Cold War vs. Sequester

The Cold War between the US and the Soviet Union was ‘cold’ because of the implicit understanding of MAD (mutally assured destruction); each side had enough retaliatory capacity to assure that any attack would be as deadly to the attacker as to the attacked – and there would be no winner.  As long as nobody pushed the button, we could all avoid global annihilation. 

The fundamental differences compared to current ongoing serial crises in national governance are: 

• Somebody had to push the button to initiate catastrophe in the Cold War; Now affirmative action has to be takan to PREVENT it.  Sins of omission are so much easier to commit – then disavow.  
• The destruction isn’t as immediately visible as the final scene from Dr. Stangelove.   Vulnerable people will feel the effects immediately, but the wind-down of the overall economy will take a little time.  
• Neither the US nor the Soviets actually WANTED global nuclear annihilation.