Cold War and Communism

Cold War and Communism
HIS/135

There are situations in life that can arise at any moment, without our control. Nuclear war and terrorism are two of these situations. There are things we can do to prepare for these situations, but are we ever really prepared? To live under the threat of nuclear war must have been terrible. To know that at any moment a something very catastrophic could happen to us and our family, and there are only a number of things we can do to protect ourselves, is a gut wrenching feeling. During the Cold War, the threat of nuclear war and the atomic bomb put fear into everyone’s life. There was nothing civilians could do about this, except to “Duck and Cover”. The threat of the atomic bomb was so real that schools were instructing students on what to do if and when it was to occur. “Duck and cover” is what the students were taught to do. No matter where the person was, outside or inside, duck and cover was the best thing they could do in order to protect themselves from flying debris and the extremely bright light. I’m sure that the fear that the threat of the atomic bomb scared the children very much. Living under the threat of nuclear war and living under the threat of terrorism have a lot in common. Terrorism defines many different situations, such as 9/11, a shooter entering a public place, poison being put into our air or drinking water, etc. The fear is the same, we are afraid that a situation could occur that could harm, or even kill, us or our loved ones, and there is nothing we can do to prevent it. Just like schools were teaching students what to do in case of a nuclear bomb during the Cold War, schools are now teaching students what to do in case of a terrorist attack. Since the shooting at the elementary school Connecticut, schools all over the country have been teaching the students what to do and how to handle the situation. I believe that this is a very positive thing. School shootings seem to be happening more and more often, and students should be prepared. One different between the threat of the nuclear bomb and the threat of terroristic attacks is that the nuclear bomb was expected to happen, terrorism isn’t something we expect, it tend to happen randomly with no warning. Living under the threat of any catastrophic event is very frightening. All we can do is learn what to do in the situation and be prepared.