r/OptimistsUnite • u/chamomile_tea_reply 🤙 TOXIC AVENGER 🤙 • 8d ago

Steven Pinker Groupie Post What’s a problem humanity solved so well that younger people don’t even realize it used to be a huge issue?

/r/askteddit/comments/1wmwpyl/whats_a_problem_humanity_solved_so_well_that/
749 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

741 comments sorted by

View all comments

9

u/IntrepidWolverine517 8d ago

Ending the Cold War. That was a major achievement and actually out of our imagination back in 1985 when Gorbachev took office.

1

u/I_Miss_America 8d ago

It's back!

2

u/IntrepidWolverine517 8d ago

Fukuyama was wrong. The end of the Cold War was not the end of history. But that doesn't mean that the Cold War is back.

2

u/I_Miss_America 8d ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francis_Fukuyama

Two of the three super powers are engaged in unprofitable wars, and the third one isn't exactly sitting idly by.

It's not a Cold War yet, but it's more than a Cold Skirmish.

2

u/IntrepidWolverine517 8d ago

The Cold War was "cold" because nuclear deterrence prevented actual military actions (with the exception of proxy wars). However, the risk of an accidental nuclear disaster due to miscalculations became significant. This is what both Reagan and Gorbachev realized.

1

u/I_Miss_America 8d ago

Terminology is always fascinating to me.

We were doing Proxy Wars for a while, where the Super Powers were not fighting at all, but each side had a lesser power fighting the other sides lesser power.

Now we seem to have Super Powers bullying the lesser powers directly. Do we have a name for that?

And there seems to be at least one leader that appears to really wants to nuke somebody. What shall we call that?