 | Basement Nukes the Consequences of Cheap Weapons of Mass Destruction
by Strauss, Edwin S.
PAPERBACK Publisher: Loompanics Unlimited ISBN: 0915179091 prices (used) $150 to $375, either 1979 or 1984 edition.
The thesis is simple: your government cannot protect you. The major premise is that anyone can -- and many people want to -- make cheap weapons to use against population centers. The minor premise is that nation-states exist to protect their citizens. The conclusion is that the nation-state is history.
The "consequence" is that just as the cannon doomed the castle and created the nation-state, so, now will cheap weapons of mass destruction create a thinly-dispersed population of locally-controlled communities. We are already seeing this in gated communities, especially those for retirees and seniors, but also, of course, for the wealthy.
My personal summary is this:
Yes, we still have hunter-gatherers. Yes, we have millions (billions!) of farmers. Yes, some people still live in castles. Nonetheless, how the significant population lives changes over time. People will still live in cities "protected" by nation-states. They will be poorer than those who do not. They will live under draconian dictatorships. History will move on around them.
For a cogent, though passing, reference from a friend of the author, click on
The forever war by Doug Casey
Posted: October 24, 2002 1:00 a.m. Eastern © 2002 WorldNetDaily.com
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=29402
Read Erwin Strauss's biography in Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia:
Erwin S. Strauss is an American author and filk musician, was born in Washington, D.C., USA. He frequently goes by the nickname "Filthy Pierre."
Strauss is a filk musician and creator of the Voodoo message board system used at WorldCons and also seen at Arisia, a Boston-area convention which has existed since 1989. He has been chair of a number of science fiction conventions (Boskone 3 in 1966, RailCon in 1975) and a member of the committee for at least one WorldCon, Noreascon 3, in 1989. He was an early (1964) vice president of the MITSFS. In addition, he is the author of the monthly "SF Convention Calendar" in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine, and his flyer racks are seen at conventions all over the East Coast. He the author of a number of books, articles, and fanzines.
Filthy Pierre's Songs of MIT
Filthy Pierre's Songs of Significance
How To Start Your Own Country Loompanics, 1985; ISBN 1893626156
Basement Nukes: the Consequences of Cheap Weapons of Mass Destruction
Complete Guide to Science Fiction Conventions
The Case Against a Libertarian Political Party
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Basement Nukes: Consequences of Cheap Weapons of Mass Destruction by Erwin S. "Filthy Pierre" Strauss
