America, the Guilty Party

ALBERT EINSTEIN, in one of the final acts of his illustrious life, issued a joint statement with renowned writer-philosopher Bertrand Russell. The statement called upon the citizens of the world to set aside their differences and strong feelings they have about many issues, and to begin to regard themselves simply as members of a biological species which has a remarkable history, and whose disappearance "none of us can desire". The choice facing the world, they said, "is stark and dreadful and inescapable"; shall we put an end to the human race, or shall mankind renounce war? Nearly sixty years later, the world has not renounced war. Quite the contrary, in fact. The world embraces war like never before. The primary villain in all this is, beyond question, the United States of America. The U.S.A. accords itself the right to make war at will, always on the pretext of self defense and national security. Meanwhile, with much self righteous posturing, the U.S. expects other nations to abide by international agreements, treaties, law, and rules of world order, which it consdiers itself above. What the most important and urgent issues of the day are is a matter of opinion, but the threat of nuclear war and environmental destruction must surely be on everyone's list. The greatest threat to bring about these catastrophies is the United States, which threatens other nations with violence unless they renounce atomic weapons, while maintaining the world's largest collection itself. Every international agreement on environmental protection has been signed by nearly all the world's nations - except the United States. Among the most fundamental principles of logic and morality is the concept of "universality"; that which applies to one, applies to all. Mention this to most Americans, they will either dismiss it or ignore it. But by far what makes the United States so dangerous to the rest of the world is the fact that its government ingores the opinions of its citizens. Americans generally want nuclear disarmament for all, including themselves, and they want to participate in international environmental agreements. The American people want to spend more money on social programs, and less on the military and foreign wars of aggression. But they have no power to make their wishes come true in a country in which all political power is in the hands not of the people at large, but of a few powerful elite who care nothing for popular opiniohe greatest obstacle to human progress on the planet.