Remembering Cold War Paranoia

[g_UnIt_GaNsTa]

Since most of us were children of the 80's, I'm sure that we all remember the paranoid Nuclear Fear that was:


The Cold War. In bold!


Yes, I'm sure that we all (Or those of us born at least in the early 80's.) remember times of DEFCON, Reaganism (Even if he WAS A great president.), and who could forget Mutually Assured Destruction?

However, since Nuclear Annihilation is now a minimal threat, discuss the NOSTALGIA of the time where we built Fallout Bunkers out of Legos and called those Russians "Dirty Commies."

[Lord Dalek]

The only things the Cold War ever gave us were James Bond and Dr. Strangelove. END OF STORY!

[Delthayre]

I was born in 1984, so damn, I missed it.

It did give us some great movies, at least. It may have been at the expense of national fear and paranoia, but Doctor Strangelove or how I learned to stop worrying and love the bomb was worth it.

[Chris Wood]

Ah, the good old days. When the Olympics really meant something - a bitter tooth and nail struggle between the U.S. and U.S.S.R./East Germany (see Miracle). When you never knew whether planes passing over at night could possibly be Soviet bombers. Fun times.

If you are too young to have experienced it firsthand, there are a number of movies that will transport you to the glory days of the Cold War.

From my generation I recommend:

The Day After (1983) - America is ravaged by a nuclear missile attack and the survivors try to cope with the aftermath

Red Dawn (1984) - America is invaded by Soviet troops, and a small band of teenagers form a militia group to fight the enemy. Wolverines!

[zmanjz]

Yeah, I'd have to say that The only noticible change in my personal life is that the Summer Olympics without the USSR are a lot less important.

Really, except for some of the Marksmanship, and Archery competitions, I didn't really care at all about the events anymore.

But other than that, the only other thing, is that I don't have to worry about my little bro and Sis going up against Soviet troops.

[sun]

I met a fellow teacher while I worked...He told a great Navy story, being on a destroyer, in route to Cuba to invade, when the group of ships about 2/3 of the way there, turned around, and war was avoided. It was no paranoia, we were one decision away from nuclear war with the Soviets...It is said that Kennedy left just enough wiggle room, for Kruschev to somewhat gracefully,(if those terms are possible) avoid the war, and pull out the missles from Cuba, "the Cuban missle Crises" It was no paranoia, it was real. And it was avoided....Stuart

[g_UnIt_GaNsTa]

From my generation I recommend:

The Day After (1983) - America is ravaged by a nuclear missile attack and the survivors try to cope with the aftermath

Red Dawn (1984) - America is invaded by Soviet troops, and a small band of teenagers form a militia group to fight the enemy. Wolverines!
The Day After I reccomend more than Red Dawn, but they both are still good.

Oh, and don't forget the Emergency Broadcast System! It was terribly fun rushing to the TV to see if it really IS a test!


It was no paranoia, it was real. And it was avoided....Stuart
Wow..knowing it was that close to happening. It freaks me out, even if the USSR was abolished in '88.

[James]

It was scary quite frankly especially as a kid. Fun to laugh at but at the time, the end came as a relief for many generations. I remember as a child being scared. The media painting Regan as someone who was dotty (which we now know was insensitively refering to dementia) and the Russians depicted as unpredictable and uncaring. May sound silly now, but you look at the comic literature at the time coming at of England. Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, Strontium Dog.. all based around a nuclear holocaust brought on by the cold war. It was frightening stuff. Then when the cold war ended, corporations became the new sci fi theme and the holocaust was relegated to history.

That sad thing about the Cold War is that people forget. That want and need for peace between nations that lingered among the populace in the period is forgotten. Soon people forget how frightening war and stalemates are and start looking at exciting things to shoot at. War again excites the media and those who read of it.

I always hoped that when the Cold War ended we'd all be less gung ho about leaping into military action again, this was not to be from any countries perspective.

War is nasty - particularly the threat of it. Comparatively, Iraq and co is just a tiny incident - I hope the size of the threats that lingered in the past don't come back to haunt us.

[sun]

Because the two sides were fairly equally ballanced, and Kennedy did act quite wisely, during the one time where things got really bad, the theory states, that since both sides, had enough fire power to blow up the world, 14 times over, with the U.S. having and 8 to 6 advantage, that this Cold War insanity made the world a safer place, because, and in fact, neither side did, use this super power to blow up the world,,,Unfortunately, a lot of that old nuclear stuff, is still lieing around, almost unprotected, but that is another story, and another thread...

[Psycho Fox]

Because the two sides were fairly equally ballanced, and Kennedy did act quite wisely, during the one time where things got really bad, the theory states, that since both sides, had enough fire power to blow up the world, 14 times over, with the U.S. having and 8 to 6 advantage, that this Cold War insanity made the world a safer place, because, and in fact, neither side did, use this super power to blow up the world,,,Unfortunately, a lot of that old nuclear stuff, is still lieing around, almost unprotected, but that is another story, and another thread...
Yet we came too, close. During the cold war we frequently came as close as 3 seconds before nuclear launch was aborted.

Also Austrila had plans to join the WMD party before popular uprising killed the program.

"We must all learn to live together as brothers. Or we
will perish together as fools.". Martin Luther King, Jr

[Hatter]

I was too young during the 1980s to remember the Cold War. However, two graphic novels have done a very effective job of portraying the feel of the times: Alan Moore's Watchmen, and to a lesser extent, Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns.