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To:
p.toynbee@guardian.co.uk |
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Dear Polly,
I liked your article
in Friday's Guardian on Pope
John Paul II. I couldn't
agree with you more ("False
paeans to the Pope",
18 October 2003).
Why do so many
"seemingly" rational
people - Catholics and
non-Catholics alike - show him
so much reverence? It is, I
guess, just another
instance of what I call the
"insanities of
normality", which are so
difficult to recognise,
because they are so familiar
and woven into the fabric of
our lives.
We need people like
you to point them out.
Unfortunately, there
are so many others - the
most important of which
relate to achieving sustainability before
our planet (Spaceship Earth)
ceases to take the ever
increasing strain we are
placing on it - the
urgency of which neither you
nor many other writers seem
fully to appreciate.
If we fail to achieve
sustainability within
the next few decades, coming
generations (those who
survive) will never forgive
us.
This means nothing
less than REVOLUTION - for our
economy and lifestyles, and
for the deep-rooted values,
attitudes and aspirations on
which they are based (so far,
for all their efforts, all Social Democrats have done
is tinker with the
superstructure).
History - hopefully -
has taught us how NOT to go
about it.
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