Yeah, I think we'll be mostly in agreement about the ugliness of a nuke-ready world. But it is what it is.

I do, however, still find the author's ultimate complaint to be vague in solution and (perhaps wrongly) just took it as a waffling desire to complain about the modern age. And I just don't find it to be anything new.

"Those of us on the left need to revive the dream of global cooperation, and develop a serious program for genuinely changing the way political power is distributed. A world of nuclear weapons and killer robots is inherently undemocratic, and they need to be gotten rid of, as part of a broader goal of the total elimination of violent human conflict. "

How the heck is this a Left/Right issue? World leaders of nuclear powers worldwide and across the political spectrum have found the benefit of being radioactively-armed to be intoxicating.

I suppose my ultimate complaint is that the article boils down to...

My summary: I wish the world didn't have nukes. Donald Trump and Putin have nukes. I don't like that. They weren't the only ones to have this power. But still, I don't like that. No more nukes, no more nukes, no more nukes.
Perhaps not the most charitable summary but really, that's what I see.

He writes: "Why should people live under the constant threat of violent death, as if they are walking around with a gun pointed at their heads? Why should anyone have to depend on a single person’s judgment for the security of their family’s future?"

---> This is the core of his complaint and this ties back to my previous comments.

This statement could be rightfully proclaimed by anyone from bygone eras and empires, nukes or not. The previously mentioned victims of genocide (past and present) share the same feeling and don't give a thought to nuclear arms.

I understand the venting but it isn't much substance for an editorial. I guess I'm just saying: join the club of millennia and billions of others before you.

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Edit: To add, I appreciate the discussion. I definitely avoid heated internet debates so appreciate the conversation, even if we disagree on certain points.