The Cold War

[Mushroom]

One thing as a "Boomer" that I find fascinating and frustrating is trying to make Millennials understand what the "Cold War" was like. They know by history that nothing happened, but simply can not seem to grasp what the tensions were like during that era, even among the general population.

And the Cold War really did filter through almost all of pop culture of the era. That even our pop songs were full of such things as a nuclear Armageddon at any time.

Moving forward using all my breath
Making love to you was never second best
I saw the world thrashing all around your face
Never really knowing it was always mesh and lace
I'll stop the world and melt with you
You've seen the difference and it's getting better all the time
There's nothing you and I won't do
I'll stop the world and melt with you

I Melt With You, by Modern English

Yes, a "love song" about two people melting together during a modern holocaust.

Ninety-nine ministers of war
Matches and petrol canisters
Regarded themselves as clever people
Already on the scent of a hunt
They shouted, "War," and wanted power
Man, who would have thought
That someday it would come this far
Because of ninety-nine balloons

99 Luftbaloons, by Nena

Yes, a "happy pop song" about a nuclear war started because somebody released some balloons.

I study nuclear science
I love my classes
I got a crazy teacher
He wears dark glasses
Things are going great, and they're only getting better
I'm doing alright, getting good grades
The future's so bright, I gotta wear shades
I gotta wear shades, I gotta wear shades

The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades", by Timbuk 3

It's Christmas at ground zero
There's music in the air
The sleigh bells are ringing and the carolers are singing
While the air raid sirens blare
It's Christmas at ground zero
The button has been pressed
The radio just let us know that this is not a test
Everywhere the atom bombs are dropping
It's the end of all humanity
No more time for last minute shopping
It's time to face your final destiny
It's Christmas at ground zero
There's panic in the crowd
We can dodge debris while trim the tree
Underneath the mushroom cloud

"Christmas at Ground Zero", by "Weird Al" Yankovic

Yes, even Weird Al got into the mix in 1986 with this festive holiday song.

Yes, yet another 80's pop song, you have to wear shades because otherwise the flash of the nuclear bomb will blind you.

For those to young to remember (or those old enough to like me), I thought I would throw out some movies that might help some understand what living in that era was really like.

 

[JoeMoma]

The Cold War is over due to Global Warming.

 

[1srelluc]

 

[Mushroom]

I could list dozens of them, but only selected some that are available in their entirety on YouTube.

It seemed like every month there was a new movie based on that on TV during the 1980s.

 

[1srelluc]

I could list dozens of them, but only selected some that are available in their entirety on YouTube.

It seemed like every month there was a new movie based on that on TV during the 1980s.

You can watch the complete movie on You Tube.....It remains the most watched TV movie ever.



The Day After - Wikipedia

 

[occupied]

After all that we let a mere Saudi jackass scare us into flushing away our global good guy status.

 

[Stryder50]

After all that we let a mere Saudi jackass scare us into flushing away our global good guy status.

As if that "Saudi jackass" had any "global good guy status" of his own. Other than among fellow crazy Jihadis.

The only people our status was "flushing away" were the same sort of mindsets we saw in the 1930's making deals with Hitler and Nazis to keep carving out chunks of Europe and with the Japanese to carve out chunks in China and East Asia.

In other words, only the hand wringing "quislings" that are always there in history willing to make deals for "Peace in our Time" that never work anyway. And are willing to let others be victims, until their turn comes along to be the next victims and then they whine about why didn't anybody stop this ~??? ~ !!!

 

[occupied]

As if that "Saudi jackass" had any "global good guy status" of his own. Other than among fellow crazy Jihadis.

The only people our status was "flushing away" were the same sort of mindsets we saw in the 1930's making deals with Hitler and Nazis to keep carving out chunks of Europe and with the Japanese to carve out chunks in China and East Asia.

In other words, only the hand wringing "quislings" that are always there in history willing to make deals for "Peace in our Time" that never work anyway. And are willing to let others be victims, until their turn comes along to be the next victims and then they whine about why didn't anybody stop this ~??? ~ !!!

OK I read that twice and I still don't understand what you are trying to say.

 

[Stryder50]

OK I read that twice and I still don't understand what you are trying to say.

Fair enough, I barely understood what I think you were trying to say.

I'm "guessing" you are referring to going after Osama Bin Lauden and that such an effort was a "mistake" on the part of the USA, as regards our status/standing in the rest of the world.

My first point is the rest of the world did nothing about OBL, or Islamic Jihad, and the threat to peace and human lives and property it presented, either pre-Sept.11, 2001 or afterwards. On a larger scale the World has given us at least two hot World Wars in the past century plus which the USA had to enter and settle, put a stop to. Not to mention also try to set conditions to avoid a replay of such, such as pay to rebuild the damage and destruction those world wars caused.

