Thermonuclear Monarchy: Choosing Between Democracy and Doom
Thermonuclear Monarchy: Choosing Between Democracy and Doom
Scarry, Elaine
product information
Condition: New, UPC: 9780393354492, Publication Date: Thu, September 1, 2016, Type: Paperback ,
join & start selling
description
5During his impeachment proceedings, Richard Nixon boasted, "I can go into my office and pick up the telephone and in twenty-five minutes seventy million people will be dead." Nixon was accurately describing not only his own power but also the power of every American president in the nuclear age.

Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, and Nixon each contemplated using nuclear weapons--Eisenhower twice, Kennedy three times, Johnson once, Nixon four times. Whether later presidents, from Ford to Obama, considered using them we will learn only once their national security papers are released.

In this incisive, masterfully argued new book, award-winning social theorist Elaine Scarry demonstrates that the power of one leader to obliterate millions of people with a nuclear weapon--a possibility that remains very real even in the wake of the Cold War--deeply violates our constitutional rights, undermines the social contract, and is fundamentally at odds with the deliberative principles of democracy.

According to the Constitution, the decision to go to war requires rigorous testing by both Congress and the citizenry; when a leader can single-handedly decide to deploy a nuclear weapon, we live in a state of "thermonuclear monarchy," not democracy.

The danger of nuclear weapons comes from potential accidents or acquisition by terrorists, hackers, or rogue countries. But the gravest danger comes from the mistaken idea that there exists some case compatible with legitimate governance. There can be no such case. Thermonuclear Monarchy shows the deformation of governance that occurs when a country gains nuclear weapons.

In bold and lucid prose, Thermonuclear Monarchy identifies the tools that will enable us to eliminate nuclear weapons and bring the decision for war back into the hands of Congress and the people. Only by doing so can we secure the safety of home populations, foreign populations, and the earth itself.

reviews

Be the first to write a review

member goods

No member items were found under this heading.

notems store

A Narrative of a Revolutionary ...

by Plumb Martin, Joseph

Paperback /Mass Market Paperbound

$5.21

The Art of Spiritual Warfare

by Oforka, Venatius

Paperback /Paperback

$13.46

In the Company of Sisters: ...

by Graves, Dianne

Paperback /Paperback

$22.46

listens & views

FAVOURITE CANTATAS

by BACH

COMPACT DISC

$18.49

SINSE PART EN LIVE

by SINSEMILIA

COMPACT DISC

out of stock

$8.49

QUIET PLACES

by PALMER,HAP

COMPACT DISC

out of stock

$15.49

Return Policy

All sales are final

Shipping

No special shipping considerations available.
Shipping fees determined at checkout.
promoting relevance through notable postings ]
share it, buy it, sell it ]

A notem is a post that highlights an experience, idea, topic of interest, an event ... whatever a member believes worthy of discussion. Each notem becomes a pathway by which to make meaningful connections.

notems is a free, global social network that rewards members by the number and quality of notems they post.

notemote® © . Privacy Policy. Developed by Hartmann Software Group