I dunno about you, but I’m resting pretty comfy with the knowledge China has these; as I see it the only downside is that chances are, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Yemen, and even the Palestinians and whoever else in the global south might desire them, does not also have them.
By all means, if the west truly cannot accept coexistence even with the promise of MAD hanging over their heads, and if they truly push things to WW3, then their slate (of “civilization,” if unparalleled brutality and greed can be called that) should be wiped clean if you ask me. Such is deterrence, but frankly as someone living in the west it may as well also be considered a mercy, over leaving the survivors at the mercy (or complete lack thereof) of an unchecked western capitalist hegemony.
absolutely my biggest concern here is that the west is able to copy this technology. but while on the one hand i completely agree with you, on the other hand i’m also not looking forward to this getting dropped nearby when the ruling class of my country inevitably makes the decisions that capital dictates they must.
here’s the thing. this lowers the bar. non-nuclear weapons that can achieve similar effects to nuclear weapons are going to get used (as oreshnik has already been used). as @plinky@hexbear.net says, these aren’t much worse than conventional explosives, so why not use them? it’s not mutually assured destruction with these weapons, not in the global civilization ending sense, so we’re back into the realm of tactical ballistic exchanges being a weekly or monthly occurrence.
I dunno about you, but I’m resting pretty comfy with the knowledge China has these; as I see it the only downside is that chances are, Russia, North Korea, Iran, Yemen, and even the Palestinians and whoever else in the global south might desire them, does not also have them.
By all means, if the west truly cannot accept coexistence even with the promise of MAD hanging over their heads, and if they truly push things to WW3, then their slate (of “civilization,” if unparalleled brutality and greed can be called that) should be wiped clean if you ask me. Such is deterrence, but frankly as someone living in the west it may as well also be considered a mercy, over leaving the survivors at the mercy (or complete lack thereof) of an unchecked western capitalist hegemony.
absolutely my biggest concern here is that the west is able to copy this technology. but while on the one hand i completely agree with you, on the other hand i’m also not looking forward to this getting dropped nearby when the ruling class of my country inevitably makes the decisions that capital dictates they must.
here’s the thing. this lowers the bar. non-nuclear weapons that can achieve similar effects to nuclear weapons are going to get used (as oreshnik has already been used). as @plinky@hexbear.net says, these aren’t much worse than conventional explosives, so why not use them? it’s not mutually assured destruction with these weapons, not in the global civilization ending sense, so we’re back into the realm of tactical ballistic exchanges being a weekly or monthly occurrence.
i really don’t like where all of this is headed.