It's worth acknowledging that the fears of the cold war funded tremendous scientific and technological innovation on both sides of the iron curtain. People had

It's worth acknowledging that the fears of the cold war funded tremendous scientific and technological innovation on both sides of the iron curtain. People had singular focus - not on the betterment of humanity in the abstract sense, but for primal SURVIVAL - because both sides believed that if given the chance the other would wipe them out. This created a unifying focus (amongst two divided sides). A lot of people have hoped for some event to unify humanity (like the space squid in the watchmen) towards a common goal again. Alas, COVID has shown that is just simply not possible any longer.