Saving the Cold War--for posterity

Interesting FT weekend piece on Cold War relics, asking the question, Should they be dismantled or preserved.

Reminds me of being in Berlin years ago and realizing how the city missed out on a huge tourist attraction in The Wall.  Yes, exciting and fun to pull it all down, but a great big section should have been preserved for history and tourism.

So the simple answer is this:  save enough for a critical mass effect on tourism and save the best ones for history's sake--whenever feasible. But err on the side of tourism, because if no one comes visit, then the money won't be there for preservation.

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[Quine]

Certain WWII artifacts haven't fared much better. It's only in the past year or so that the British government has shown any interest at all in trying to maintain any of the codebreaking history at Bletchley Park. Up until recently, it's been dedicated volunteers trying to keep cranky, vintage machines running like they did 70 years ago