Reducing the Global Nuclear Risk

When asked how World War 3 would look like, Albert Einstein remarked that if the war was ever fought, then people would fight with sticks and stones. The nuclear war would be so devastating that human civilization would be drawn back to the Stone Age, left to fend off enemies by the means of primary weapons like sticks and stones. But all speculation aside, the principal question remains whether the countries would go to that extent over an issue, whatever the reasons may be, to wipe out life from the planet. I believe we as a new generation of people, post- cold war should take it on ourselves to minimize that possibility as much as we can.

All of us should work together to bring down the possibility of nuclear confrontation. Albert Einstein despised the use of Nuclear weapons and actively supported peace in the world. When asked whether he wanted to become the president of Israel after it was formed he refused the offer. Having said that it is also true that his formula was one of the major reasons for the curation of Nuclear weapons, I consider this past reality an ironic happening. But that was a long time ago. The nuclear weapons we have now are much more sophisticated and technically fit enough to destroy the world ten times over. Even more serious matter is that a lot of countries have it and many of them don’t get along very much. From where I come from, Nepal, the most advanced things we got to see were Fords and Ducati Motorcycles. When there, the possibility of annihilation of the entire human species by the use of a certain bomb on some other country seemed pretty bleak to me. But the threat existed I knew even back then. But why would any country want to bomb another when it would sign its own death warrant by doing so? The clear answer to me for this question is – They just won’t. People are unpredictable but they also fear for their lives just as much. No matter how many trade wars China and the US fight against each other, they most probably will not go all out nuclear on each other. They’ve got too much to lose. But there are other countries in this world as well. Unstable countries like Pakistan and North Korea, who have irresponsibly armed themselves with nuclear warheads. The United Nations should make it a big priority that those nations be constrained and watched, to stop them from doing anything reckless.

In the Indian subcontinent, the regional scriptures like Mahabharata explain that a war much like a nuclear war had happened in the olden times, thousands of years ago. They did not use ICBM’s to launch their missiles but spelled out a special Mantra before loading a single arrow on their bows. When they shot it afterwards, hellfire enraptured the entire opposition army, a single arrow multiplied thousands of times and blazoned with fire and supernatural energy. It is quite impossible to actually think of a scenario like this but it also seems queer that Einstein was able to formulate a single formula which explains space and time and matter and energy without experimentation. Isn’t it a profound thing he was able to grasp that?I believe this is what all comes down to. Human intelligence, morality and the ability to persevere even in the toughest conditions, against implacable odds. World war two happened, Hitler seemed unbeatable but in the end, he was. Cold war happened, two superpowers were accumulating nuclear warheads just to use against each other but in the end, everything came back to normal. Righteousness eventually wins but the process might not be a bed of roses. Hitler killed millions of people, tore off families apart and tried to wipe out an entire race. The new generation of people who will lead our world in the coming years are not that flamboyant to use nuclear war heads on each other. They are more individualistic and liberal than we can ever imagine. Bought up in the age of Internet most of them regard the process of globalization as a boon and not a curse. They have the knowledge of the entire world in their fingertips which they do not regard as being vivid or awe inspiring as many people of the previous generation think. The previous generation are Digital Immigrants whereas the present ones, who are going to lead tomorrow are digital natives.

In my experience I have been able to draw parallels between the people of my age, all over the world. All I ever wanted was a good job, a café nearby my home to drink and talk ideas and the freedom to go to different places and learn various cultures. When I came to America, I have found people, of different places and ethnicity, with different set of principles but nevertheless bought up in the same age, the digital age and aspiring for the same things I long for. When this generation of people goes on to take the center stage, I think a lot of the problems put forward by the nuclear race will come to an end. Because, it’s just not worth it. To stop the possibility of a nuclear confrontation at any time in the future, the world will have to get smaller, our differences put aside and all our goals aligned towards a particular direction. That direction may be traversing through space and finding new life forms in other galaxies. Or maybe colonizing the distant planets. In that case, it wouldn’t be terribly bad if we bombed an uninhabited planet, will it? But all of this space exploration may not be as feasible as we may think. It will still take two or three generations more for our children to settle on other planets.

What common cause do we find then, to stop our fellow men from going barbaric on each other with nuclear warheads? What common cause can we find among us that makes us human? I believe, it is the sheer ability of a single human being to become satanic like Hitler or a compassionate soul like Mahatma Gandhi or Martin Luther King. An animal, say a tiger, will hunt when it’s hungry and sleep when it is time for it. It cannot differentiate between good and evil. It doesn’t see a deer, it sees food. But for us humans, we are plagued with choices of right and wrong, good and evil, ever since we were born.

So, to make this world a better place and stop the nuclear catastrophe from ever happening it is of vital importance that we use our dollars to pull people out of poverty, fill hungry stomachs everywhere on the planet, help people fight depression and launch a final war on all wars, not by using weapons but words filled with heavy emotions. Our goals should be to bring out the Martin Luther King from every disillusioned soul in this planet and stifle any remnants of Hitler, if present in any Human Being. My argument may seem a little idealistic for a lot of people. But isn’t this already being done. Aren’t there people in this world by the millions who selflessly help the less fortunate? We have the UN which floods a country with aid when in crisis. If a catastrophe falls upon a country, does the rest of the world wait and watch or line up to help? It’s the latter, we have all seen it in the news. To me, human behavior is like a very large amoeba. It can shape itself in any number of patterns. There are 7 billion people on this world who make it up and if we could all find a common cause and direct the amoeba in a proper direction, then we would be able to control its movement and prevent any possibility of death of the amoeba.