The movie Oppenheimer captures the conflict of moral crises and the existential threat of nuclear holocaust through Oppenheimer as the scientist who rightly wanted to stop the Nazis before they had the ability to use a thermonuclear device. By the time he led a team of scientists at Los Alamos to create an atomic bomb, the Nazis were defeated. However, the war with Japan was still raging and the potential loss of American life in invading mainland Japan (estimated as high as one million casualties) proved enough reason to use the bomb on Japan.
In a 1965 interview for CBS Oppenheimer stated that the decision to use the bomb was reached "in good faith, with regret, and on the best evidence that they then had at the time.”
It may be trite, and simplistic to summarize Oppenheimer’s situation as essentially being out of control of the monster he created, but what we see clearly is that the fusion device he nurtured to reality to save us was never his to rule over.
The legacy of our world being destroyed is still very much with us.
I did this animation in part to illustrate my angst over global nuclear annihilation.
This animation, art and photography is that of the author and is © MojoMan 2023. The “nuclear device” in this animation is my photo from 2010 a life size scale model on display at the Los Alamos Bradbury museum in New Mexico
Given the threat of Climate Change and now AI, you may feel that the threat nuclear Armageddon is behind us.
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REAL-LIFE TALES OF CLOSE CALLS, SCREW UPS, AND NUCLEAR NEAR MISSES. (Courtesy of the Union of Concerned Scientists)
“Despite nuclear arms treaties, dating back to Reagan as well as international monitoring, the fact remains that Nine countries possess nuclear weapons: the United States, Russia, France, China, the United Kingdom, Pakistan, India, Israel, and North Korea.” also visit [Union of Concerned Scientists]
“Some nice beaches for Condos”
As you may recall Trump threatened North Korea with “They will be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen.” [New York Times]. Then the “stable genius” made a big show of his meeting with Kim Jong-un to demonstrate his “deal making” prowess.
Trump assured us that he and Kim had reached an accord (leaving the details to the negotiators) and that Kim would decease from advancing his nuclear missiles program. He also stated to Kim that his beaches would make a great location for a condo development.
The reality is that as of 2023 North Korea continues to advance its nuclear weapons and missile programs despite UN Security Council sanctions and high-level diplomatic efforts. Recent ballistic missile tests and military parades suggest that North Korea is continuing to build a nuclear warfighting capability designed to evade regional ballistic missile defenses. Such an approach likely reinforces a deterrence and coercive diplomacy strategy—lending more credibility as it demonstrates capability—but it also raises questions about crisis stability and escalation control. [Congressional Research Center]
June 2023
Biden has stated that the threat of Putin using tactical nuclear weapons is real. [Reuters]
As Kurt Vonnegut used to write “…and so it goes.”