Bomb Shelter Selection: A Moral Dilemma

• Bomb Shelter Selection presents a thought experiment about who to select for survival in a nuclear attack scenario.
• The United States faces a nuclear threat, and only those in a bomb shelter will survive.

Bomb Shelter Profiles

• Person #1 is a 22-year-old married, three-months-pregnant retail store clerk with a high school diploma and no children.
• Person #2 is a 75-year-old retired widower of 10 years and a world record holder for his age in three swimming events and spends time training for the Senior Olympics, has three children and seven grandchildren who live in other parts of the country.
• Person #3 is a 45-year-old male, married with one child and president of the largest bank in the area and coaches his daughter's soccer team.
• Person #4 is a 40-year-old female, married to Person #3, who works as a school librarian and volunteers for the community's Food for Elders Program.
• Person #5 is a 15-year-old female, daughter of Persons #3 and #4, who just completed her freshman year, is an average student, an excellent athlete that plays varsity volleyball and soccer and volunteers for the Food for Elders Program.
• Person #6 is a 62-year-old retired widow who was a medical doctor in the community for 25 years and has no children and survived a stroke two years ago, resulting in partial paralysis and the use of a cane.
• Person #7 is a 33-year-old single male who has worked for the city's fire Department for five years and leads a growing atheist social group.
• Person #8 is a 53-year-old single male and a Catholic priest has been the pastor for 10 years.
• Person #9 is a 12-year-old male with asthma and requires an inhaler. His parents are divorced. His father is a member of the United States Congress.
• Person #10 is a 29-year-old single female who has been a police officer for four years and was recently in an in-house treatment center for alcoholism.

Processing Questions:

• Was it hard to make a decision about selecting people for the shelter, and why?
• What are the reasons for including specific people in the shelter?
• What are the potential social effects of using atomic bombs in war or conflict?

Economic Systems

• An economic system involves the production, exchange, and allocation of resources, including Communism and Capitalism.

Capitalism

• Capitalism is based on individual ownership and competition with the theory that everyone will benefit when individuals pursue personal profit.
• Adam Smith believed humans are self-serving and that individual fulfillment leads to meeting society's needs.
• Smith wrote "Wealth of Nations" and considered capitalism the best economic system.

Pros of Capitalism:

• Freedom and choice in work and purchasing options.
• Potential for significant success.

Cons of Capitalism:

• Lack of a safety net, resulting in failure if one does not succeed.
• Potential for significant failure.
• Possibility of a big gap between the rich and the poor.

Communism

• Communism is based on collective ownership, a planned economy, and equal distribution of resources regardless of work ethic.
• Karl Marx criticized capitalism for alienating workers and wrote "The Communist Manifesto" with Engels about class struggle and capitalism's problems.

Pros of Communism:

• Security and basic needs are met.
• Everyone has a job, housing, and healthcare, ideally eliminating issues of survival of the fittest.
• There are equal standards regardless of education or financial situation, mitigating crime and violence.

Cons of Communism:

• Lack of choice.
• There is no reward for good workers and no punishment for slackers.
• There is an expectation that everyone is the same, with little focus on individual growth.

Cold War Motivation:

• In 1947, Europe was devastated after World War II, with many countries facing poverty, food shortages, and political instability.
• The Soviet Union was promoting communist revolutions, while the United States aimed to stop communism's spread.
• President Harry Truman introduced the Truman Doctrine to support countries threatened by communism.
• The U.S. launched the Marshall Plan, providing billions of dollars to rebuild European economies and prevent communist influence.

Question:

• How would the leader of a war-torn European country in 1947 respond to the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan?
• A) Accept U.S. Aid through the Marshall Plan to rebuild the economy and boost ties with Western democracies
• B) Reject U.S. Aid and align with the Soviet Union, believing that communist policies provide a better future
• C) Remain nuetral, trying to rebuild without taking sides in the Cold War
• D) Request aid from both the U.S. and the USSR hoping to benefit from both superpowers.

Processing Questions:

• Why did some countries accept the Marshall Plan while others refused?
• How did the US policies increase tensions between the U.S. and the USSR?

The Cold War

• The Cold War was a competition between the United States and the Soviet Union for political domination worldwide.
• It was a battle of ideologies between Communism and Capitalism.
• The Cold War resulted in anti-communist suspicions
• The Cold War led the two superpowers to the brink of nuclear disaster.
• Ideological differences, such as capitalism versus communism, tensions after Russian Civil War, played a long-term role.
• Short-term causes: disagreements over Germany's future, the spread of communism in Eastern Europe, the U.S.'s use of the atomic bomb, and the Truman Doctrine and Marshall Plan were catalysts.

Means of Control

• In 1949, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization(NATO) was formed.
• In 1954, Southeast Asia Treaty Organization(SEATO)
• In 1955, Central Treaty Organization(CENTO)
• In 1955, Warsaw Pact Treaty.
• The U.S. economic aid included Harry S. Truman's Truman Doctrine and the Marshall plan.
• The Soviet Union's economic Aid included the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance (COMECON).
• The Truman Doctrine was announced to contain communism through a policy of containment.

Political Divide in Germany

• Post-war Germany was divided into four zones.
• France, Britain, and the USA merged their zones.
• The Federal Republic of Germany (West) and the German Democratic Republic (East) were created.
• The Berlin Wall was built by the East German government in August 1961, separating East and West Berlin.
• The wall was built to stop refugees from East Germany to West Germany.

Questions:

• Do boarder walls work?
• How do the walls affect people?

A thought experiment on who should be selected to survive a nuclear attack. The scenario presents diverse individuals with varying backgrounds and contributions to society. Consider the criteria for choosing who lives and who doesn't in a doomsday event.