I believe nuclear weapons are instruments of peace, and that every country should own multiple to avoid future conflicts, TMBR!

Nuclear weapons are simply the highest in the pecking order of instruments of power. The world isn't a nice place, and if you value your standards of living, and your way of life, the fact is that your country needs to be on top. If you aren't on top, nuclear weapons aren't a deterrent but a tool of coercion.

Let's use a metaphor: a schoolyard with 196 boys. There are big boys that are stronger, there are average boys, and there are small boys who are weaker. In this schoolyard, there is a big wheel that the boys can push, and it will magically create candy. The big ones can push the wheel harder, so they can create more candy. Right now, they have a system set up where they all push, and the candy is distributed proportional to how strong each boy is. The fairness of this system is debatable, and sometimes the distribution is unfair, but it is generally fair.

Now let's introduce some weapons. Let's say there are guns just outside the schoolyard. The big boys could reach the guns and have them, but they don't use them because they don't need them since they can win in fights anyways, and they want to avoid excess violence, especially killing one of the kids.

But let's say one of the smaller boys finds a gun one day. What would he do with it? If he's nice, nothing. But if he's selfish, he will demand more candy from the nearest bigger boy, and threaten to shoot him if he doesn't.

Now what does the big boy do? Does he give him candy, and avoid violence, but let the small boy get way with violent coercion? Or should he just say no and call his bluff? What if he gets shot? Should he shoot back before he dies or not?

That's a hard question to answer. So instead of dealing with that question over and over, all the big boys decide to gather up all the guns, watch over them carefully, and keep a close eye out for anything that appears that looks like a gun.

All it takes is one country to act out of line and you have millions of people dead.

/r/TMBR Thread