To Have or Have Not....Nukes

President Obama has an upcoming meeting on Sept. 24, with the UN Security Council regarding the future of nuclear weapons. Here's the Newsweek article about it:

Why Obama Should Learn to Love the Bomb

Now, I'm an anti-nuclear (bomb) activist from way back...well, way back for me. Let's just call it the Reagan administration. I grew up during the later Cold War, dead certain I would never see the age of 30. Rochester (my hometown) was supposedly third on the target list for New York State, being the third largest city IN the state, having DoD research happening at a few local Universities, and having the Kodak factory complex spread throughout the city. This last item may not seem relevant, but rumor stated that it was because the chemical blenders at the larger plants could be converted from manufacturing film and film processing chemicals to churning out chemical weapons in a relatively short period of time. We all lived in a holding pattern, waiting for that final event that we were positive would come any day now. So I understand the fervor with which people protest, and the hard and fast "No Nukes" attitude of many in the later generations.

Now here's the rub - the real issue that seems to escape the huddled, freaked-out masses: They already exist. There's no "genie back in the bottle" about this, because we already know how to make them. Any physics undergrad could probably glean enough theory to figure it out; added to the amount of information found on the web (with no filters on content for the most part, at least in this country) it's not so hard to get what you're after. And the bottom line is that someone will always want the technology, because there will always be someone trying to wrest power away from those who already have it.

Ah, Ha! Therein lies the bone I have to pick with our President. Not to put too fine a point on it, but he with the most toys wins. He with the most nuclear weapons has the largest deterrent. There's a really good reason North Korea's leader hasn't invaded South Korea - us and our big stockpile. It's a sure bet that if the G8 nations that have The Bomb give it up, there will be nuclear proliferation like you wouldn't believe among the other ones; not to attack the largest countries (although I certainly would expect it, after 9/11) but to threaten their neighbors' oil fields, land, ways of life - you name it. And there are always those interested in a coup, or wearing it on their backs. Let's face it, there seem to be a thousand and one uses for the things.

Yes, I agree, nukes are big and scary. These days whenever I hear Weird Al's "Christmas at Ground Zero", it still causes me hysterical, scared laughter, because although we're not on the edge anymore, it's still only a few feet away. So I would like us to keep our toys, for when the bullies come out to play.