The Bank Guard with Dyamite

    The problem of nuclear weapons is like the problem of the bank guard with dynamite. Nuclear weapons seem powerful, but they are in fact too large and too clumsy to be especially useful for most applications. One way to get real insight into the practical military problems of nuclear weapons is to imagine a bank guard – his name is Harry – with a stick of dynamite in his hand.

    When the bank first started thinking about whether they should hire a guard and what sort of weapon they should arm him with, the Board of Directors looked at all the weapons that were available. The year was 1938. They looked at the available knives, they looked into various billy clubs, and they looked at a catalog of pistols. One of them talked about his over-under shotgun. But then someone said, “Well, our money needs to be really, really safe, so shouldn't our guard have the most powerful weapon available? The most powerful weapon is TNT. Why don't we give the guard we hire two or three sticks of dynamite?” Heads nodded around the table, it seemed sensible, and so when the guard was hired he was given a nice brown uniform and three sticks of dynamite.

    Of course, this was inherently dangerous. Customers were constantly waving lit cigarettes around (it's the 1930s, remember) frighteningly close to the fuses of the dynamite tucked in Harry's belt. Harry had to keep his eyes peeled and would often bodily block people's cigarettes with his hands and arms.

    Then one day a bank robber came into the bank, carrying a knife and a crowbar, and demanded money from Cindy, the teller at the middle grill. There were 14 people in the bank at the time: 3 tellers, the assistant manager (Bob Holloway), Harry, the bank robber and eight customers. Harry had noticed the bank robber almost as soon as he came into the bank and now Harry was standing by the front door with a stick of dynamite in one hand and a kitchen match in the other.

    Are you picturing this? Are you imagining how this is going to play out? What's Harry going to do? Can he start tossing the dynamite? Can he shout out a threat that he will throw the dynamite? Can he light the fuse and then shout his threats and demands? What if the bank robber rushes toward Harry? The closer he gets, the less incentive Harry has for using his dynamite because the chances are that Harry will get blown up with the bank robber. There is also the question of the bank's customers. When the Board was thinking about this problem, they decided that they would talk about customers who might be hurt during the apprehending of a bank robber as “collateral damage.” How do you think the possibility of collateral damage will influence what Harry does now?

    Here is Harry, armed with the most powerful weapon available. But he's actually not in a very good position to prevent the bank robbery. In fact, his best hope is probably to put down the dynamite and wrestle with the bank robber, calling on his friends and neighbors to help him. Hmmm.