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Nuclear arms race is the ultimate Ponzi scheme

FILE - In this undated file photo distributed on Sept. 16, 2017, by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, celebrates what was said to be the test launch of an intermediate range Hwasong-12 missile at an undisclosed location in North Korea. North Korea says it will never give up its nuclear weapons as long as the United States and its allies continue their âblackmail and war drillsâ at its doorstep. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified.
FILE - In this undated file photo distributed on Sept. 16, 2017, by the North Korean government, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, right, celebrates what was said to be the test launch of an intermediate range Hwasong-12 missile at an undisclosed location in North Korea. North Korea says it will never give up its nuclear weapons as long as the United States and its allies continue their âblackmail and war drillsâ at its doorstep. Independent journalists were not given access to cover the event depicted in this image distributed by the North Korean government. The content of this image is as provided and cannot be independently verified. AP

We older Americans may remember the cartoon character Bert the Turtle, sporting a bow tie and undersized hard hat secured by a tiny chin strap, looking skyward and warning school children to “duck and cover” in a 1950s film by the Civil Defense Administration. Agreed, it was an atrocious message, but the short animation gave that generation a still lingering existential dread of nuclear war, a dread noticeably absent from the current flock of global leaders.

Secretary of War Henry Stimson, after ordering nuclear bombs dropped on two Japanese cities, said: “Man’s ability to destroy himself is very nearly complete. This is a lesson leaders everywhere must learn.”

If any ideology or religion has any claim to rationality, it must first shun the use of nuclear weapons — the more advanced the culture, the more strident the denial should be. The ultimate suicidal Ponzi scheme is seeking security through a nuclear arms race.

Dan Biezad, San Luis Obispo

This story was originally published January 2, 2018 at 8:23 PM with the headline "Nuclear arms race is the ultimate Ponzi scheme."

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