The kill-a-child-to-launch-the-nukes thing never made any sense to me. It's impossible for me to believe that a society which would put such a restriction on the use of nuclear weapons wouldn't find a path towards nuclear disarmament instead. We're positing a society that wants to avoid the use of weapons of mass destruction, presumably for very compelling and even existential reasons (because that's how nuclear escalation works!), yet instead of pursuing a true and lasting resolution to the problem, they set up this weird shortcut to try to "trick" one individual into not killing millions/billions of people and possibly leading to their own nation's demise? That's the answer? That's what they're going to rely on?

I know it's just a thought experiment, but it actually gets my hackles up because of the way it isolates one decision (to press the button or not) and considers it in a vacuum without any cultural context. But maybe the story addresses that? I guess I could read it, but I'm already getting het up just thinking about it so maybe it's not worth it. :)