Letter 1
From: Jens S Sent: Wednesday, July 22, 2020 4:25 PM
To: Walter Block <[email protected]>
Subject: Question about a hypothetical
Hello Walter,
if there was a button that, when pressed, caused all the nuclear weapons
in the world to evaporate harmlessly, and also prevented humanity from
building any new nukes for 500 years,
would you press it?
Best Regards,
Jens
Letter 2
Sent: Thursday, July 23, 2020 at 3:14 AM
From: “Walter Block” <[email protected]>
To: “Jens S”
Subject: RE: Question about a hypothetical
Dear Jen:
Yes. Unless we lived on Jupitor. I’ve written about this:
Block, Walter E. and Matthew A. Block. 2000. “Toward a Universal Libertarian Theory of Gun (Weapon) Control,” Ethics, Place and Environment, Vol. 3, No. 3, pp. 289-298; http://www.walterblock.com/publications/theory_gun_control.pdf; https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228127780_Toward_a_Universal_Libertarian_Theory_of_Gun_(Weapon)_Control_A_Spatial_and_Georgraphical_Analysis?ev=prf_pub; https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228127780_Toward_a_Universal_Libertarian_Theory_of_Gun_Weapon_Control_A_Spatial_and_Georgraphical_Analysis; https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/713665896
Why do you ask?
Best regards,
Walter
Letter 3
From: Jens S Sent: Thursday, July 23, 2020 5:46 PM
To: Walter Block <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: RE: Question about a hypothetical
Hello Walter,
the question was aimed at the following claim:
Nukes pose a big risk to the world population.
However, the fact that they exist has so far prevented
a World War 3 with large conventional armies inflicting large scale death.
I regard this claim as problematic, and I’m trying to find
the correct way to think about it.
Best regards
Jens
Letter 4
From: Walter Block <[email protected]>
Sent: Thursday, July 23, 2020 7:40 PM
To: ‘Jens S’
Subject: RE: RE: Question about a hypothetical
Dear Jens:
My co authored article talks only about justice and nukes. You are asking a utilitarian, pragmatic question about it. I haven’t written about that. But, my suspicion is that nukes have had at least some positive effects of the sort you mention. That is, ever since the nuclear weaponry has been around, Hiroshima and Nagasaki to the side, there has been now war between any of the great powers. So, I’d be careful about pressing a button that banned them all. I don’t say I wouldn’t, I only say I’d be careful about that. They are, indeed, a necessarily offensive weapon, and thus incompatible with libertarianism. But, as you imply, that do constitute a threat, and this threat might well have played a strong role in keeping the great powers limited to cold wars, not hot ones, God forbid.
Best regards,
Walter
2:21 am on October 8, 2020
