In their introduction to the Thanksgiving 1958 Good Housekeeping article, the editors of A History of Our Time pose the following questions:
Why does it suggest that atomic attack is virtually inevitable? And why might this article make the claim that—even faced with such national catastrophe—survival depends in the preparations of individuals, not the action of federal or local government agencies? (37)
In your response, feel free to address either or both of these questions.
The first successful detonation of atamic bomb in Hiroshima in 1945 was a shock for vast majority of Americans (Paul Boyer, By the Bomb’s Early Light, Ch. 1.) The article claims that “wars are declared suddenly these days;” and therefore, you must be ready for an unexpected nuclear attack. The US government could use this argument to justify the enormous military expenditure, which was 352.9 billion dollars in 1958 (https://www.infoplease.com/us/military-personnel/us-military-spending-1946-2009). The article does not take into account the international politics and the possibility of making deals with American enemies (especially the Soviet Union – it does not even mention the USSR -> “local thinking”). At the same time, the article is trying to encourage an involvement of American citizens, so that they can feel like they can safe themselves. It strongly suggests them to act now, and to make their houses ready for an “inevitable attack”. All those preparations encourage nationalism – Americans are part of something bigger, and the ordinary people have to get ready for the attack as well as the US military.