A few years back I watched a lot of videos on nuclear tests (one can find them at archive.org - the video and audio quality is terrible, and the resolution is tiny, but it is well worth the time), and I was struck by the same thought - if only we could spend that much effort, money, time and creativity into building a better society, ending hunger and disease, what would the world look like today?
It is really depressing to think about this for too long.
Well, if your stance is that war is a part of human nature and nuclear weapons prevent it (MAD), then nuclear weapons actually make human existence better.
It is really depressing to think about this for too long.