End of the World

I didn't live through the real nuclear scares of the cold war. In my lifetime, I haven't actually been scared of dying in a war or the end of days. The idea of a "mutual assured destruction" seemed to prevent the major militaries of the world from fighting each other (at least fighting directly). But "mutual assured destruction" only works if those in charge are either thinking rationally, morally, or selfishly. Personally, I think the "selfishly" one is the most important, as leaders of countries have the most to lose (power, money, prestige, etc.). But if there was an autocratic head of a nuclear power, who has nothing to lose (perhaps, he is dying of something else), than there is very little standing in the way of the end of civilization. And I am not overexerting, there are 8 (maybe 9) countries in the world that have enough nuclear weapons to destroy every major city in the world (with the resulting radiation affected every person on earth). How unlikely is this?  The odds of the end of civilization happening within the next few months are much, much better than winning the lottery. Is it inconvincible that Vladimir Putin will not stop with Ukraine, but instead accept sanctions and continue to rebuild the USSR by attacking Poland (a NATO country)? NATO would have to respond and that's almost definitely the end of it all. Putin would never surrender (knowing he would tried as a war criminal), so the only way out would be a coup in Russia (which would be possible). 

I am not one to get scared because it is not a very helpful emotion. And I'm not scared now, but I should be. We all should be. 

  1. Russia — 3039 nuclear weapons available. Dictator
  2. United States —  2,361 nuclear weapons available. Donald Trump was just President.
  3. China — 350 nuclear weapons available. De-facto Dictator
  4. France — 290 nuclear weapons available. Le Pen was almost President
  5. United Kingdom — 225 available nuclear weapons available. Boris Johnson, really?
  6. Pakistan — 165 available nuclear weapons, located directly next to their enemy.
  7. India — 156 available nuclear weapons, located directly next to their enemy.
  8. Israel — 90 available nuclear weapons, located directly next to their enemy.
  9. North Korea — 40-50 available nuclear weapons (estimated). Dictator.

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