340 -. DASA 2019-2 it possible to discuss the thing intelligently. This is the thing that Stonier has done. Drawing on the knowledge of microbiology, he has gone very extensively into the problem of disease and also the problems that will be created by the fact that the population would have to subsist at a very low level and under conditions which would involve very great individual hardship. It's not the same kind of population that emerged from wars : enturies ago when there would be total devastation, but these were people who knew what to do. They knew how to go back to the hills. AYRES: Today weare muchbetter off rather than worse off in many ways. We know about boiling water, for example, to sterilize it. There are a lot of things that we know which they didn't know after the Black Death. This kind of knowledge is very widespread; it isn't just limited to doctors or the health people. WARREN: [ think that's right but Lihink the question that bugs me is what other nation is going to put their treasury in our recovery as we put our treasury in theirs? AYRES: Keep in mind one thing in discussing this. After World War Il, the U.S. GNP was 200 billion, It's just on the point of 800 billion now. If we lost half of it, a GNP of 400 billion would still survive, WARREN: That's right, but suppose we lose more than half of it? A psychological feature of this that's really important is: do we have friends who are like relatives and help us or do we have friends who don't? This.is a competitive situation, , DUNHAM: Or friends like other relatives! WARREN: Yes. They could very easily help downgrade the gross national preduct by putting us off, too, couldn't they, and by doing everything they could to prevent our recovery in the world's markets? AYRES: than we. Assuming somebody else survived in a more intact way WARREN: Yes. Your point is that South America hasn't got enough potential! to influence much in the way of our recovery, because of their low economic level.