God’s Imagination

 

nuclearwar

“A nuclear weapon can be placed in a shipping container or on a small cabin cruiser, transported by sea, and set off remotely by cellular phone.” — from “Haywire” by Eric Schlosser in Harper’s Magazine/December 2017

This MUST be addressed in classrooms across the United States ASAP. The message here will go in and out of the ears of most teachers. That said, there’s nothing to prevent a handful of educators from implementing proper instruction respecting the essence of this article. A sense of urgency on all this needs to be embraced fervently, post haste. Even if only a single instructor attempts to do so. One can connect us all.

About eleven years ago a study by the Rand Corporation calculated the effects of a nuclear detonation. I delineate some aspects of it here, so that educators can consider making good use of what was learned. In California, apparently, they haven’t learned much to date; they’re still circulating the highly misleading message delivered by a Ventura County Public Health official video, that surviving a nuclear explosion would be possible. I’m focusing on the Golden State here, but — obviously — the thrust of this article applies to citizens living anywhere in the world.

The Rand Corporation study used a relatively mild form of nuclear detonation in Long Beach, California as its point of departure for… making its point… the destructive power we are playing with, ignoring, or imagining we can allow others to deal with. The weapon spotlighted was presumed to be only two-thirds as powerful as the bomb that destroyed Hiroshima in 1945. Keep in mind, if you will, that Long Beach is only the 36th most populous city in the U.S., only the 7th most populous city in California.

According to the study, about 60,000 folks would be killed, either by the blast or by the lasting effects of radiation. An additional 150,000 would be exposed, no small consequence by any standards… if you know anything at all about the effects of radiation exposure of the kind being spotlighted. Being exposed alone is one thing, but being exposed in the company of so many others (on short notice too!) is quite another phenomenon. It’s of an entirely different order of horror and abomination.

Approximately 8000 would suffer serious burns. At the moment, there are about 200 burn beds at hospitals in California — and about 2,000 nationwide. And that mind-boggling fact in the face of the nuclear fury which would be unleashed should make anyone change their lives radically. Immediately. For no one — not a single one of the teachers I’m addressing, or anyone else responsible for the education of our children — is dealing with the daunting crisis unfolding. Not effectively. Pause, think. Feel. Think again. 8000 burn victims, 2000 beds nationwide. The PROBLEM is not restricted to the suffering of the individuals burned, is it? No, it isn’t. Make use of your imagination, so that you can intelligently take in ALL the variables involved. I will not insult your intelligence by spelling out what comes to my mind. Rather, I’ll give you homework, ask you to come up with the scenario which you are capable of creating and digesting. And doing something about. We can and must DO something about all this, not miss the window of opportunity which is fast closing.

I’ll close this piece quickly now. Readers don’t have much patience with words these days. Generally. [Pause.] Keep in mind, if you will, I’m asking YOU to be the exception.

Approximately 6 million people would try to flee Los Angeles County, with varying degrees of success. And if you’ve never known that realm intimately you won’t have a clue as to what utter chaos would ensue. Suffice it to say, though, that gasoline supplies would run out. Suddenly. Overnight.

This MUST not be allowed to happen. I’m not talking about running out of gasoline. I’m addressing Soul Death. We must stop thinking that things will have to get worse before they can get better, before folks will rise up. Things cannot get any worse than they are at present, the central scenario I’m touching upon here notwithstanding. That’s something that can only be described as out-of-this-world. For it will not at all be like any of the apocalyptic dramas that you’ve seen on Netflix or read about elsewhere. You will have arrived in Hell with your loved ones without warning.

The direct “cost” of that single detonation, according to the Rand Corporation, is estimated to be $1 trillion, but it would be a mistake to go down the road that such facts and figures invite you to travel. For what would unravel would be beyond anything that could be repaired with money. Not even a miracle would help.

God would not offer up such assistance. God wants us to help ourselves NOW.

In September, North Korea detonated a nuclear device about thirty times more powerful than the one used in the Rand study. I underscore that not to score points against North Korea. I trust that the thrust of my passionate plea here and now would ring clear and thoroughly throughout the reader’s soul, and move at least some — some one — to contact me for the purpose of discuss our viable options for action which follows a fresh paradigm in and outside of the classroom.

Let others debate till the cows come home whether or not public or private schools are better. Better to get with THE CHALLENGE which WE must solve yesterday. The grand one we are blessed with, truth be boldly told.

The MIRACLE is you. [Pause.] Us.

Joan: I hear voices telling me what to do. They come from God.
Robert: They come from your imagination.
Joan: Of course. That is how the messages of God come to us.

Richard Martin Oxman has been an educator for half-a-century. He welcomes contact at [email protected]. He feels that the fact this article was written in under 30′ and is unedited is important to absorb. The quote directly above is from Shaw’s Saint Joan.

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