alt Hacker News> but I still think most people would try to do their best to avoid firing nukes.
"most people" are not in the positions that matter. A significant portion of the people who are in a position to advocate for such a decision believe that:
- killing people sends em to heaven/hell where they were going anyway; and that this is also true for any of your own citizens that get killed by a counterstrike.
- the end of the world will be the best day ever
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There have always been a handful of Internet Tough Guys saying things on forums like "LOL Nuke them! hur hur hur hur!" Totally disregardable vibes and memes. Now, we have an actual US government administration that is run on the same Tough Guy vibes and memes. I don't think it matters what most people think. The people in power might just do it for the lulz.
And yet the people in positions that matter have not fired a nuke since ending WW2. Even the craziest sounding regimes like Russia and NK.
> "most people" are not in the positions that matter
If polling were to reveal a majority of either party were more open to nuclear strikes than their predecessors, that gives policy makers a signal and an opening.