[blind-democracy] FW: Call for Sanity on 60th of Russell-Einstein Manifesto
- From: "Bob Hachey" <bhachey@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- To: <blind-democracy@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Fri, 10 Jul 2015 14:11:12 -0400
From: World Beyond War via WorldBeyondWar.org [mailto:info@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2015 11:32 AM
To: bhachey@xxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Call for Sanity on 60th of Russell-Einstein Manifesto
<http://mailings.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/1QA/ni0YAA/t.1ok/czvgSD3yT0up3FOE2U_j9Q/h0/Jb9ZUZ-2BHBLFAkQw-2FQ1kTOtOuJ4YclIt5AHEocjPHNFk-3D>
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Sixty years after Albert Einstein and Bertrand Russell issued their manifesto
about the growing threat of world war, the globe continues to face the prospect
of nuclear annihilation — coupled with the looming threat of climate change.
Sign the new manifesto today at http://diy.rootsaction.org/p/man
<http://mailings.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/1QA/ni0YAA/t.1ok/czvgSD3yT0up3FOE2U_j9Q/h1/1GPgnjBRxSPZBnDQCfruhd8KYW2hYDiOELVputD7MY1MgbrWJh5zokVzVL1pfDaD0HN-2F2h-2BH8tOpEAs3TEfOT7R-2BlIJGg7wfGE2Jp5z0nwsCIIfjgoksjEvFBStL65dCD-2B32Vlt8X4znAsvEYqdLC2DWm0EWLxPLVFatDv4b5KAVikjKZNYRw-2Fb8bIvjSMuF0Y4bDoS7-2FWnq0ly3ZQyJg-2BWvYjbuvhZrxOcwio0FuXijkGNq1MtB-2FsqGtPzsEF-2F53ULlZSlbLOTEn8lSoRJlq5fdqGxccCRkGNZq2Bw6InU-3D>
By Emanuel Pastreich
<http://mailings.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/1QA/ni0YAA/t.1ok/czvgSD3yT0up3FOE2U_j9Q/h2/5XECoG33inT8mR6DEM78ZDdkRlkoHIUkm3j-2F9TtQQhNZLK-2BgGZ3y31YvzTELpU0-2F-2B5vz-2BuxmiKoQMn6rkMBTIvxasR4jiO0ReiAGylhXcRmXaXSTz1BiALY0egY84tvANMB7XGGR4d2-2BwJqfVcUzwhuhAEosChfE1Z-2FFPtNdtsc4IZ8cjRoxMNySJJEg45F7iZe2LVlCvNHtP7Uls4Tflj-2FY-2BqtVAZ2AD4EiK8GeAwkiC9iVUJxp8azwIoKc-2FY-2FVtL04wNv0xHvn8nViBanirECl6zq9wgxByqntSvv3Rhs-3D>
, Foreign Policy in Focus
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It was exactly 60 years ago that Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein gathered
together with a group of leading intellectuals in London to draft and sign a
manifesto
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in which they denounced the dangerous drive toward war between the world’s
Communist and anti-Communist factions. The signers of this manifesto included
leading Nobel Prize winners such as Hideki Yukawa and Linus Pauling.
They were blunt, equating the drive for war and reckless talk of the use of
nuclear weapons sweeping the United States and the Soviet Union at the time, as
endangering all of humanity. The manifesto argued that advancements in
technology, specifically the invention of the atomic bomb, had set human
history on a new and likely disastrous course.
The manifesto stated in harsh terms the choice confronting humanity:
Here, then, is the problem which we present to you, stark and dreadful and
inescapable: Shall we put an end to the human race; or shall mankind renounce
war?
The Russell-Einstein Manifesto forced a serious reconsideration of the
dangerous strategic direction in which the United States was heading at that
time and was the beginning of a recalibration of the concept of security that
would lead to the signing of the Nonproliferation Treaty in 1968 and the arms
control talks of the 1970s.
But we take little comfort in those accomplishments today. The United States
has completely forgotten about its obligations under the Nonproliferation
Treaty, and the words “arms control” have disappeared from the conversation on
security. The last year has seen the United States confront Russia in Ukraine
to such a degree that many have spoken about the risks of nuclear war.
As a result, on June 16 of this year Russia announced that it will add 40 new
ICBMs in response to the investment of the United States over the last two
years in upgrading its nuclear forces.
Similar tensions have emerged between Japan and China over the
Senkaku/Diaoyutai Isles and between the United States and China over the South
China Sea. Discussions about the possibility of war with China are showing up
in the Western media with increasing frequency, and a deeply disturbing push to
militarize American relations with Asia is emerging.
