Posted on 03/30/2009 12:35:19 PM PDT by Mind Freed
I was watching Bill Mahr this weekend - Not because I like him, trust him, or agree with ANYTHING he says, just to see what the other side is saying about things - and one of his guests was Hip Hop Artist Mos Def. Mos Def made a statement that I would like to know a little more about. I'm still learning about politics and history and things so I am hoping that there is a good answer to this question as it will probably come up in conversation with friends and family and I want to be prepared to have an answer. So... here is the question which Mos Def asked:
Mos Def: Why should America think we have the right to tell other countries that they cannot have Nuclear weapons when we have them too? Every country, including America, should give up their nuclear weapons and shutdown their nuclear programs.
Does this argument have any merit?
So we can ruin Obama’s family reunions.
Because we have something worth defending.
No, because no one can guarantee if the other side has nukes or not. India, for example, tested five nukes evading American satellites, and the world came to know about the tests only when the country's prime-minister announced it to his parliament.
Either we are the best and greatest hope for the world, or we are not.
And we invented them.
What do you think?
Because America is a force of good in the world and is the only nation that should determine who should or shouldn’t have nuclear weapons.
The argument sounds good, but just like many leftist ideas doesn’t work in practice. The only country that would follow it is us, leaving everyone else with nukes.
Us having them is the deterrent to other nations using them.
Nukes will be had. The idea that an absolute prohibition would work with something so desireable is ludicrous. How are our gun-free, drug-free schools these days?
Since they will exist, it is incumbent upon the strong and the just (that’s us) to do all we can to prevent the unsavory from obtaining them.
Are you serious?
My initial thought on it was that we never used a nuclear weapon for any purpose other than ending a war. Other countries want to use these bombs to gain power over the world, and many of the countries that have or want nuclear weapons are too unstable and have too many enemies to guarantee that neither one would shoot in anger.
>> Why should we have Nukes??
There are many reasons, grasshopper.
1) So we can nuke our enemies
2) because it’s better to have them and not need them, than to need them and not have them
3) There’s no better way to destroy unnecessary double punctuation in a newbie’s FR post than to nuke it out of existence
4) Jobs at Los Alamos
5) Our nuke weapons program gives Hillary something to exchange with China in return for their buying our worthless treasuries
6) Nukes are just cool
7) I’m getting bored, but there are lots more reasons
I thought Germany started the process. We just happen to make/use the first ones.
Like I said, I’m still learning about all this stuff. At least I’m asking the questions and trying to get valid information and not just accepting what I hear on TV.
No, doesn’t have merit.
The reasoning is the same as why police have guns, who don’t allow criminals, children or crazies to have them.
What a Really Dumb Question! But I would expect something like that form him.
Very good. You don’t need the help of others. Sounds like you’ll do fine. :-)
A legitimate question! What right do we have to tell others not to possess nuclear weapons?
Even though I am a conservative, I believe that we have no moral right to prohibit other countries (France, Israel, South Africa, Pakistan, India, etc.) from owning nuclear weapons.
We have no logical arguments, and must therefore use persuasion and - if necessary - force to provent certain countries from coming into possession of nuclear weapons.
Regards,
Be gentle. Not everyone has yet gone thru the same thought process as we have. We, too, were clueless about such subjects at one point.
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