> I would expect things to stabilize at a technology level of maybe the late 19th/early 20th century and start back up This is the part you should be concerned

> I would expect things to stabilize at a technology level of maybe the late 19th/early 20th century and start back up This is the part you should be concerned about even if a nuclear winter doesn't or can't occur. Ask yourself how many people were alive at the end of the 19th century / early 20th and then compare that to today. Remember that it wasn't for lack of trying and that this was pre-birthcontrol. Then imagine what would happen if you saddled that technology level with 2x, 3x, or 4x the number of mouths to feed. After a nuclear war the biggest killer would likely be famine. We never think about it since we have escaped it's clutches for so long but it is one of the biggest killers in human history. A nuclear war would destroy our current global supply chain and likely much of the national supply chain as well. Billions of people around the world would starve.