Stanley Kubrick’s Dr. Strangelove: or how I learned to love the Bomb explores themes relating to the absurdity of war, the end of existence on Earth, the business and politics of conflict, and how the misuse of technology affects our lives. One of the above themes could materialize through the implementation of Mutual Assured Destruction (M.A.D.) which “is a doctrine of military strategy and national security policy in which a full-scale use of nuclear weapons by two or more opposing sides would cause complete annihilation” (987).[1]. I will specifically focus on the consequences nuclear technology can have on humans and the environment, while also showing how such technology can lead to extinction and devastating effects on the environment.
Since the introduction of modern nuclear technology and our knowledge of its consequences, it has become necessary to have rational and poised politicians in power. In Dr.Strangelove, both Americans and Russians are represented as being less than competent, stable, and responsible through the characters of General Ripper, Dr.Strangelove, and the prime minister of the Soviet Union. Similarly, the leaders of the United States and Russia today, namely Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin, are equally unstable, incompetent, and unpredictable. Thus, the possibility of M.A.D. unfolding and destroying life on earth increases exponentially when two leading and “mad” Politicians exist. As Voltaire once stated “with great power comes great responsibility”, and the dominant politicians of our age have shown irresponsible behavior on multiple occasions. Without this being the case in contemporary politics, our most basic feature – survival – is at stake. To think that a mad minority of politicians can easily create an end of the world scenarios affecting the greater majority is enough to drive one insane, but, more importantly, it should cause a majority to reflect on the consequences of electing unstable and unpredictable leadership. Both Einstein and Plato – from opposing political beliefs caution us about the potentially “disastrous” and “nightmarish” consequences of electing the wrong officials. For Plato, you reach political power in a republic only after becoming a philosopher, which requires a citizen to expose himself or herself to public opinion for at least 55 years. Einstein, on the other hand, pleads for intellectuals to hold positions of power. As relative as this belief may appear, we can agree that neither Putin nor Trump falls under such a category.
Nuclear weaponry in the wrong hands can be catastrophic, but even more, concerning is how nuclear energy and its residue can negatively affect both human health and the environment. Nuclear energy emerges from the splitting of the Uranium-235 or Plutonium-239 atoms, which results in a process termed fission. Such splitting into two or more lighter nuclei releases large amounts of energy in the form of gamma radiation and free neutrons. All of this is fine and has little consequences on nature when it is under strict control. However, any kind of leak or explosion of a nuclear power plant will have a devastating impact on human life and the environment. Gamma radiation released into a habitat will cause serious genetic mutations to life – whether human or not – in the form of cancer, sterility, malformations, and even death. Moreover, such accidental discharge of hazardous energy will permeate the atmosphere for an indefinite amount of time. Simply speaking, it stays in our atmosphere, and whether we like it or not, we breathe trace amounts of it. Examples of such tragedy have occurred within the past generation in Ukraine and Japan. The Chernobyl power plant exploded in 1986 and Fukushima leaked radioactivity in 2011. Both tragedies lead to devastating effects on humans and wildlife. Such consequences will persist well into the future thus affecting humans in lesser or greater degree depending on location. If anyone doubts this, the evidence is to be found in Hiroshima and Nagasaki today, where present generations are still affected by the release of atomic radiation during World War II. For all these reasons, humans must be especially cautious and responsible in their use of nuclear energy.
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