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From: mcampos@ATHENA.MIT.EDU
Newsgroups: mod.politics
Subject: Re: Private arsenals
Message-ID: <12237852269.41.MCGREW@RED.RUTGERS.EDU>
Date: Wed, 10-Sep-86 12:50:17 EDT
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Posted: Wed Sep 10 12:50:17 1986
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Keith F. Lynch writes:
>  I am not comfortable with priavte ownership of nuclear bombs.
>Neither am I comfortable with government ownership of nuclear bombs.
>As the world becomes a wealthier place we are likely to see more of
>both, whether it's legal or not.  I wish I had a solution.  I don't.
>  But the problem with nuclear bombs has nothing to do with private
>vs. government ownership.  The problem has to do with their enormous
>destructive capacity and the fact that they have no legitimate use
>whatsoever, no matter who owns them.

A couple of small points.  I could see supporting private ownership of
nuclear weapons for use in space mining and other applications.  But I
agree in that they have no real use on Earth other than mass
destruction.

I'm not overly comfortable with government ownership of nuclear
weapons either, but I see no other good custodian for this destructive
power on Earth, especially when the bad guys have them as well.  The
best we can do is try to make sure we have a government that will use
them properly, if at all.
-- 
Marc Campos, MIT Project Athena {decvax, mit-eddie}!mit-athena!mcampos
3 Ames St. Bemis 407                          OR !mit-trillian!mcampos
Cambridge, MA 02139 USA (617) 577-8234    ARPA: mcampos@ATHENA.MIT.EDU
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