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Get the process of negotiation away from the small specialized group that some people have called the 'nuclear theologians,' who in effect said this is a complicated issue of seeing how little we can give away, how much we can extract from the other side; it's highly specialized. Only a few people can understand the nature of these weapons, the delivery systems, the targeting, the nature of the MIRV and the CRUISE, on down, and the MX. This kept the whole discussion to a very limited group of people who, in a way, had assumed responsibility for saying whether we should live or die.

John Kenneth Galbraith#43

PoliticsSecurityWarDemocracy

About this quote

What does it mean?
Nuclear negotiation should not be limited to a small specialized group deciding whether we live or die.
In plain terms
Too few people decide nuclear war and peace.
What can you take from it?
Critical decisions should not rest on tiny groups.

Where it applies

  • foreign policy
  • public debate
  • democratic process

Putting it to work

  • expand debate
  • public oversight
  • involve more people

Questions to consider

  • Who should decide nuclear policy?
  • How do we balance expertise and democracy?

Another view

It oversimplifies the complexity required in nuclear strategy.

More from John Kenneth Galbraith

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  2. The huge capacity to purchase submission that goes with any large sum of money, well, this we have. This is a power of which we should all be aware.

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  3. Increasingly in recent times we have come first to identify the remedy that is most agreeable, most convenient, most in accord with major pecuniary or politica…

    Permalink to quote #41

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