As a kid I remember ABC’s runup to and then showing of The Day After, and it scared me to the bone. The scene of the farmer standing quietly in his field as he watches nuclear missiles lifting off in the distance is one that I’ll take to the grave. Sagan was absolutely right about the whole thing being madness–from the wiki article, he’s quoted describing Mutually Assured Destruction thusly:
Imagine a room awash in gasoline, and there are two implacable enemies in that room. One of them has nine thousand matches, the other seven thousand matches. Each of them is concerned about who's ahead, who's stronger.Simply madness, and a madness I hope Earth never has to witness.
