The Movie “A House of Dynamite” and the Possibility of World War III

Just like Dr. Strangelove facetiously drew attention to the possibility of World War III back in the 60s, Netflix’s recently released “A House of Dynamite” does the same but more poignantly. 

The film shows that in a quandary that could lead to nuclear war, there is no way to predict how things will play out. There are too many variables, and top leaders who are calling the shots are after all human beings. But more important, the arguments for and against pressing the button thrust people in unpredictable situations as unpredictable issues emerge. That means that the risk of a war, even when the facts are not on the table (in the movie no one knows whether Russia is behind the missile that is about to obliterate Chicago), the possibility of “suicide” (in the words of one of the key people) is all the greater. 

All the key people in the movie who are influencing the final decision as to whether or not to strike Russia are intelligent and responsible in their own ways. Compare that to the current situation with the guy we now have in the White House surrounded by people like Hegseth and Marco Rubio. The situation is more precarious than ever before.  

People should watch this movie and talk about it. Casual talk about the use of nuclear weapons has become the new normal. In that sense the situation today is even worse than at the height of the Cold War when everyone knew what was at stake. Trump’s recent announcement of resuming nuclear bomb testing didn’t provoke the reaction that it merited. Not many Democrats even talked about it. Gavin Newsom did, but half dismissed it as just tough guy talk. Russia has 4,309 nuclear warheads, the U.S. has 4,309, and China has about 600. That means that in spite of its insular geographical position, the United States is not safe in any sense. 

The issue has to be raised by people on the ground, because the corporate media (beholden to the military industrial complex) certainly can’t be relied on to promote a serious conversation about the issue. It’s up to us, we the people, to do so.