Survival
“To survive a nuclear war is our duty,” says physicist Edward Teller, one of the key developers of the atomic bomb (Times, Nov. 5). He laments that we don’t have enough bomb shelters.
It isn’t very reassuring to hear such a person say we have reason to be afraid of his invention. Edison never voiced any qualms about his inventions. Teller, in effect, is telling us, “Look, you guys. I invented this bad thing that could destroy us all. I’m not sorry about it, but you better be ready to suffer the consequences of my poor judgment.”
Teller’s concept of survival is an interesting one. Does he also plan to equip his bomb shelters with the Smithsonian, Library of Congress, or any other cultural “artifact?”
Edward Teller has already demonstrated his lack of depth and social conscience once. Must we be reminded again and again by his words and deeds? Life after a nuclear holocaust is not survival if everything that makes life worth living, such as our culture, is irreplaceably lost and destroyed.
PETER STEKEL
Wrightwood
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