Something had drastically shifted in our collective consciousness over the last three weeks. For the first time since the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, there is a genuine fear of nuclear war. But this time the threat to mankind is much more Armegeddon-like than it was 60 years ago.
Today’s nuclear bombs are hundereds of times larger than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. And there are over 5000 live super nukes today. A hot nuclear war means mutually assured destruction of everything mankind had created since the dawn of civilization.
We’ve have madmen with nukes before. Kim Jong-un touts himself as a madman with a nuke every few years. Even Donald Trump tried that tune a few times during his presidency. But this time it seems more serious, and maybe that’s because it is more serious.
Putin is targeting civilians in Ukraine. He has shown the world he does not care for the lives of others, even pregant women and children. There is nothing lower than a child killer. There never has been. There never will be. It goes against the grain of what being alive is mainly about – preserving the species.
So it is my humble opinion that the world will not and should not permit a known active shooter, which is what Putin is now, to have control of nukes. Tradtional logic demands that Putin not walk away from any negotiated peace still holding the reins of the Russian government. But he cannot go for that. So how do we not procede to World War 3, if we cannot stop this madman from bombing children. Puitn clearly does not care when he kills others. Maybe there’s another way. He may even enjoy it.
However, analyzing the big picture, the real danger to mankind is not only that Putin is a madman with nukes. Even if Putin retires tomorrow, we still have a world with over 5000 hot nukes – and there will always be new madmen.
So why can’t the word take this moment and try to turn it into something that does real good for mankind, not only in Ukraine – which of course, needs to be dealt with – but for all people everywhere? Why don’t we take this time to learn from the errors in our collective ways?
Suppose we approach Putin – right now – with not only a request to stop the war, but also to began a verifiable de-escalation in the number of nuclear bombs held by Russia, the USA, China, India, Israel, France, North Korea, Pakistan and the United Kingdom? I imagine if all countries lowered the number of nukes by 10% each year, it would start a trend towards more harmonious cooperation between nations. And that alone puts us in position to deal with climate change, which is coming for us all now even as we talk World War 3. Mankind needs a win win. This could be that moment. I think the people of the world would be behind it.
Suppose Biden quietly tells Vladimir Putin that if he goes along with some arms control agreements to reduce the numbers of nuclear weapons, and stops the bombing in Ukraine, we won’t call him a war criminal ( even though we will always think this) – and we won’t demand that he resign from his presidency. Instead, he’ll cosign the de-escaltion plan and champion it with Joe Biden. It would be linke pulling a rabbit out of the hat of total annihilation.
I know it sounds crazy and way out-of-the-box. But Putin is in a strange box now. The only exit ramp I see is for the world to pin some sort of award on Vladimir Putin for initiating verifiable arms control policies and make him feel a sense of victory. The world then let him off the hook, at least for now, provided Russia, the USA – and all the nuclear countries – destroy 10% of our nuclear bombs each and every year for the next 9 years. Then, the price of this war – as great as it has been – will be have been a payment made towards preventing World War III.
I’ll end this expose with a Google search exercise right after you finish this paragraph. Google: What are the chances of a nuclear war in 2022? There’s an awful lot written out there on this topic right now. The odds are not close to zero. And even if we get through this year of greatest danger, the yearly danger itself will not go away until the machinery that can snuff out all life on earth is dismantled. Shame on Russia, yes. But shame of all of us really.
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