But this time, the dangers of nuclear war are complemented by an equal, or
greater, threat: climate change. Even the commander of the U.S. Pacific
Command, Admiral Samuel Locklear, told the Boston Globe in 2013 that climate
change “is probably the most likely thing that is going to happen . . . that
will cripple the security environment, probably more likely than the other
scenarios we all often talk about.’’
More recently, Pope Francis issued a detailed, and blunt, encyclical dedicated
to the threat of climate change in which he charged:
It is remarkable how weak international political responses (to climate change)
have been. Consequently the most one can expect is superficial rhetoric,
sporadic acts of philanthropy and perfunctory expressions of concern for the
environment, whereas any genuine attempt by groups within society to introduce
change is viewed as a nuisance based on romantic illusions or an obstacle to be
circumvented.
As the 60th anniversary of the Russell-Einstein Manifesto drew near, I became
increasing disturbed by the complete inaction among the best-educated and
best-connected in the face of the most dangerous moment in modern history and
perhaps in human history, grimmer even than the catastrophe that Russell and
Einstein contemplated. Not only are we facing the increased likelihood of
nuclear war, but there are signs that climate change is advancing more rapidly
than previously estimated. Science Magazine recently released a study
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that predicts massive marine destruction if we follow the current trends, and
even the glaciers of the Southern Antarctic Peninsula, once thought to be the
most stable, are observed to be melting rapidly
<http://mailings.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/1QA/ni0YAA/t.1ok/czvgSD3yT0up3FOE2U_j9Q/h8/6coojzfAmQNXklgoTvt1WrGK-2B8SkXazZDTbtapEtV7nlgQOMrY65mu6430VDWUv27MF0zUwTp-2FkI4HqTKb0NCJC-2B5-2FXQvd6Q9GpU14qQwLL-2F6SHeeYw2XLFiAXw6W9ouXj6CSwplz-2BQEWXSNh-2B6smJbXQyd626I3v3x2eTvlKpSze3qR-2BHx2XjW1Qcs6J8k7rls-2F3hf63U3C5wZJj8-2F-2BuP9WkkxTnBYpmLrEJIIXkdRSNIVYreA3MPZrqWNSO7JLaYkd6FsSKu28P2t5w-2F0wUC5nPtsI3Q1HO9LY2omge7w68KK26YTwA0uCuHB9lXpI>
. And yet we see not even the most superficial efforts to defend against this
threat by the major powers.
I spoke informally about my worries with my friend John Feffer, director of
Foreign Policy in Focus and associate of the Asia Institute. John has written
extensively about the need to identify climate change as the primary security
threat and also has worked closely with Miriam Pemberton of the Institute for
Policy Studies on efforts to move the United States away from a military
economy. Between the two of us we have put together a slightly updated version
of the manifesto that highlights climate change — an issue that was not
understood in 1955 — and hereby have published it in the form of a petition
that we invite anyone in the world to sign. This new version of the manifesto
is open to the participation of all, not restricted to that of an elite group
of Nobel Prize winners.
I also spoke with David Swanson, a friend from my days working on the Dennis
Kucinich campaign for the Democratic nomination back in 2004. David now serves
as director of World Beyond War, a broad effort to create a consensus that war
no longer has any legitimate place in human society. He offered to introduce
the manifesto to a broad group of activists and we agreed that Foreign Policy
in Focus, the Asia Institute and World Beyond War would co-sponsor the new
manifesto.
Finally, I sent the draft to Noam Chomsky who readily offered to sign it and
offered the following comment.
Last January the famous Doomsday Clock was moved two minutes closer to
midnight, the closest it has been since a major war scare 30 years ago. The
accompanying declaration, which warned that the constant threat of nuclear war
and “unchecked climate change” severely threaten human civilization, brings to
mind the grim warning to the people of the world just 60 years ago by Bertrand
Russell and Albert Einstein, calling on them to face a choice that is “stark
and dreadful and inescapable: Shall we put an end to the human race; or shall
mankind renounce war?” In all of human history, there has never been a choice
like the one we face today.
