The World Isn't Fair
Apr. 4th, 2007 06:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chris_gerribI was in another argument over on Making Light (starting to be a pattern, I know), in this case about Iran. The topic swung to nuclear non-proliferation, and somebody objected that nuclear non-proliferation was "mainly to freeze the post-war power structure." Here is my reply:
It's not fair that certain countries have nukes and others don't. I didn't claim it was fair. (It is a damn good thing, though, or we'd be having this conversation in German.)
I don't think we want "fair." When we send a cop to arrest a crook, we don't want them to have a fair fight. We want the cop to win, because the cost of loosing is too high. (Once we're arguing with words and not fists that's a different matter.)
Yes, the current non-proliferation regime has (partially) the function of preserving the post-WWII power structure. Since the surviving post-war winners are liberal democracies that allow people great freedom, I have a hard time seeing that as a problem. Included in that freedom is a great deal of leeway in how you run your own country's internal affairs. Ask the folks in Darfur and Ruwanda about that.
But that's not all bad either. If you want to have six weeks of vacation and free health care, that's OK too.
A lot of the classic, 1950's SF postulated Earth ran by a dictatorship, enforced by orbital nukes. Typically, a revolt against the dictatorship was a key plot element. Letting each country go to hell their own way seems less likely to get all of humanity blown up.
But that's just my two cent's worth.
It's not fair that certain countries have nukes and others don't. I didn't claim it was fair. (It is a damn good thing, though, or we'd be having this conversation in German.)
I don't think we want "fair." When we send a cop to arrest a crook, we don't want them to have a fair fight. We want the cop to win, because the cost of loosing is too high. (Once we're arguing with words and not fists that's a different matter.)
Yes, the current non-proliferation regime has (partially) the function of preserving the post-WWII power structure. Since the surviving post-war winners are liberal democracies that allow people great freedom, I have a hard time seeing that as a problem. Included in that freedom is a great deal of leeway in how you run your own country's internal affairs. Ask the folks in Darfur and Ruwanda about that.
But that's not all bad either. If you want to have six weeks of vacation and free health care, that's OK too.
A lot of the classic, 1950's SF postulated Earth ran by a dictatorship, enforced by orbital nukes. Typically, a revolt against the dictatorship was a key plot element. Letting each country go to hell their own way seems less likely to get all of humanity blown up.
But that's just my two cent's worth.
