Chain Reactions

The U.S. man-in-the-street had heard, but did not yet believe, that some day a scientist somewhere--perhaps in the U.S. --might press a button that would set up an atomic chain reaction and blow up the world (see SCIENCE). He took the news, as he took all news that did not affect his own immediate, personal wellbeing, in stride. It was too big for headlines, too big for him to comprehend. Anyhow, somebody would see to it that it did not happen.

The U.S. citizen also learned last week that a man in Detroit had pressed a button that sent 175,000 Americans on strike. He took that news much less calmly than he would have a few weeks before.

He knew by now that this was a part of a chain reaction in his nation's economic system, that soon about 1,250,000 Americans might be out on strikes that might last a long time, and might mean a very tough winter for him personally. He hoped that somebody would cut the chain before it cut into his own take-home pay. But he was not at all sure that somebody would or could.

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