Cold-War era memories... and a survey

[mckitterick]

A discussion over at cmt2779's LJ and here on mine got me thinking about my childhood today, specifically how the Cold War influenced my view of the world. Which made me wonder if my experience was typical of my generation the world 'round or if it was uniquely Midwestern US.

Here's a snippet from Survive the Coming Nuclear War:

"Over the past decade we spent $900 million on civil defense, while the Soviets spent $65 billion. One estimate is that in a nuclear war Russia would lose 4 percent of its people -- half what they lost in World War II. Ten of us would die to their one. In yet another estimate we would lose 60 percent of our population, while the Russians would lose 2 percent. Though these figures may vary widely according to which study you consult, the message is clear."

This - combined with the movie Red Dawn - helped shape the young person I was in 1980s Minnesota. When the Berlin Wall fell in 1989, I was sitting in the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire library when the announcement came over the building's intercom (remember when government buildings had intercoms?). It's difficult to explain the mixed feelings I felt, elation and confusion, discombobulation and clarity for the future. I mean, everything I knew had been framed by the Cold War, and now that had ended. It was like lifting a blanket from the Earth so that we could see the stars again. A long-term future for the human race was possible to see again.

So a survey!

[Poll #1087330]
Best,
Chris

Comments

[stuology.livejournal.com]

I was probably too young in a small town being raised by a mother who doesn't care about much of anything. (Can you believe that my mother has never voted?) We were poor, and watching movies was not something I got to do. I didn't watch The Day After until I was in college.


So, no, I have no recollection of it really having any affect on me at all. I was in junior high when that wall went down, and we watched it and discussed it, but I never, ever had that feeling that it was something that would immediately affect my life. It was something that happened somewhere else.

The Day After did have a big enough affect on people that KU had to field a lot of requests from concerned parents about the nuclear warheads on campus, since you know, it was in the movie, so there obviously are nuclear warheads on campus. So says the Director of University Relations who was there at the time the movie came out, anyhow.

[kalimeg.livejournal.com]

Sigh. The scene in the movie had people looking at rockets rising while they were standing on the the roof of Wescoe. Some people are ... unbelievable.