is there any point in having nuclear weapons anymore?

[mai]

justinian said:

SwansVanTerif said:
Anyone who is scared of the North Korean or Iranian nuclear "threat", is nothing but a sheep and a tool of propaganda. The reason they want you to fear these eeeevil countries, is because their leaders aren't puppets to the western regime. That's all it takes for you to get murdered, by our glorious "democracys".

Well said.

The realialty is that we need nukes. Like the caveman needed an axe and the cowboy a gun. It's just what it is.

The question is do we need so many.

The year is 1961

Kennedy to Kruschev:

"We now have enough nukes to destroy the earth five times over"

Kruschev to kennedy:

"We have enough nukes to destroy the earth once. Surely once is enough. Why destroy something that has already been destroyed. Americans are truly a strange people".

Premise is good, but the alleged quotes are nothing but historical anecdote, i.e. never happened in real life. The whole idea of "destroying the Earth" is rather vague and could be attributed to nuke-o-phobia, created by countlesss post-apocalyptic movies, books, games etc. Destroying what? The planet entirely? You need a Death Star for that. Biosphere? Not possible. Humanity? Not a chance. Civilization? Well, if I say there're good chances to sink half of state of California (literally) into the ocean, would that count? Not a big loss imo. Massive death toll? That's a given.