Saw this thread, and it really hit a chord with me, as these similar fears tend to constantly weigh on me (for various reasons- being trans, ethnic Chinese, commie, etc).
I think we all (leftists, but also just most minorities) know, shit is bad and will get worse, it's just a question of how bad it will get. People mention it offhand without usually going further into the details, and similarly in other spaces - non-leftist ones as well, for instance Asian diasporic and LGBT spaces in my experience, these fears come up, but ultimately we keep the bulk of our concerns to ourselves. What are our expectations here, for the west? Not just for the US, but the Anglosphere and Europe?
if you look at the bright side, modern nuclear missiles only work if you have the codes so it posible they get lost (like with for example the collapse of the federal gov) during the conflict which would mean no one can use them
the real problem would be tactical nuclear weapon since those dont need a code to work since they are conventional weapons
Dirty bombs
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Seriously, you think they never use bombs with dirt or mud on them? I've seen photos of US military bases and their hygiene is not up to par. Guarantee some of the bombs they use are dirty.
Didn't the US design such weapons and similar? (weapons with a focus on killing a populace while leaving infrastructure intact) Also even beyond that- when pushed I think the US could truly be (and many elements among its elite absolutely are) mad enough to do it.
I'm not a doomer (though I'm realistically concerned all the same, because doom is also a very real possibility) but my hopes mainly stem from the rank-and-file up to even some of the upper brass and other such cogs in the machine recognizing their common humanity- if not with their victims abroad, then with probably 99% of their fellow citizens, their family, friends, relatives...
But seriously, look up what kind of logic drives the US. The Wolfowitz doctrine and "Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner" are two excellent examples, but you just need to see exactly what circles all these hawks/neocons/unipolar hegemonists run in and how tight their control of the ship is...