Failure of Liberalism in Dr. Strangelove free essay sample

In spite of the prevailing view of democracy as â€Å"good† and communism as â€Å"evil† at the time, America was being just as evil as the Soviet Union by pursuing the technology of superior nuclear weapons. Dr. Strangelove takes a serious look at how liberalism ultimately failed the international system in a most horrific way. Liberalism maintains that human nature is basically good, and that bad human behavior is usually a product of insufficient or immoral social institutions and of misunderstanding among leaders. The first level of analysis of liberalism pertains to the individual, and Dr. Strangelove displays how the individuals in this film played an integral part of the ultimate destruction of Earth. The most obvious key player in this film is General Jack D. Ripper. He is the personification of the liberal view of evil human behavior. Going against orders, General Ripper decides to launch an attack on the Soviet Union, simply because he believed the Russians were poisoning the American people through fluoridation. We will write a custom essay sample on Failure of Liberalism in Dr. Strangelove or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In order to assure that his plan would not be thwarted, he changed the abort codes so that he is the only person who is able to stop the attack. General Ripper is an extreme opposite to the liberal view of human nature as basically good, and he demonstrates how one individual could have powerful influence on the international system. Another display of bad human behavior in Kubrick’s film is ignorance. This is prominently shown in Major King Kong. Major Kong’s biggest mistake is his failure to realize how nuclear weapons have changed the nature of war. He not only follows the orders given by General Ripper blindly, but he does so in a way that is more suitable for the type of fighting that was done in WWII. He doesn’t seem to understand that the consequences of his dropping an atomic bomb on Russia and in his shortsightedness, appears to think nuclear war may not actually be that bad. In actuality, nuclear weapons made war more detrimental to not only the human race, but to the local and global environment. Perhaps the most interesting take on bad human behavior in the film is Dr. Strangelove himself. His lack of feeling and compassion for others leads him to view nuclear weapons as a mode of deterrence against enemy attack, and he gives no real thought to the fact that that they will essentially destroy the human race. Near the end of the film, he shows his lack of empathy by suggesting that all military and political leaders and attractive women be taken into a mine shaft in an effort to survive the virulent radioactivity produced by the Doomsday device. Not all characters in this film portray the evil human side, however. President Muffley is the liberalist image of good human nature. He is not only appalled by the actions taken by General Ripper, but he attempts to stop the attack from happening in order to make peace prevail between the United States and the Soviet Union. Nevertheless, his attempts are ineffectual and somewhat ridiculous, and in the end he is not successful in stopping the apocalypse. While President Muffley is what liberalist would consider the majority of the human population, in this film he is played out as more of a minority of human behavior. Despite the overwhelming acts of the individuals in Dr. Strangelove that contributed to the ultimate demise of mankind, the state, which is the second level of analysis for liberalism, was also a major actor in Earth’s destruction. None of the individuals in the film could have caused such destruction if the state hadn’t first built the weapons that made it possible. The United States and the Soviet Union were competing in a race to make the most superior weapons. The Russians even went as far as to make a Doomsday Machine that would destroy all human, animal, and plant life on Earth as a method of retaliation, which is the unequivocal liberalist view of immoral behavior. Aside from that, the lack of cooperation among the states played a serious role in the outcome of this film. Instead of the two states involved cooperating and reaching a level of understanding, they chose to use power and destruction as tools for manipulating the other side to act accordingly. In the end, it was this more than anything else that led to the worst outcome possible. While liberalism has a more idealistic view of human nature and the international system, it is put into question by the film Dr. Strangelove. Instead of improving moral and material conditions and making societal progress, the actors in this film chose death and ultimately apocalypse. In short, it shows how despite liberalist view on mankind’s best intentions, good human nature may not always triumph.