We need to disarm and care for each other

To the Editor;

In an opinion piece in The Boston Globe on March 2, columnist Jeff Jakoby advocated for the sending of nuclear weapons to Taiwan as a deterrent against aggression from mainland China. It seems to me that, with the multiple threats from Russia about the use of nuclear weapons if anyone interferes with their “incursion” into Ukraine, the last thing the world needs is to spread more such weapons around.

Jakoby invokes the “strength through deterrence” mantra of the Cold War Era. So, now that so many countries in the world have this “strength,” wherein lies the deterrent? If Vladimir Putin threatens their use during an unprovoked war in which he is not militarily threatened, at this point, by anyone, where is the deterrent? I think the concept of nuclear deterrence is sheer madness because if one uses them, then nothing remains but mutual destruction, assuredly. No more deterrence needed. 

Human beings like to think of themselves as civilized, even enlightened at times. Where is that, in all of this? In a world that is still reeling from a not yet finished pandemic, we should be thinking of how we all can disarm and care for each other rather than posture, invade, and threaten one another, and not spread more weaponry around the world. Then, perhaps, we can think of calling ourselves civilized and enlightened.

David Mahoney

Greenville