RANTS: EMPIRES AND A-BOMBS

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This isn’t a post about the happy couple, Kim and Kanye; the photo is just click bait. Sorry about that. 

This week I read a couple of articles that were much more relevant to our world than the goings-on of a pair of glitterati: One is a tour-de-force editorial comparing America with the Roman Empire by TomDispatch.com’s editor-in-chief, Tom Engelhardt. The second is an article on American president Donald Trump’s expansion of his country’s nuclear arsenal to include “low-yield” nuclear weapons—tactical nukes, "baby-nukes"—that could be used in battlefield situations or missile strikes. Tom Engelhardt’s piece outlines how overweening pride, over-reach and ill-considered political choices have left the United States in an increasingly precarious position, much like Rome during its decline.  The second article is an opinion piece by James Carroll, also from the excellent TomDispatch.com website, that discusses the recent decision by the Trump administration to modernize and upgrade America’s nuclear capability ("A-Bombs" are so 1950!) in order to make it more “flexible” and capable of responding to situations where the use of nuclear weapons might be needed. (Flexibility is a good thing, right? My yoga teacher says so.) Fortunately, the tactical weapons proposed have only about one-third the destructive power of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima, so I guess that’s okay.

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Tom’s article shows how political, military and economic choices made since the end of World War II have gradually eroded America’s position in the world, and he describes how the "war on terror" of the last two decades has accelerated that decline. Articulate, succinct, and spot-on.

James Carroll’s sobering piece reminds us that the clock is ticking and unless there is a good deal of ‘walk-back’ on the part of American officials, with a renewed emphasis on diplomacy and fair play, the youth of today might well live under the shadow of nuclear war tomorrow. 
Sigh...Maybe I'll turn on the tube and see what those crazy Kardashians are up to...
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You might also be interested in the 1984 BBC production, "Threads", which depicted the aftermath of a nuclear attack on a major British city. It scared the pee out of me when I first saw it, and it's still chilling to watch today. It can be found at The Internet Archive website. And there's the classic made for television movie, "The Day After", that still leaves you gob-smacked, even all these years later.