Though I’m looking forward to Oppenheimer, I wonder when we, the people of the United States (and, frankly, the people of every nuclear-armed imperial power), will be ready to wrestle with the reality of our legacy.
The truth is it, our legacy, is no better or worse than any other generation of humans.
However, now that we can destroy most things in most places, rather than some things in some places, we might be able to differentiate ourselves from prior generations through the sheer scale of the consequences of our actions.
I don’t know how to define worse precisely, but a world in which warlords threaten most Life on this planet seems worse than a world in which warlords threaten some Life on this planet.
That might be too utilitarian.
Let’s try this:
Would we choose this world?
I want to believe we have the free will to choose how to construct the structure our society, but I also recognize the limitations placed on free will by the structure of the society we are born into, biological factors present within and without our bodies, and the confluence of events around us.
I believe I have the free will to both choose to love as much as I can, and to hope there is enough love among us to motivate us to not construct a world in which warlords are empowered to eliminate most Life in most places.
One thing I love is Life, so I thank g-d every day tardigrades will exist no matter what we empower warlords to do to most of our planet and most of the beings who live here.
Modern Issue 