M.A.D., or Mutually Assured Destruction, is a policy the figures into the movie Dr. Strangelove rampantly.

The policy describes the idea that the destruction of either the U.S.A. or the Soviet Union would result in the destruction of the other, as of yet undestroyed, superpower, as well. M.A.D. had its origins in the basic theory of deterrence atomic weaponry was meant to dissuade attackers with the same capabilities. In the movie, however, the policy is portrayed as paranoid, unreasonable, and extreme. Most notably, the Russians are revealed to have a Doomsday Device a mechanism which would automatically destroy the world with the radioactive half-life of Thorium-90, should Russia be attacked with nuclear weaponry. Unfortunately, when the movies U.S. bomb went awry, thanks to the renegade General Ripper, it was realized that the Doomsday Device would be activated because, in accordance with the principles of M.A.D., the Device couldnt be shut off or reprogrammed. There are multiple gaps, or areas of discrepancy between Soviet and American progress, listed in the movie Dr. Strangelove. In almost all of these gaps, the U.S. is said to be ahead. The first gap discussed is that of the Arms Race. Both nations attempted to outdo the other, in terms of military spending, but the U.S. prevailed, due primarily to better economic strength. This was part of the reason that the Russians saw the deterrence of M.A.D. as so vital. A second gap mentioned in the movie is that of the Space Race. Although the Soviets pulled ahead in that race with the launch of Sputnik, the Americans quickly overtook them with multiple missions, including the manned moon landing. The third gap discussed is that of the Peace Race. This refers to the fact that even in matters of worldwide diplomacy and national status, the U.S. is perceived as the prevailing nation. The final gap mentioned in the movie is that of the Mine-Shaft. Upon the destruction of the biosphere by nuclear weapons, it is widely

feared that one of the two superpowers the U.S.S.R. or America will progress far beyond the other, due to advances made while in hiding in the mine shafts. It was important for the U.S.A. and the U.S.S.R. to compete for multiple reasons. Both nations had a strong sense of national prestige, so for either, being overtaken in any way would have been devastating. Beyond that, however, both governments viewed competition as the best way to ensure that they were able to keep the freedom of choice of political and economic structures, and spread these structures to Satellite States. For the Americans, these structures were capitalism and democracy. The Soviets, on the other hand, chose communism. Finally, competition was important simply as a matter of survival after all, both nations had huge stockpiles of nuclear weapons. The movie Dr. Strangelove portrays the paranoia of the time period as extreme and unwarranted it is political satire, after all. The face of this paranoia is General Ripper, a man who believes that the communists are constantly out to get him. To rectify this problem, he begins a scheme to bomb the Soviet Union. His trickery, however, wouldnt have been possible without equal paranoia on the part of his soldiers, who went along with his plan. From there, the paranoia only became worse. The officials from both countries were constantly bickering and had trouble cooperating in the face of emergency, all due to their mistrust of each other. The paranoia was the reason that a single nuclear bomb could have destroyed the entire world because of the activation of the Doomsday Device. All this paranoia, the movie intends to tell us, was, and is, a terrible thing. It ended, after all, with the falling of a bomb. The water fluoridation conspiracy is first mentioned in Dr. Strangelove by General Ripper, as a reason to fear the Russian Communists. Because the government began to put fluorine in the public drinking water at the immediate conclusion of World War Two, many

people feared that the fluoridation was a Soviet plan for the Soviets were ascendant as a competing superpower at that time. Although the federal government claimed that the small amounts of fluorine were harmless, and drastically helped reduce cavities and tooth decay, the status of fluorine as a poison caused many on the political fringe to view the undertaking as a Commie Plot. This was just one more example of the rampant paranoia of the day, supporting the idea that the Communists were everywhere, and that all of them were somehow intent on hurting the United States. In the end, the water fluoridation conspiracy was a major factor in General Rippers decision to commence a nuclear war with Russia.