The Ethics of Weapons Development

According to Princeton, ethics is the philosophical study of moral values and rules. The question concerning weapons development asks: "Is it moral for societies to develop weapons of mass destruction (WMD) for any reason?". This cannot be answered easily because there is no exact "right answer". I do believe that if one person has a WMD, then everyone else deserves one WMD, which would provide everyone with the same level of power. Then you couldn't threaten the other people because they could retaliate. In the Cold War, this question became important because everyone was developing WMD's and tensions were high between the U.S and the Soviet Union. 

During the Cold War, a principle called deterrence was called into play. Deterrence means keeping the power to prevent an enemy attack, because both sides fear retaliation. Without this principle, a nuclear war between the U.S. and the Soviet Union probably would have erupted. This is why I think that weapons development is important because fear is a great way to prevent attacks. If no one feared nuclear retaliation from the U.S., then they could attack the U.S., which would have no way to defend themselves. Even though there are thousands of WMD's in the world, only two have ever been fired. The two WMD's that were fired were fired were used in order to save lives.
The Japanese were committed to fighting the war until everyone was dead, and it didn't matter which side. So, President Harry S. Truman authorized the dropping of atomic bombs on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The dropping of these bombs convinced the Japanese to surrender, which may have saved lives in the long run, even if it killed people in the short run. However, the unexpected results of the dropping of the bombs came later, with the long terms effects. Tens of thousands of people died from radiation after the initial blast, and tens of thousands passed away later or suffered from from birth defects and disease.

In my opnion, even just maintaining the appearance of being able to prevent anything is key. For example, if the Secret Service did not maintain the appearance that they could stop someone from assassinating the president, then many more people would try and one would probably succeed. When people are manufacturing weapons, they have to understand that the device they are making is meant to kill someone, not heal someone. Weapons are a huge industry, with over 1 trillion being spent on them worldwide. Some of these weapons will go to a good cause, like freeing a country or protecting someone, while others will go to someone who will use them to kill innocent people

In the book "A Long Way Gone" by Ishmael Beah, Ishmael encounters some of the weapons that are being used for bad purposes. If guns and explosives had never been introduced to Sierra Leone, some of the horrible things that happened to Ishmael may never have occurred. He saw babies who had been shot in the back, families killed, and their huts burned. Guns have made killing so easy because all that is required to take a life is to point and pull the trigger. There are machine guns that fire over 50 rounds per second and can cut down a thick tree with ease. Because of this, one person can do the work of an army if he is well equipped. It is easy for one soldier to gun down 10 people at once because of how we have evolved in terms of weapons, but earlier in history killing ten people at once would have been deemed near impossible. 

Another issue that we face the way revolutions in weapon design have permitted the act of taking a life to become 'impersonal'. Now, you do not have to see the face of the person you kill and you do not have to see their pain. Because of this, killing is much easier mentally. When you see the face of the person that you killed, it makes a huge difference. For example, Ishmael often had to see the face of the person he killed. which made his experience ten times worse because he could not block out the face from his mind. It stayed with him forever. Guns tore Ishmael's family apart, and he was forced to rely on them to survive. Nno person should be forced to use a gun and kill a person just to survive, especially a teenager. You should never have to choose between your life and someone else's, but Ishmael was forced to make this choice and he chose to live, a choice that most people would choose if given the option. This further exemplifies the issues that weapons cause, especially when put into bad hands.