Sunday, June 2, 2013

Survival Under Atomic Attack film (1951)

By Mike in Tokyo Rogers
This short movie was created by the US Office of Civil Defense. I think it goes a long way in showing just how nutty these people we have in government are. It is, in some parts funny, in others just plain astounding... The propaganda purposes are always in forefront.

Especially the part, when referring to what happened in Japan after the atomic bombing, where they say that "That a large majority of people exposed to nuclear radiation  recovered completely including those who suffered radiation sickness." For more on that, see "Hiroshima and Nagasaki. What People Experienced."

Wikipedia says abut the US Office of Civil Defense:

The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) was an agency of the United States Department of Defense from 1961-64. It replaced the Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization. The organization was abolished on July 20, 1979, pursuant to Executive Order 12148. It was a predecessor to theFederal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Oh, great! They became FEMA. You know, that fine organization that handled the New Orleans area after hurricane Katrina...

This is a fascinating short film. All you have to do is hear the opening narration to know that you are in for a massive dose of 1960's US government propaganda.

"Let's us face, without panic, the reality of our time; the fact that atom bombs may soon be dropped on our cities. And let us prepare for survival by understand the weapon that threatens us..."


Think about this for a second and then you can understand why we should fear what our leaders are doing in our names: was there every anything so damned important that the Soviet Union did that would warrant us risking having our cities and citizens evaporated like the hundreds of thousands at Hiroshima and Nagasaki?

Film from Internet Archives
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Keywords: atom bomb, Marketing Japan, Mike in Tokyo Rogers, Hiroshima, Nagasaki,  Office of Civil Defense, film, Mike Rogers

2 comments:

  1. My first exposure to this insanity was in a marvellous little film called The Iron Giant. It's a great antidote to this MADness. Chikidat! "When suddenly, without warning... BOOOMMMM!" Classic. (And if that's not enough to whet your appetite, the lovely Jennifer Aniston voices the kid's mum.)

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  2. The sirens go off the first Tuesday of the month for a test, and they go off for a simple thunderstorm. In the event of an atomic bomb, no one is going to pay much attention to them.
    And, close the curtains?
    Turn off appliances?
    Unplug stuff?
    You've got to be kidding me?
    The America of today is so far removed from that film it might as well've been filmed on Mars.

    If the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had known what we know today... Hmph, IMHO, Americans are paying absolutely NO attention to that.

    Interesting video, reminds me of the horror/sci-fi flicks I grew up watching.

    "And let us prepare for survival by understand the weapon that threatens us..."

    Hmph, as if.

    - IndividualAudienceMember

    ReplyDelete

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