on being a bomb

Never use one Hydrogen bomb when two are sufficient.
-Alister McLean in a novel

This is a fascinating statement that got tucked away in my mind as I was reading the book (I forget which). It is almost impossible to know what one could mean by such a thing unless you happen to be in a McLean novel where he could unfold the plot beautifully. I have not read any of his novels for several years now, but at one point I used to love them for essentially these kind of gems.

The sentence is a typical ploy Narad would have been proud of. Consider an entangled bundle of thread. If you ask one person to get it straightened out, that person eventually will. So will another person on her own. But ask them to do that together, and you have managed to keep the entanglement alive for life. So, to do proper damage TWO Hydrogen bombs are sufficient. Why use one?

Many of the problems we see around are quiet similar. Politicians can make use of various organizations as well as common people like they were H-bombs often pitting them against each other. People often do not realize that as some small immediate benefit is seen. In the long run all it does is keeping the entanglement alive.

That unfortunately applies to most situations since most issues are far from black and white and it is easy to get supporters for either side of an argument to keep it happy. One way to avoid it is to get to the base of the situation and try to evaluate it from grass roots - without any preconceived notions about society, culture etc., especially about traditions. Ask what it means to yourself, your family, city, country, planet and so on today, and one year, ten years, 1000 years from today. If only every person will think for herself, the planet will take care of itself.


Before taking sides on a topic that has a wide impact, make sure you are not being used as a weapon and get to the roots.