Meanwhile history of the world post 1918 shows our European/Western Civ "betters" kept botching things in a way to set the stage for replays, and have also done much to sabotage the post 1945 efforts of the USA. Hence it is mostly the non-USA "Other World" that helped to set up for the "Cold War" and the still unsettled and threatening conditions we have, even after the Soviet Union collapsed.

Bottom line is that the rest of you in the non-USA part of this planet keep mucking things up and setting conditions for future conflicts and wars and then expect the USA to bail you out and end such. Then you turn around and accuse USA of making things worse.

Concept of "Biting the hand that feeds you." register any ??? !!!

 

[occupied]

Fair enough, I barely understood what I think you were trying to say.

I'm "guessing" you are referring to going after Osama Bin Lauden and that such an effort was a "mistake" on the part of the USA, as regards our status/standing in the rest of the world.

My first point is the rest of the world did nothing about OBL, or Islamic Jihad, and the threat to peace and human lives and property it presented, either pre-Sept.11, 2001 or afterwards. On a larger scale the World has given us at least two hot World Wars in the past century plus which the USA had to enter and settle, put a stop to. Not to mention also try to set conditions to avoid a replay of such, such as pay to rebuild the damage and destruction those world wars caused.

Meanwhile history of the world post 1918 shows our European/Western Civ "betters" kept botching things in a way to set the stage for replays, and have also done much to sabotage the post 1945 efforts of the USA. Hence it is mostly the non-USA "Other World" that helped to set up for the "Cold War" and the still unsettled and threatening conditions we have, even after the Soviet Union collapsed.

Bottom line is that the rest of you in the non-USA part of this planet keep mucking things up and setting conditions for future conflicts and wars and then expect the USA to bail you out and end such. Then you turn around and accuse USA of making things worse.

Concept of "Biting the hand that feeds you." register any ??? !!!

Why do you think I don't live in America? I've been kicking around since Johnson and the second stupidest thing we ever did as a nation was start the so-called "war on terror". We were scared into it. Who's feeding your fears these days?

 

[Stryder50]

Why do you think I don't live in America? I've been kicking around since Johnson and the second stupidest thing we ever did as a nation was start the so-called "war on terror". We were scared into it. Who's feeding your fears these days?

1) You provide diddly-squat on whom you are, your background, etc.
2) We didn't start the war on Islamic Jihad, they restarted it on us. A war that is about 1400 years old and on and off again ever since.
3) My "fears" are fed by the agenda of Islamic Jihad, started about 1400 years ago;
A) The whole of humanity must covert to Islam.
B) Until all humanity has converted to Islam, Islam must fight to make such happen.
C) Lies and deceptions are allowed in the Holy War~Jihad against the "Infidels"= non-believers of Islam.

"They started this "War" nearly 1400 years ago when Muhammad picked up a sword and led armies in conflict~conquest~conversion and such will continue, likely for another 1400 years, unless we "Infidels" put a stop to it. !!!

Which side are you on and supporting ??? !!!

 

[occupied]

1) You provide diddly-squat on whom you are, your background, etc.
2) We didn't start the war on Islamic Jihad, they restarted it on us. A war that is about 1400 years old and on and off again ever since.
3) My "fears" are fed by the agenda of Islamic Jihad, started about 1400 years ago;
A) The whole of humanity must covert to Islam.
B) Until all humanity has converted to Islam, Islam must fight to make such happen.
C) Lies and deceptions are allowed in the Holy War~Jihad against the "Infidels"= non-believers of Islam.

"They started this "War" nearly 1400 years ago when Muhammad picked up a sword and led armies in conflict~conquest~conversion and such will continue, likely for another 1400 years, unless we "Infidels" put a stop to it. !!!

Which side are you on and supporting ??? !!!

The war on terror started stupid, it's fought stupidly and there is so little to show for it that it's a national crying shame. If there was ever anything honorable about our war on some of the poorest people on earth it was so long ago it doesn't matter anymore.

 

[Stryder50]

The war on terror started stupid, it's fought stupidly and there is so little to show for it that it's a national crying shame. If there was ever anything honorable about our war on some of the poorest people on earth it was so long ago it doesn't matter anymore.

Terror is a tactic and one does not fight a war on/against "tactics".

We fight a war against Islamic Jihad(Religious Fundamentalism) which is at war with all of humanity which is not proper submission to their "flavor" of Islamic Extremism.

We are not at war with the "the poorest people on earth", only those whom would seek to exploit and use them as human shields.

Since we engage in targeted precision, this "war" costs more than it would if we were to use the blunt force tactics of those whom we fight.

Thank you for displaying your ignorance of war and how to conduct, along with your support of our enemies!

You might consider undoing your ignorance and learn something of real value and merit on this situation.

 

[occupied]

Terror is a tactic and one does not fight a war on/against "tactics".

We fight a war against Islamic Jihad(Religious Fundamentalism) which is at war with all of humanity which is not proper submission to their "flavor" of Islamic Extremism.