The declaration on the 60th anniversary of the Russell-Einstein Manifesto is
displayed below. We urge all people who are concerned about humanity’s future
and about the health of the Earth’s biosphere to join us in signing the
declaration, and to invite friends and family members to sign. The statement
can be signed at the petition page
<http://mailings.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/1QA/ni0YAA/t.1ok/czvgSD3yT0up3FOE2U_j9Q/h9/1GPgnjBRxSPZBnDQCfruhe58Opi4p0T4guVU6nU6EpLqIpwm6CAvopMmyA6ZHkf1oiybtPvgyeNgVfu6xcjHEDxT8tvHrpdP8kNDQVUWKRM7O7057wY-2FBU-2Bbl9NhvKIoiLfelUDbbdaIfw8aVN1OEy9lRcNqqLVOl3Sx-2F1oNxKZslyAIk2UhGZpmOcagHP1-2BgfFcaWhkkBW7kd04ObyWOiaA4VFqQr4bZ-2FtFc1T8YbbTocBadcn6YN9Ope4MvLMRCq5A-2FShcAaG74LsefafUYwyOtLAraBciU3fCAsRkytBRmCa7QL-2FGxMl2Qqc5vzmcRKN-2FcG5xd1uzRpfQs767KlmKtyMsnQCLco-2FMi-2BnDT0o-3D>
on DIY RootsAction website:
Declaration on the 60th Anniversary of the Russell-Einstein Manifesto
July 9, 2015
In view of the growing risk that in future wars weapons, nuclear and otherwise,
will be employed that threaten the continued existence of humanity, we urge the
governments of the world to realize, and to acknowledge publicly, that their
purpose cannot be furthered by a world war, and we urge them, consequently, to
find peaceful means for the settlement of all matters of dispute between them.
We also propose that all governments of the world begin to convert those
resources previously allocated to preparations for destructive conflict to a
new constructive purpose: the mitigation of climate change and the creation of
a new sustainable civilization on a global scale.
This effort is endorsed by Foreign Policy in Focus, the Asia Institute, and
World Beyond War, and is being launched on July 9, 2015.
You can sign, and ask everyone you know to sign, this declaration here:
http://diy.rootsaction.org/p/man
<http://mailings.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/1QA/ni0YAA/t.1ok/czvgSD3yT0up3FOE2U_j9Q/h10/1GPgnjBRxSPZBnDQCfruhd8KYW2hYDiOELVputD7MY1MgbrWJh5zokVzVL1pfDaD0HN-2F2h-2BH8tOpEAs3TEfOT7R-2BlIJGg7wfGE2Jp5z0nwsCIIfjgoksjEvFBStL65dCD-2B32Vlt8X4znAsvEYqdLC2DWm0EWLxPLVFatDv4b5KAVikjKZNYRw-2Fb8bIvjSMuF0Y4bDoS7-2FWnq0ly3ZQyJg-2BWvYjbuvhZrxOcwio0FuXijkGNq1MtB-2FsqGtPzsEF-2F53ULlZSlbLOTEn8lSoRJlq5fdqGxccCRkGNZq2Bw6InU-3D>
Why is this declaration important?
Exactly 60 years ago today, leading intellectuals led by Bertrand Russell and
Albert Einstein gathered in London to sign a manifesto voicing their concern
that the struggle between the Communist and anti-Communist blocs in the age of
the hydrogen bomb guaranteed annihilation for humanity.
Although we have so far avoided the nuclear war that those intellectuals
dreaded, the danger has merely been postponed. The threat, which has reemerged
recently with the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East, has only grown more
dire.
Moreover, the rapid acceleration of technological development threatens to put
nuclear weapons, and many other weapons of similar destructiveness, into the
hands of a growing circle of nations (and potentially even of “non-state
actors”). At the same time, the early possessors of nuclear weapons have failed
to abide by their obligations under the Non-Proliferation Treaty to destroy
their stockpiles.
And now we are faced with an existential threat that may rival the destructive
consequences even of a full-scale nuclear war: climate change. The rapacious
exploitation of our resources and a thoughtless over-reliance upon fossil fuels
have caused an unprecedented disruption of our climate. Combined with an
unmitigated attack on our forests, our wetlands, our oceans, and our farmland
in the pursuit of short-term gains, this unsustainable economic expansion has
brought us to the edge of an abyss.
The original 1955 manifesto
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states: “We are speaking on this occasion, not as members of this or that
nation, continent, or creed, but as human beings,” members of the human species
“whose continued existence is in doubt.”
The time has come for us to break out of the distorted and misleading
conception of progress and development that has so seduced us and led us
towards destruction.
Intellectuals bear a particular responsibility of leadership by virtue of their
specialized expertise and insight regarding the scientific, cultural, and
historical forces that have led to our predicament. Between a mercenary element
that pursues an agenda of narrow interests without regard to consequences and a
frequently discouraged, misled, and sometimes apathetic citizenry stand the
intellectuals in every field of study and sphere of activity. It falls to us
that it falls to decry the reckless acceleration of armaments and the criminal
destruction of the ecosystem. The time has come for us to raise our voices in a
concerted effort.
