I'm beginning to realise that most of my politics and beliefs stem from time spent in my Modern Studies class during high school. One of the textbooks I distinctly remember, to the point where I could probably quite accurately reproduce some of the graphics, was about the nuclear holocaust and described what happened on those fateful days at the end of WWII.
Growing up the Cold War was an ever present threat; nuclear arsenals reaching ridiculously catastrophic proportions with weapons so powerful they made Little Boy just that. Yet twenty years since the supposed end of the posturing and Scotland still has obscene amounts of these monsters buried deep into the Clydeside hills.
We need them as a deterrent the Establishment and their supporters cry. The thing is with a deterrent, it only works if you have the capacity to actually use it if needed. There's a thought to chew on for a while for those who think there is still a place in civilisation for nuclear weapons.
That textbook, the stories and images within, chilled me to the bone. It still has that power thinking back on it now. I had hoped that my own children would never know the horror of how depraved humanity can be against the world and all within.
Seventy years on and those in charge still think this an acceptable, we will all be reduced to shadows on the pavement.
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