Cold War and Communism The nine minute 1951 movie Duck and Cover teaches children what to do in the case of a nuclear attack against America. During this film, several scenarios are given where adults and children, families and men working in the field are encountering a nuclear attack. The general order was to get down (duck) and cover your head with your arm or hands (cover). For that period in time and what was known about nuclear attacks this was probably a good plan, or if not a good plan at least a plan and that would keep the fear and panic subdued. Duck and cover is not the appropriate response for terrorist attacks or the numerous natural disasters that have happened in the last five years. Now, there are evacuation shelters on most road ways and people are given instructions on what to do or where to go. If a terrorist attack were to occur it could be a bomb or a foreign substance in the air. The response would be to find a place (duck) that provides safety from debris or the rays (cover).
The major difference between then and now is that no one believes that without cover one can survive. It would be sad to find people dead alongside a building or sidewalk covering their head in the fetal position, knowing they may have survived if they had went inside the building.
The major similarity is that the panic and threat from some nation outside of the United States is still a clear and present danger. Over 50 years later, the United States is still experiencing the same issues and going to war over them. Our former President said there were weapons of mass destruction overseas, and we needed to disarm that nation. Very quickly we rose up in support of that war only to turn against it when the lies materialized. But with the bombing of the towers and airplane, America was in a panic.
References
The Library of Congress. (1951). Duck and Cover. Archer Films. Retrieved from http://archive.org/details/DuckandC1951
References: The Library of Congress. (1951). Duck and Cover. Archer Films. Retrieved from http://archive.org/details/DuckandC1951
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