Initial Signers
Noam Chomsky, professor emeritus, MIT
Last January the famous Doomsday Clock was moved two minutes closer to
midnight, the closest it has been since a major war scare 30 years ago. The
accompanying declaration, which warned that the constant threat of nuclear war
and “unchecked climate change” severely threaten human civilization, brings to
mind the grim warning to the people of the world just 50 years ago by Bertrand
Russell and Albert Einstein, calling on them to face a choice that is “stark
and dreadful and inescapable: Shall we put an end to the human race; or shall
mankind renounce war?” In all of human history, there has never been a choice
like the one we face today.
Helen Caldicott, author
It was the Russell Einstein manifesto on the threat of nuclear war 60 years ago
that started me upon my journey to try to abolish nuclear weapons. I then read
and devoured the three volumes of Russell’s autobiography which had an amazing
influence upon my thinking as a young girl.
The manifesto was so extraordinarily sensible written by two of the world’s
greatest thinkers, and I am truly amazed that the world at that time took
practically no notice of their prescient warning, and today we are orders of
magnitude in greater danger than we were 60 years ago. The governments of the
world still think in primitive terms of retribution and killing while the
nuclear weapons in Russia and the US are presently maintained on hair trigger
alert, and these two nuclear superpowers are practicing nuclear war drills
during a state of heightened international tension exacerbated by the Ukrainian
situation and the Middle East. It is in truth sheer luck that we are still here
on this lovely planet of ours.
Larry Wilkerson, retired United States Army Colonel and former chief of staff
to Secretary of State Colin Powell.
From central Europe to Southwest Asia, from the South China Sea to the Arctic,
tensions are on the rise as the world’s sole empire is roiled in peripheral
activities largely of its own doing and just as largely destructive of its
power and corruptive of its leadership. This, while humanity’s most pressing
challenge–planetary climate change–threatens catastrophe for all. Stockpiles of
nuclear weapons add danger to this already explosive situation. We humans have
never been so powerfully challenged–and so apparently helpless to do anything
about it.
Benjamin R. Barber, president, Global Parliament of Mayors Project
Naomi Klein, author of This Changes Everything
David Swanson, director, World Beyond War
John Feffer, director, Foreign Policy in Focus
Emanuel Pastreich, director, The Asia Institute
Leah Bolger, chair, coordinating committee, World Beyond War
Ben Griffin, coordinator, Veterans For Peace UK
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Michael Nagler, founder and president, The Metta Center for Nonviolence
<http://mailings.actionnetwork.org/mpss/c/1QA/ni0YAA/t.1ok/czvgSD3yT0up3FOE2U_j9Q/h13/Z23-2B-2BTpFeRrk-2B1j-2F58CXubl74jw3fZyUhuofyB0M6u1zPg4LiLaqajxyY58AUSjlPOT69P61Icw1izZNM3HblqsrHT2wEP2sRAxYhtSgpnh6pZrec2HGPiy4cY7zwFeGxBf7lDYzy2pqJIwcWNxaRCveakcDZp6PILhHaYYWPEuFutHMBZKtiymdkjOrnywgx-2BIt2u7-2FrP2pXgCpP6-2BzJ4Gvv3g5ukgpOm5BevA2OoDN-2BwetSN9MLz-2FfD8SNDaChx4RQRn-2FYdNia3-2BoFBxtscg-3D-3D>
John Horgan, science journalist & author of The End of War
Kevin Zeese, co-director, Popular Resistance.
Margaret Flowers, M.D., co-director of Popular Resistance
Dahr Jamail, staff reporter, Truthout
John Kiriakou, associate fellow, Institute for Policy Studies and CIA Torture
Whistleblower
Kim Hyung yul, president of the Asia Institute and professor of history, Sook
Myung University
Choi Murim, professor of medicine, Seoul National University
Coleen Rowley, retired FBI agent and former Minneapolis Division legal counsel
Ann Wright, retired U.S. Army Colonel and former US diplomat
Mike Madden, vice president, Veterans For Peace, Chapter 27 (veteran of the US
Air Force)
Chante Wolf, 12 year Air Force, Desert Shield/Storm veteran, member of Chapter
27, Veterans For Peace
William Binney, former NSA technical director, World Geopolitical & Military
Analysis and co-founder of the SIGINT Automation Research Center.
Jean Bricmont, professor, Université Catholique de Louvain
Emanuel Pastreich is the director of the Asia Institute in Seoul, South Korea.
Sign the Declaration of Peace.
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