this post was submitted on 29 Apr 2025
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Collapse
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This is the place for discussing the potential collapse of modern civilization and the environment.
Collapse, in this context, refers to the significant loss of an established level or complexity towards a much simpler state. It can occur differently within many areas, orderly or chaotically, and be willing or unwilling. It does not necessarily imply human extinction or a singular, global event. Although, the longer the duration, the more it resembles a ‘decline’ instead of collapse.
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Uhhh pretty sure we didn’t have a nuclear reactor meltdown.
…but we were in Afghanistan until a humiliating withdrawal a few years ago…
Shit
Oh, we've long outdone Chernobyl. Industrial pollution, oil spills, microplastics, regular plastics, PFAS, overfishing, habitat destruction... The modern ecological disaster caused by the US alone, before you even add in the rest of the planet, is so unfathomably large in scale that honestly it doesn't even warrant a comparison to Chernobyl.
Chernobyl was such a uniquely singularly destructive event that also contributed to financially cracking the USSR - Russia is still spending enormous amounts of money on it to this day. The nuclear incidents in US history and many other energy related disasters were terrible and have had major consequences, but Chernobyl, again as a singular event, is without parallel.
The US releases more radiation entirely uncontrolled over every five year period than the Chernobyl event.
Chernobyl is over exaggerated. Coal power has done more damage, and continues to do more damage than the totality of all nuclear incidents, and it does so every 7 years.
Ask the dead from Pripyat what their opinion on that is
Ask the 20-50x more cancer patients downwind (up to 50 miles) from any coal mine or plant what they think of a few thousand dead.
More people have died from coal related radiation related cancers than lived in the entirety of pripyat.
Nuclear, by the numbers is the safest power source next to solar. The rmb reactors of Chernobyl, per mWh, are safer than any implementation of coal that has ever existed or will ever exist.
Dude I explicitly acknowledged the US has had energy disasters - I said they were “terrible” and resulted in “major consequences.” Don’t pull this bullshit
I'm not talking about disasters, that's just coal operation. Nominal operation.
I acknowledged that in the other comment chain too. Get over yourself. The US has done terrible things and currently does terrible things that have killed people and still kill people. What the fuck do you want from me? We’re talking about Chernobyl, I’m not saying America has not fucked up. My original comment was a joke for fuck’s sake
You sound like one of those defensive, butthurt lemmygrad users who can’t bear to see the USSR/russia talked ill of and always have to “BUT THE US”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three_Mile_Island_accident
Not counting nuclear reactor accidents and other man-made disasters like Bhopal.
Three mile island isn't comparable to Chernobyl, particularly not in the context of how it impacts a nations stability.
Chernobyl cost around $900 billion, inflation adjusted, and the cost is rising because it's controlled, not resolved.
Adjusted for inflation, three mile island cost around $5 billion.
To put it in scale, it'd be like the US having a disaster that cost around $7.5 trillion to resolve today. It's the type of economic shock that can make nations fail.
Bhopal, while a terrible disaster, cost the US nothing beyond the cost of not extraditing someone.
A poof of radioactive steam got loose at Three Mile Island. To this day, no studies have found a correlation of higher cancer rates, neither among the people on the ground, nor among the people living in the area. And no one was hurt on Day 1.
Know why the incident is top of mind for folks thinking on nuclear disasters? The China Syndrome, a movie about a catastrophic plant meltdown came out less than 3 weeks before. People shit kittens. I was only 8, but I still remember the panic.
These incidents were decades ago. Awful, but as such don’t parallel the relationship between Chernobyl and the collapse of the USSR.
Consider that Japan did have a nuclear meltdown and it is essentially a US territory. Chernobyl isn't in Russia, it's in Ukraine.
I’m sorry, but no. The US is not responsible for Japan’s nuclear meltdown. Japan is a separate, sovereign nation. That is insane.
Chernobyl was in Ukraine/the USSR, both Ukraine and Russia heavily fund the current containment efforts. I don’t know what to tell you. That is a fact.
Your Japan statement is so absurd I just can’t take you seriously.
Why doesn't Japan have it's own foreign policy? It's foreign policy is dictated by the US. Why doesn't Japan have an active military, only a self defense force? US won't let them. Why are there dozens of US bases in Japan? Because they are conquered and occupied by the United States. They may not have the title of US territory but that is their status.
Nope not engaging this. Japan’s nuclear reactor in Japan’s borders staffed by Japanese engineers. This is insane. Bye 👍
Chernobyl was in Ukraine not Russia. What's your point?
Which were individual states in the USSR, not completely different countries like Japan and the US
Are you actually a fucking idiot?
Japan is abut as independent of the USA as any of those countries in the USSR were from Russian rule. The USA is an empire and Japan is one of many vassal states.
You clearly either don't know how the USSR worked, or how Japan works now
Having been there myself: you're so far off it's not even funny, it's just really sad
You’re an idiot. Leave me alone.
The USA is an empire Japan is one of many countries it rules over.
Yes yes USA bad I agree now go slink off to lemmygrad where you belong. Bye
what