World peace

Press, 15 June 1983, Page 12

World peace

Sir, — The Secretary of Foreign Affairs, Mr Mervyn Norrish, describes a nuclear-free zone for the South Pacific as “a happy-go-lucky dream.” A world order permanently based on fear and force is the unhappy nightmare he would presumably offer as an alternative. Peace is not something that just happens, it has to be worked for as ordinary people are making plain throughout the world. That 43,000 people signed the Peacemaker Petition would indicate that in Mr Norrish’s view there are a great many dreamers around. The “dreamers” themselves would call it a bid for sanity. — Yours, etc., JILL WILCOX. June 13, 1983. Sir, — Walking through the fog this morning, with the sun a faint, watery glimmer through the murk, it occurred to me that many people, including our leaders, see the world, its problems and “solutions” through such a haze. Their sun, reality, must be so thickly obscured by generations of conditioning by family, friends, teachers, generals and politicians, that rarely, if ever, will they catch even a glimpse of its brilliance. Our history of wars to end all wars, culminated by our ultimate “deterrent,” the bomb, is one example of our endless blind folly. Watching “Gulliver in Lilliput” on TV2, adds emphasis to the abject failure of traditional approaches to today’s horrendous problems. The subject matter of Swift’s biting political satire is as relevant today as it was 260 years ago. Sheer acrobatic ability with words and people has always been a greater political asset than measurable intelligence. — Yours, etc., BILL FILSHIE. , June 13, 19403. A