If you were the leader of a nuclear-armed nation, do you think you would ever be willing to push the button?
By John Welford
@indexer (4852)
Leicester, England
October 3, 2015 9:00am CST
This question arose when the new leader of Britain's Labour Party, Jeremy Corbyn, stated that - were he to become Prime Minister - nothing would induce him to launch a nuclear attack, whatever the provocation.
This has been roundly criticised by some as making Britain's nuclear arsenal redundant - how could it be a deterrent if a potential enemy knew that it would never be used?m Others have seen this an mark of honesty on the part of a man who has always stood firm as a nuclear disarmer.
I can see how the prospect of having the power to slaughter hundreds of thousands of people might be attractive to some, but far from it to others.
9 people like this
9 responses
@kataomoi (708)
• Japan
3 Oct 15
No. Even if I had the power to do it, I don't think I would. It would literally wipe out an entire nation of people, plus create enough radiation to harm many more innocent people. There might be bad people in that nation, but surely not ALL of the people there are bad. I wouldn't ever be able to push the button.
2 people like this
@thayalan1 (1)
• Madurai, India
3 Oct 15
yes.i am the one of the nuclear world nation.i like to live like this nation. you know one thing we are happy who one living here.if i move from here to i mostly like nuclear nation.i hope i will move from my nation to other country soon.
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
3 Oct 15
I would never push that button because it would create a worse situation. Instead I would have my scientists build the next generation weapon that I will not state the details of (because it's technology no one should ever have). It's powerful enough to completely erase a country off the map, and controllable enough to be used where you want to use it without hurting the ones using it.
I was trying to figure out how to stop nuclear blasts and found out how, but in the process found this technology, which is really scary. I guess next generational stuff is always worse!
1 person likes this
@OneOfMany (12150)
• United States
3 Oct 15
@indexer It does the job without leaving lots of radiation that can come back to you. Morally speaking? Genocide is good for population control and resource management. There are better ways, and certainly those are the first things to be pursued, but if there are pests in mass out there, sometimes it's best to just erase them.
@intal_carl (299)
• Quezon City, Philippines
7 Oct 15
No, because many people will die in just one push of a button.
@TGRWorzel (47)
• United Kingdom
3 Oct 15
Yes I would, if the situation demanded it.
But I wouldn't do it lightly and I wouldn't discuss the exact circumstances beforehand.
1 person likes this
@rusty2rusty (6763)
• Defiance, Ohio
3 Oct 15
No, I would never push the button. I would not want that much blood on my hands. No way I could kill a bunch of innocents to rid the world of a few mad men.
@TiarasOceanView (70022)
• United States
3 Oct 15
Well surely only maniacal forces would be willing to push the button.
Jeremy sounds balanced.
@gregario888 (1276)
• Aurangabad, India
3 Oct 15
Even the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were questionable decisions-they led to the sort of-institutionalization of nuclear weapons for all time to come. Now we have to live with this Frankenstein. Any one hallucinating that he can get away after nuking some body, is simply stone bonkers.
