The Three Bombs

When we were looking for op-ed pieces to get an understanding of what they actually were, I found myself clicking on everything. Most notable among the list, I found an article called "Our Three Bombs." It brought up some interesting points that would be insightful to share.

In the 1950s there was only one bomb, or threat to the world, and that was a nuclear war. We had a general fear of the Soviets and their nuclear capabilities and vice versa. Everyone was constantly biting their nails due to the anxiety of the Red Scare. According to the author, they had it easy.

Today we face three bombs, or in other words, three threats to the functioning of the world. Once upon a time we could be relatively calm due to the insurance program called M.A.D. or Mutually Assured Destruction. Basically if the Soviets, the known assailant, attacked, we would know about it prior to the impacts and fire back. Today we don't have the M.A.D. luxury. Terrorist organizations and small hostile nations are acquiring nuclear weapons at a relatively rapid rate. No longer can we rely on M.A.D. to give us some kind of iota of security.

The second bomb that is ever present is the debt bomb. The dollar has been depreciating in value over the past few years at an unacceptable rate. As the value of the dollar decreases our deficit increases. This contributes to a cycle. People lose confidence in the dollar which leads to an increase in interest rates, our deficit recovers slower, adds to the deficit projections, and further undermines the dollar. I would almost take a miracle to disarm this deadly bomb.

Ever since the burning of oil became useful, we have been polluting the atmosphere. Over a period of one-hundred years, automobiles have made a serious dent in the atmosphere. If you haven't guessed already, the third and final bomb is the atmoshperic bomb.

The pollution has been eating away at our o-zone layer, which provides a barrier that defends us against solar radiation. As we have noticed within our lifetimes, our pollution has been catching up with us. The North Pole ice caps have been melting at a never before seen rate. The water run off have been mixing with the salt water of the Atlantic Ocean which throws off the balance of the ecosystem. The author noted that as one ecosystem fails, an unpredictable changes start to occur in the others.

Without a doubt we are being pressed with the most difficult task in the history of the world - save the planet. The three bombs are all looming above our heads, and if one falls, all hell breaks loose. It is up to us to make sure that these bombs do not hit the ground when it is our turn to have worldly influences.