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Of course you're having a hard time understanding it. It's because you've been so brainwashed as a kid growing up in the 70s and 80s (just like me), believing that the Soviet Union was the "Evil Empire", and that they were so freaking evil, that they would destroy themselves just so that they could take down the US. In fact, the Soviet Union was made up of people who loved their friends and family and didn't want to destroy the world, just like Americans. And they were no more willing to start nuclear war than Americans were. And given the fact that there was completely Mutually Assured Destruction, there was no point for the Soviet Union to ever launch a nuclear strike. So, sure, there was always the possibility of nuclear war, just like there is currently the possibility of a nuclear war against China, or India, Pakistan, North Korea, etc. But it's not nearly as likely as we were brainwashed to believe as kids. Instead, Reagan used this as a tool to increase support for a build-up of nuclear weapons, to increase military spending, and ultimately turned the US from the world's largest creditor to the world's largest debtor. Some might say that he saved the world from the Soviet Union by crippling them financially by goading them into an arms race that they couldn't win financially. But it was definitely on the heels of a massive propaganda campaign that none of us realized, until you actually compare notes with people who lives in the Soviet Union at the time, and understand the actually threat levels. |