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To:
letters@guardian.co.uk Date: Wednesday 13 April 05 |
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Dear Sir/Madam,
In today's Guardian,
Richard Norton-Taylor you
writes, "The lesson
non-nuclear states seem to be
learning is that nuclear
weapons earn you respect and
deter foreign countries from
attacking you" (A
most dangerous message).
Is he suggesting
that this is not true? Because
it obviously is.
Is it not remarkable,
the way in which nation states
tend to mirror the behaviour
of individual human beings?
Knife and gun
culture, I think you'll find,
are also largely about
"deterring attack"
and "earning
respect".
Nuclear weapons,
guns, knives and - most
important of all - MONEY
are all means of exerting
power, which human beings have
invented, but not yet learned
to use responsibly, because
we are still dominated by
our "more animal than
human " nature - not
just as individuals, but also
socially and economically.
In view of what
Charles Darwin taught us about
our animal origins, this
should not surprise us; but
just like Christian
fundamentalists, we refuse to
face up to it.
As with individuals, I trust some countries (their governments) with the use of power (e.g. nuclear weapons) more than I do others. I trust America (which, despite all its shortcomings, is still rooted in Western democracy) more than I do China, for example (which is not), and (for the same reason) I trust Israel more than I do Iran. If they had any sense, "progressive" journalists would not go on about Israel's nuclear weapons, because Israel can (hopefully) be trusted never to use, or even threaten to use them, except as a last resort in avoiding military defeat and the annihilation that would almost certainly follow. Going on about them just inflames the situation. Creating an alternative, sustainable global economy and lifestyles for 7 - 9 billion people on our finite and vulnerable planet, Spaceship Earth, and avoiding nuclear proliferation (weapons and power stations) are the most important challenges facing mankind, which at the moment we are not even beginning to face up to. But first we must face up to our animal nature and the ways in which it still dominates society (including politics and economics). Roger Hicks
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