The Atlantic

<em>Chernobyl</em> Should Make Humanity Count Its Blessings

The HBO miniseries peers into an insane system and reveals how lucky the world is that the Soviet Union collapsed.
Source: Vladimir Repik / Reuters

The HBO series Chernobyl is not only majestic television, but also a reminder that the world is a better place than it used to be. This seems counterintuitive to people who have become accustomed to declaring that we are living in bad times, the worst times, or even the End Times. But as the series draws to a close, Chernobyl should serve as a reminder not only that the world is fortunate that the Soviet Union is gone, but of how much we now take the political and technological improvements of the 21st century for granted.

It is especially important not to process everything in through the lens of our current politics, which seem frivolous compared with the events of the 1980s.. It is, of course, completely possible to watch the series without thinking of Trump. For his part, Bongino responded to King by Chernobyl, Bongino insisted, “was a failure of socialism … the exact opposite of the Trump deregulation and tax cut agenda.”

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