Nuclear Aftermath Treaty

Have you ever wondered what would happen to you if you were a survivor of a nuclear war? Suppose you lived in the suburbs of a large city, and an atomic bomb was dropped on the urban core of your city, destroying it. If you were still alive afterwards, what would happen to you? My proposal for a nuclear aftermath treaty includes several items that would provide a basic framework to protect people in the aftermath of a nuclear war.

1. Rent and debt amnesty. Capitalists should not be permitted to collect rent or to collect on other debts in the aftermath of a nuclear war. If the apartment building you live in is still standing after a nuclear war, you should not be required to pay rent.

2. Capitalists should be prohibited from charging excessive prices for food, water, or other commodities in the aftermath of a nuclear war. A nuclear aftermath treaty should outlaw all forms of profiteering so the surviors of a nuclear war will not be exploited.

3. The area where any nuclear explosion has occurred should be designated as the ‘blast zone’, and the blast zone should be a demilitarized zone.

4. The blast zone (also called the demilitarized zone) should not have any soldiers based in it. Military activity should be prohibited in the blast zone. This would apply to all forms of military activity, including occupation, patrols, training, and recruiting.

5. Humanitarian organizations should be permitted to operate in the blast zone. This includes medical and charitable organizations.

6. News reporters should be permitted to operate in the blast zone. This includes television reporters, and other journalists.

7. Junk yards near the blast zone should be prohibited from buying any scrap metal, unless it can be verified that the scrap metal is not radioactive. People may scavenge the ruins near a nuclear blast, and they may collect scrap metal which they may try to sell to junkyards. Because of the possibility that radioactive scrap metal may be accidentally mixed in with other metals, all junk yards and scrap yards near a nuclear blast zone should develop a means of detecting radiation, or close their operations until a means of detecting radiation can be established.

I urge diplomats around the world to work together to establish a nuclear aftermathe treaty.

Anthony Ratkov,February 22,2011.