I appreciate your attempt to calm me down, EuchreJack. And of course I hope you are right. But those arguments don't convince me at all, unfortunately.
Actually, the massive amount of time in which countries have pointed nukes at one another proves that massive Nuclear Armageddon is quite unlikely.
Or, essentially if we were going to nuke ourselves back into the Stone Ages, we would have done it by now.
Sorry to say it, but all this proves is that we've been really lucky. There is a whole
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_nuclear_close_calls. On at least two occasions, a single man taking the right decision at the right time saved the world. (Vasily Arkhipov in 1962, Stanislav Petrov in 1983). Not everyone will do the right thing like they did. We can't count on being so lucky all the time.
There are a few factors that make the situation today more dangerous than perhaps ever before. There is not a single "button" that can be pushed; with tactical nukes things can escalate in a gradual manner.
During the Cuban Missile crisis, Khrushchev was a reasonable guy and he was willing to swallow a loss for the greater good. Now we have Putin, who is apparently driven by a deep resentment. The type of person who would escalate, rather than back down. Back in the time of the USSR I feel there was a sort of basic common ground, a willingness to communicate and negotiate that is sorely lacking now. Whereas the public has been lulled into a false sense of security.
And then there is the fact that Trump has killed off several nuclear agreements. The damage that guy has done..
In my opinion, MAD is an absolutely mad idea and people world wide should be on the streets right now. Demanding an end to the Russian invasion, of course, but also to these kinds of weapons.