The Day After -- Will We?

Some think much of my writing dark. Admittedly, there is some truth to this. If my views are so often about the darkness of the human condition it is because, I believe the immunization through its knowledge is the only way to keep the contagion of it from generationally spreading. Immunization against the disease means seeing its unpleasantries before our eyes no matter the difficulty. The Holocaust is an example of this. It must be kept alive to impress upon generations of humankind of that which man is capable hoping that if one knows it one will keep from repeating it again.

Netflix offers much. If you have it I urge you to search on it for "Hiroshima" and then view it. It is half documentary and half docudrama precisely written with interviews of those who experienced it, from both sides. The American airmen Brigadier General Paul W. Tibbets, pilot of the Enola Gay, who dropped the A bomb named "Little Boy" and other Americans were interviewed who were involved it it. Some of the Japanese of Hiroshima who were on the receiving end were interviewed as well. Not many are, of course, left.

The film, brilliantly done, illuminates in detail what it really means to, as some so cavalierly say about American adversaries "just nuke em." What does "just nuke em" mean? I suspect most who say that know not what they say and further have no understanding what dropping a nuclear device really means. There is no comprehension of a day after for those who say such inane and brutal things. Netflix "Hiroshima" will show one what it means. You, your children and your children’s children should see it at a time maturationally possible and know precisely what nuclear war means and why those who would want to subvert discussions about its spread should stop before it is too late.

The end of the film presents a modern view of Hiroshima and discusses in real time both sides of the Hiroshima argument. The question: Did America have to drop the atomic bomb? The opinions come from both those who dropped the bomb – politicians and airmen alike – to those who were the recipients of it. The film also showed Americans dancing in the streets with glee at war’s end. Few knew then the enormity of what we had just done to end it and few knew what it would mean for generations the day after.

Stephen Hawking, the eminent physicist, was asked recently: “What is the most dangerous threat to face mankind today?” He did not say climate change as I expected but he did say human aggression. We should never forget that and we should always remember but will we?