daily lives, the choices we make, the futures we find we can believe in.
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As I watch the debate about introducing universal health care in the US I can’t help but wonder if the stupidity has ended yet? Don’t we all know yet that we’re here to take care of each other and to make sure that everyone has access to the basic things that make life in a democracy so wonderful? I sure hope that before this debate ends wisdom will prevail and everyone in the US – rich or poor, well-connected or not, will enjoy the richness of living in America. Here’s hoping!
Yes, it appears some think they could never lose their job, lose their health, lose their home, etc.
We are all just one pink slip or serious accident or illness away from bankruptcy and homelessness.
What then??? I know! I lost my job (for the first time ever!)and then my home a few years ago. Then I got a serious brain injury last year…it can happen anytime to anyone!
Laura Lee
It probably also explains the culture of fear that seems to pervade American society. Thoughtful post.
Yes, but it might also explain why many us having a bit of a “Live for today!” attitude. Since we aren’t so sure tomorrow is really going to happen. I often hear about Baby Boomers who have not even saved up for their later years because they don’t think we’ll be around that long.
Mutually assured destruction creates all kinds of confusing feelings and reactions… Laura Lee