What a delicious commentary on the Cold War days and more recent doomsdays (“Memories from the end of the world,” Oct. 14)! I, too, recall the “ends of the world” including the Cold War, the Cuban missile crisis, 9/11 and COVID. So glad we are still around (so far).
One difference between then and now was that nuclear disaster was something for which one might prepare. I recall dog tags, fallout shelters and local civil defense. Sept. 11, 2001, hit us without warning, as did the COVID pandemic. World War III has been predicted for decades, and it still is.
What frightens me today is cyberwarfare. We seem to forget the United States has many dedicated enemies, and their current weapons of choice are lurking on the internet. If a rogue individual or country managed to take down America’s electrical grid or other vital infrastructure, it would be a disaster. Not as horrifying as nuclear conflagration, but disrupting our way of life and eventual survival.
Hopefully, I won’t be around when either happens but you never know. We must always be prepared.
— R.E. Heid, Baltimore
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