(...) blijkt verzinsel

[Henk Elegeert]

REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl

Bert Bakker wrote:

> REPLY TO: D66 at nic.surfnet.nl
>
> Marc lijdt aan neo-struthioisme. De Engelsen noemen het ostrichism ;-)

:)

http://www.dissidentvoice.org/Articles9/Hamilton_Hillary-Nukes-Ostrichism.htm

"
...
Ostrichism. This word was coined by the military theorist and Rand think
tanker, Herman Kahn, when he, in 1962, wrote the book, Thinking about
the Unthinkable. At the time the unthinkable was the actual use (as
opposed to threatened use) of nuclear weapons in a war. Thinking about
the Unthinkable was vigorously attacked, as had been Kahn's earlier
book, On Thermonuclear War.

In his books Kahn dared to open and examine the Pandora's box of the
catastrophic consequences of nuclear warfare. At the time many critics
claimed that plumbing this unpleasant topic was callous and would breed
indifference. They argued only military strategists should focus on the
topic -- in secret.

For those critics who opposed his books, Kahn counter-attacked saying
they suffered from ostrichism.

Whatever one thought of Kahn's original work he broke through an
information barrier. Soon subsequent studies by Jonathan Schell and
Helen Caldicott spread the word about such depressing topics as nuclear
winter and radiation poisoning. These studies - and the activist
movements they helped to spawn -- generated support for nuclear test
moratoriums and opposition to the use of nuclear bombs. These, in turn,
have helped to control hawks in the Pentagon who ever since the
murderous quagmire of Vietnam have yearned to use nukes.

Today much of the American public is too terrified to think about
another unthinkable: a terrorist attack on a nuclear power plant. The
notion of a nuke going up in flames sends shivers down our spines. It's
almost unbearable to imagine a radiation-drenched cloud rising up into
the sky and then blowing contamination towards nearby cities, towns,
water reservoirs, rivers and farms.

The reaction of a lot of folks: "Don't tell me about it. There's only so
much bad news I can handle."

This proverbial ostrich head-in-the-sand technique is very dangerous. It
leaves policy decisions up to the uninformed or to those unwilling to
confront powerful electrical utilities. It leaves us with the absurdity
of a few extra flights by the US Air Force over nuclear power plants.
...
"

Henk Elegeert

**********
Dit bericht is verzonden via de informele D66 discussielijst (D66 at nic.surfnet.nl).
Aanmelden: stuur een email naar LISTSERV at nic.surfnet.nl met in het tekstveld alleen: SUBSCRIBE D66 uwvoornaam uwachternaam
Afmelden: stuur een email naar LISTSERV at nic.surfnet.nl met in het tekstveld alleen: SIGNOFF D66
Het on-line archief is te vinden op: http://listserv.surfnet.nl/archives/d66.html
**********