And it only got worse.

(This was posted before Musk bought Twitter and before the full-on invasion of Ukraine)

  • PrimeMinisterKeyes@leminal.space
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    2 days ago

    “I do not wish to seem overdramatic but I can only conclude from the information that is available to me as Secretary-General that the Members of the United Nations have perhaps ten years left in which to subordinate their ancient quarrels and launch a global partnership to curb the arms race, to improve the human environment, to defuse the population explosion, and to supply the required momentum to development efforts. If such a global partnership is not forged within the next decade, then I very much fear that the problems I have mentioned will have reached such staggering proportions that they will be beyond our capacity to control.”

    U Thant, former secretary-general of the UN, in 1969

    • HerbGrower@slrpnk.net
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      2 days ago

      Well, we have managed to reduce the stockpile of nuclear weapons since their height. So while its not solved, arguably the risks are lower.

      • groet@feddit.org
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        20 hours ago

        Yeah but at the same time, each nuke that is left is much more capable, both in usability (range, speed, accuracy, …) and power. The overall explosive force is still lower than it was but I’d argue the atomic powers could cause as much destruction now than at the height of the cold war.

        The big difference is that all the McArthurs that lived in a time of blanked bombardments as a first strike are no longer alive. Nobody in charge today wants to throw nukes (Except Holden Bloodfeast).

    • Aatube@lemmy.dbzer0.com
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      1 day ago

      i mean, we did do that back then. everybody got social safety nets, the berlin wall fell as certainly one way to end an arms race, the nations united against the ozone hole. but now we’re past another 1969 with gaza as our new vietnam