Recently I have been reading articles in the New York Times on the subject of the building of a Ballistic Missile Defense (BMD) system by the United States government. If the Pentagon builds such a system, it will clearly violate the Anti Ballistic Missile Treaty. The idea of building such a system has begun to trouble me greatly on two levels; one is that nations such as Russia and China are adamantly opposed to the building of such a defense system, and two that the leading nuclear physicists at MIT have stated that such a system would not work in practice. I fear that the building of such a system could spark an arms race as well as alienating the United States from other nuclear countries.

One article voiced the opinion that nuclear weapons and the idea of nuclear war had become such a science that people had lost sight of the human consequences. This idea intrigued me, and so I searched on the Internet to see if I could find more thoughts on this statement. I came across the title of this book called The Genocidal Mentality by Robert Lifton and Eric Markusen. Ever since I read the book my perspective on life has changed.

The Genocidal Mentality discusses Lifton and Markusen's beliefs on the state of nuclear weapons. The two professors theorize that there is "nuclear numbing" occurring in the United States. The first reason provided for this inability to see human impacts of nuclear weapons is the technical language used to describe them. Impacts are calculated by risk and accuracy turning it into a science rather than a body count. The scientists and strategists created this nuclear language in order to escape their own emotional conflicts about nuclear weapon development. They justify their work in the name of national defense or deterrence. Lifton and Markusen argue that deterrence is an evil that will result in our deaths rather than the preservation of our lives.

The second reason for the adulteration of nuclear weapons into society has been public compliance. The majority of the population does not comprehend the nuclear situation and leaves their trust in the nuclear scientists and strategists. Due to lack of knowledge or lack of comprehension, the American public accepts deterrence and nuclear weapons as a way of life. These two problems combined dramatically increase the likelihood that nuclear weapons will be used. This would be catastrophic because of the awesome destructive power of these genocidal weapons.

Lifton and Markusen's book has inspired me to read other authors on the subject like Carol Cohn and Jonathan Schell. Lifton's work was the driving force in my recently joining the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. I have begun a letter to Representative Peter T. King who sits on the International Operations and Human Rights subcommittee. The subject of my letter is been the America's current deterrence policy and the sell of weapons and technology to non-democratic governments.

Even though it has only been a few weeks that I have been reading on the nuclear situation I feel as though I have started to accomplish a lot. My friends find it slightly odd that I all of a sudden became so passionate about the nuclear issue. Lifton and Markusen plead that the fate of nuclear weapons and ultimately the world lies in today's youth. Those who do not remember a Cold War or threat of a nuclear attack I feel that if I can get one person to think about what I have said or spark an interest in one person to read further on the nuclear situation then I have made a difference.

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