When asked during an interview what his thoughts were on modern weaponry, Albert Einstein once stated, “I know not what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War IV will be fought with sticks and stones” (Einstein). This quote came to mind as I was reviewing material on post modernist theory in relation to what Gidden had written regarding “Time/Space Distantiation” as well as the Post Modernist critique of industrialization scientific milestones that held a negative impact over earth’s future. America had just opened a cataclysmic “Pandora’s Box” by using the first atomic weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki Japan during World War II and from that point forward, the world had been launched into an era dubbed “the atomic age.” Unfortunately it wasn’t the great salvation of enlightenment that some envisioned it to be at the time, but rather a fear that swept over the entire world and which continues to hold us captive in many ways to this day.
As children in school, I vividly remember our “Nuclear Drills” where we were taught to get under our desks if we saw a large flash of light. We were told, “don’t look into the light, get down under your desk and cover your head with your arms.” I remember learning where bomb shelters were located in the area we lived at in case we heard the air raid sirens going off. I remember neighborhood families stockpiling foodstuffs and water in their basements in case there was an attack. This was the cold war era of the early 1960’s and while those early days of fear were based on a very real threat level that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union, over the years we’ve slowly either become so accustomed to the threat or ambivalent to its continuing existence.
In trying to understand “Time/Space Distantiation” I thought of Albert Einsteins quote because while the mighty industrialized nation of modern America had managed to invent one of the most awe invoking weapons ever to be conceived of, it had also launched us into a whole new epoch by doing so. Prior to this, wars had been fought by putting troops on the ground, in the air and on the water and physically engaging a perceived enemy. This was face-to-face contact and although modern in its scope of weaponry, the time element of conflict extended over a period of time and as such could be recalled and even ended without endangering worldwide existence. However in this postmodern world that the nuclear age ushered in, the mere push of a button could result in an extinction level event. Once you pushed the button, you couldn’t recall the missiles, and all you could do is brace for retaliation and hope for the best. Modernity had given us a power so vast from the very fabric of the workings of the universe that we were now able to annihilate mankind within moments where prior to this it would not have been possible to do so even with conventional weapons. The Time/Space distanciation of postmodern society had shrunk and the world, rather than just the theaters of war, were now at risk.
Post Modernism critiques the values of Modernism. It asks, “are we really better off now than we were before?” Certainly it can be argued both ways when it comes to nuclear energy if we are actually better off with more modern means of producing energy for the masses but after the disastrous results of the tsunami on the Fukashima nuclear power plants, one has to question if other forms of renewable energy production might not be in order.
I realized we no longer hold drills in school or have bomb shelters in case of nuclear war because quite honestly, there is no hope of survival! It’s pointless to prepare for something that would be so catastrophic that the world could suddenly be made uninhabitable even if there were some survivors. As Giddens had postulated, there has been no radicalized break from modernity into a postmodern society as we continue to hold on to many modern and even traditional ideals. One need only to review the recent elections and the division that exists within our country to see a clash of traditional, modern and postmodern eras. Perhaps this gradual approach to evolution in society is a way to acclimate to progress. Certainly as Albert Einstein had suggested, in certain cases we grow beyond our means and the results could set us back centuries.
As children in school, I vividly remember our “Nuclear Drills” where we were taught to get under our desks if we saw a large flash of light. We were told, “don’t look into the light, get down under your desk and cover your head with your arms.” I remember learning where bomb shelters were located in the area we lived at in case we heard the air raid sirens going off. I remember neighborhood families stockpiling foodstuffs and water in their basements in case there was an attack. This was the cold war era of the early 1960’s and while those early days of fear were based on a very real threat level that existed between the United States and the Soviet Union, over the years we’ve slowly either become so accustomed to the threat or ambivalent to its continuing existence.
In trying to understand “Time/Space Distantiation” I thought of Albert Einsteins quote because while the mighty industrialized nation of modern America had managed to invent one of the most awe invoking weapons ever to be conceived of, it had also launched us into a whole new epoch by doing so. Prior to this, wars had been fought by putting troops on the ground, in the air and on the water and physically engaging a perceived enemy. This was face-to-face contact and although modern in its scope of weaponry, the time element of conflict extended over a period of time and as such could be recalled and even ended without endangering worldwide existence. However in this postmodern world that the nuclear age ushered in, the mere push of a button could result in an extinction level event. Once you pushed the button, you couldn’t recall the missiles, and all you could do is brace for retaliation and hope for the best. Modernity had given us a power so vast from the very fabric of the workings of the universe that we were now able to annihilate mankind within moments where prior to this it would not have been possible to do so even with conventional weapons. The Time/Space distanciation of postmodern society had shrunk and the world, rather than just the theaters of war, were now at risk.
Post Modernism critiques the values of Modernism. It asks, “are we really better off now than we were before?” Certainly it can be argued both ways when it comes to nuclear energy if we are actually better off with more modern means of producing energy for the masses but after the disastrous results of the tsunami on the Fukashima nuclear power plants, one has to question if other forms of renewable energy production might not be in order.
I realized we no longer hold drills in school or have bomb shelters in case of nuclear war because quite honestly, there is no hope of survival! It’s pointless to prepare for something that would be so catastrophic that the world could suddenly be made uninhabitable even if there were some survivors. As Giddens had postulated, there has been no radicalized break from modernity into a postmodern society as we continue to hold on to many modern and even traditional ideals. One need only to review the recent elections and the division that exists within our country to see a clash of traditional, modern and postmodern eras. Perhaps this gradual approach to evolution in society is a way to acclimate to progress. Certainly as Albert Einstein had suggested, in certain cases we grow beyond our means and the results could set us back centuries.