The motto of the Bernie Sanders campaign is “A Future You Can Believe In.” Unfortunately, as long as the Sword of Damocles, representing an intentional or accidental nuclear holocaust, threatens the survival of mankind, this hope becomes wishful thinking.

As more and more nations, some unstable and aggressive, get a nuclear capability, the more certain that the ultimate catastrophe will occur. Many retired military brass consider an accidental nuclear holocaust is more probable than an intentional one.

Over the years, there have been many close calls, notably the Cuban Missile Crisis and the accidental dropping of two 4-megaton hydrogen bombs on North Carolina in 1961, which only failed to detonate because of the malfunction of a low-voltage switch.

Remarkably, this existential threat receives little attention from politicians, the media and the general public. If the nuclear genie cannot be put bank in the bottle, then solutions to important issues like taming global warming and achieving a sustainable society with economic security for all could well become irrelevant.

Voters would do well to consider this critical issue when choosing the leaders of our nation. We need a president who will work towards a safe world for this and future generations, not an erratic, impulsive, self-centered demagogue like Donald Trump.

Gene Clifford

Mount Desert