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Culture War Roundup for the week of January 22, 2024

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not much more so than an artillery shell

This doesn't matter at all. The aggregate effect of nukes dropped on every major city (which, factually, is what would happen) would be the total collapse of the modern agricultural-industrial machine, which would mean mass death in the 80%+ range. This counts as a nuclear apocalypse by any definition.

The aggregate effect of nukes dropped on every major city (which, factually, is what would happen) would be the total collapse of the modern agricultural-industrial machine, which would mean mass death in the 80%+ range.

  1. The modern agricultural-industrial machine exists to feed the cities, if the cities are gone, there's no need for so much food
  2. Every major city worldwide or in the first world? The latter is more likely, and while the destruction of St. Louis would disrupt the supply of new GM seed stock, Brazil and India could jumpstart their own agritech rather quickly.

What you are forgetting about is the effects of 800 or so 380 kiloton ground bursts hitting the missile fields in Montana and North Dakota, and the ensuing massive fallout cloud likely blowing southward right into the breadbasket of the country (breadbasket of the world—those crops feed like 1.2 billion people)

while the destruction of St. Louis would disrupt the supply of new GM seed stock, Brazil and India could jumpstart their own agritech rather quickly.

No lawsuits from Montsanto if we irradiate the lawyers first! <taps head>

I'm going to press doubt on that one. If you're maximizing spite, rather than military advantage, you can drop nukes on major cities, and rack up the body count, you can drop them on essential infrastrructure and increase it even more, but I don't think the entire arsenal of the USSR could collapse American industry and agriculture.