Thermonuclear Warfare: Introduction

So far, I have read only the Introduction to Poul Anderson's Thermonuclear Warfare (Derby, Connecticut, 1963), in which Anderson writes:

"The survival of this nation, of liberty, and quite possibly of what we know as civilization, depends on an enlightened public opinion." (p. 8)

We can now add "...also, the survival of humanity and of every blade of grass."

Do I want my nation to survive? Not as at presently constituted. As a matter of fact, Scotland is about to vote on independence from the UK but that would be a fairly minor alteration. Our history includes the inception of a United Kingdom under James VI of Scotland/I of England.

What I do hope is that people will be able to continue to live happily in the British Isles or rather that many people will be able to start to live happily in the British Isles - currently, there is growing poverty, job insecurity and divisive xenophobia. The current division of the world into armed nation states looks like being part of the problem rather than the solution. However, it has strong roots in history, is preferable to previous arrangements and is not about to be ended quickly.

Nationalistic thinking makes us deplore the explosion of a bomb in one of our own cities more than the bombing of a city elsewhere. After a terrorist attack, someone said, "This must never happen again in our country!" I agree that, "This must never happen again!"