Assignment #7- Liz Graves: Thanks Albert Einstein

On October 11, 1939 U.S. President Roosevelt received a letter from Albert Einstein, urging him to go ahead with the development of the atomic bomb. Now, traditionally I would say the development of new technology is good; technology makes our lives easier, our work more efficient. But the development of the atomic bomb (a.k.a the Manhattan Project)--which this letter led to--was catastrophic to the world. Because of the Manhattan Project, humans now have the capability to literally destroy the planet and all the people on it. Imagine the destruction from Hiroshima and Nagasaki happening everywhere. Since so many countries now have nuclear technology, a policy has developed between nations called Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD), which basically means, “if you blow me up I’ll blow you up.” This should be enough to protect the world from nuclear warfare, right? Maybe, but only if the leaders of today that have the power to push the Button are responsible enough to prioritize the lives of their constituents over politics. Unfortunately, leaders like that are in short supply these days. If we look at the significance of this letter in the long run, this event in history determined the nature all foreign policy for the rest of human history. Nuclear war is always a possibility now. I appreciate the significance of this event, but I loath the fact that my parents, my future children, and I will never be able to say with confidence the world cannot possibly end tomorrow.