We are not at war with the "the poorest people on earth", only those whom would seek to exploit and use them as human shields.

Since we engage in targeted precision, this "war" costs more than it would if we were to use the blunt force tactics of those whom we fight.

Thank you for displaying your ignorance of war and how to conduct, along with your support of our enemies!

You might consider undoing your ignorance and learn something of real value and merit on this situation.

I am all too familiar with the arbitrary and almost pointless way we make war and our total inability to win the peace.

 

[Silver Cat]

One thing as a "Boomer" that I find fascinating and frustrating is trying to make Millennials understand what the "Cold War" was like. They know by history that nothing happened, but simply can not seem to grasp what the tensions were like during that era, even among the general population.

And the Cold War really did filter through almost all of pop culture of the era. That even our pop songs were full of such things as a nuclear Armageddon at any time.


I Melt With You, by Modern English

Yes, a "love song" about two people melting together during a modern holocaust.


99 Luftbaloons, by Nena

Yes, a "happy pop song" about a nuclear war started because somebody released some balloons.


The Future's So Bright, I Gotta Wear Shades", by Timbuk 3


"Christmas at Ground Zero", by "Weird Al" Yankovic

Yes, even Weird Al got into the mix in 1986 with this festive holiday song.

Yes, yet another 80's pop song, you have to wear shades because otherwise the flash of the nuclear bomb will blind you.

For those to young to remember (or those old enough to like me), I thought I would throw out some movies that might help some understand what living in that era was really like.

Yes, there were plenty of such nice songs back in more civilized time:

 

[Stryder50]

I am all too familiar with the arbitrary and almost pointless way we make war and our total inability to win the pea

I am all too familiar with the arbitrary and almost pointless way we make war and our total inability to win the peace.

I doubt you are as familiar as you think.

What do you mean "we" Kemosabie?

What military "pundent" claimed, "The purpose of War is to establish a better Peace." ???

 

[whitehall]

JFK went to Germany in 1961 and addressed the Germans while the Russians were building the Berlin Wall. He told the world "we are all Berliners" but the term he used for "Berliner" was the word the German's used for Jelly donut. The media loved it anyway and you just didn't criticize JFK. Then he went home and left "Berliners" to be shot in the back. JFK's abortive attempt to sneak armed revolutionaries into Castro's Cuba and abandon them at the Bay of Pigs led to the legendary Missile Crisis that brought us to Defcon 2 for the first and only time in history. Nobody in the MSM ever questioned or criticized JFK's peculiar ideas because JFK was Camelot. Lee Oswald left his post in the Marines, renounced his citizenship and fled to Russia. For some reason still not explained the DOJ and the CIA welcomed him back home without prosecution in the coldest part of the Cold War. Strange times indeed.

 

[Silver Cat]

JFK went to Germany in 1961 and addressed the Germans while the Russians were building the Berlin Wall. He told the world "we are all Berliners" but the term he used for "Berliner" was the word the German's used for Jelly donut. The media loved it anyway and you just didn't criticize JFK. Then he went home and left "Berliners" to be shot in the back. JFK's abortive attempt to sneak armed revolutionaries into Castro's Cuba and abandon them at the Bay of Pigs led to the legendary Missile Crisis that brought us to Defcon 2 for the first and only time in history.

Actually, the USA dodged the bullet in 1962 - the Russians would be ready to attack US missile bases and Naval bases of missiles submarines in March of 1963.

JFK's mistake was the he didn't started the real invasion on Cuba before Soviet missiles were delivered. He allowed the USA to lost nuclear superiority.

And yes, just another nice Cold War song:

 

[lg325]

The stress and anxiety were high among all the kids I went to school with. Caused by not just the cold war but other issues going on around the globe. A memory from my high school days was a young girl standing in the middle of the school courtyard and suddenly screaming at the top of her lungs ''Let's thank all the adults for blowing up the world before we had a chance to live in it''. Yes, the younger generation needs to be taught about what things were like and how we have it better now. And yes thanks to government servants both elected and non-elected who kept things from ''Blowing up''..

 

[Silver Cat]

The stress and anxiety were high among all the kids I went to school with. Caused by not just the cold war but other issues going on around the globe. A memory from my high school days was a young girl standing in the middle of the school courtyard and suddenly screaming at the top of her lungs ''Let's thank all the adults for blowing up the world before we had a chance to live in it''.

We all have fears... And every generation had its own set of popular psychopathology.

Yes, the younger generation needs to be taught about what things were like and how we have it better now. And yes thanks to government servants both elected and non-elected who kept things from ''Blowing up''..

I'm not sure, that ignorance is the best response on the pretty real possibility of a nuclear war.
And I'm pretty sure, that the nowadays psychoepidemies of gender dysphoria or drug addiction are much worse than realistic fear of a nuclear catastrophe.