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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.blahaj.zone/post/16751749
The Householder’s Handbook explained how to prepare a home for nuclear attack: Whitewash the house, tape windows and create a safe core in one of the rooms. It listed medicines, food, and supplies needed and explained what to do if there was a nuclear attack. Householders would be able to occupy themselves and their families in preparing for the worst.
Even before the 80’s version, Protect and Survive and the CND peace movement’s riposte – Protest and Survive, the handbook seemed remarkably naïve. A 20-megaton bomb detonated 500 feet above St Paul’s Cathedral in central London would have created a blast wave destroying or damaging buildings for up to 17 kilometres and deliver a lethal dose of radiation for nearly five kilometres.
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It is funny because they assumed that both you, and policemen, and firefighters and everyone else would all be alive after a nuke.
The effects of modern high density construction make blast zones and lethal distances a bit unknown.
500ft above St Paul’s cathedral nowadays would mean that several million tons of concrete and steel would block the radiation pulse and mitigate the blast to quite some extent for those in the outer radius.
Does that account for the rise of ultra-modern construction which is basically cheap plywood and petroleum?
As the UK National Archives comment under it. “[it] seemed remarkably naive”. And it was. Guess they were focusing more on trying not to freak people out.
Like many similar government programs, it was thoughtfully designed.
The biggest risk in any national emergency is panic. As seen recently with Covid and earlier, when a rumour toilet roll supplies running out. Mass panic trigger irrational behaviour en masse which is bad news all round.
Second thing, and related I suppose, is the fear level of the populace. If the message is That “things will be difficult but good old British common sense will prevail, while the government sorts things out for you”. The government keeps people, voters, on side . Alternatively, the government come under a lot more scrutiny if it’s widely understood to be ‘game over’ if war in not averted.
So while you cannot rely on these to be truthful or factually accurate, or even designed to keep you alive , you can be reasonably be sure it’s part of a plan.
In 196 Raymond Briggs wrote a graphic novel , which became a movie - called “when the wind blows” that pretty much nailed this.
There are clips on YouTube but nothing substantial. If you get chance to see it - do so.
I don’t think the worst part of the covid pandemic was a shortage of toilet paper. I would have guessed it’s the tens of millions who died and were disabled for life, and still are being more and more every day.
Yeah, panic clearly wasn’t the biggest issue with covid. There were MANY problems, governments didn’t handle it well, etc, but the virus itself and its deadliness received a very mild reaction after all.
Not publishing leaflets about nuclear attacks would freak me out less!
I think it’s more about giving people who were already scared an illusion of safety and control. But that’s just my opinion.
