Two Nuclear Buttons--A Modern Day Parable

This 1945 blast should have resulted in an end to
nuclear warmongering.

The John and Jane Doe family and the Ilsa and Ivan Doesky family lived at opposite ends of a fine apartment building in Solarville. Being quite well to do, they were the envy of many of their neighbors in the same complex, many of whom were sick, hungry and living in overcrowded and unsanitary conditions.

Unfortunately, over time the Doe's and the Doesky's developed a strong mistrust of each other. "The Doe's act like they want to control and run everything," complained the Doesky's. The Doe's feared their estranged neighbors had the same intentions.

As the feud between them worsened, each household tried to get as many families on their side as possible. They also began keeping firearms and ammunition on hand just in case there was any trouble--handguns at first, then automatic rifles, then whole rooms full of powerful weapons.

Finally, to gain even greater advantage, the Doe's began to develop and test the ultimate weapon, napalm. It wasn't long, of course, before the Doesky's produced large stockpiles of their own.

The Does were appalled. "Now we need even more WMD's" they insisted, "in order to protect our freedoms and to maintain peace and security in the apartment."

It wasn't long before the Doe's and Doesky's had enough death-dealing napalm to completely annihilate each other. But since they still didn't feel safe, they kept producing even more, enough to destroy their enemy twice, then three times, and then multiple more times. A sophisticated wiring device made it possible for either family to blast and burn each other to oblivion in an instant, all at the touch of a button. Costs mounted, creating terrible strains on each of their family budgets.

All along some residents in the building questioned the sanity of all this. "Is this really a show of strength or is it a sign of fear and stupidity? How can this possibly make us safer?"

"What''s more," some worried, "what about the apartment's Builder and Owner? After all, we're only renters here. Surely the Landlord will evict us if we can't find a way to get along as neighbors and fellow-tenants."