Nuclear Nerves — and International Crises
Even the problems of diplomacy resulting from the stockpiling of H-bombs by the big powers are staggering. For instance, the United States has admitted, thus far, to 14 nuclear weapons accidents! And, in spite of all the reassurances from nuclear physicists concerning the engineering safety of nuclear weapons, no one can guarantee an explosion cannot occur accidentally!
As officials have pointed out, so long as it is necessary for America to maintain a nuclear bomber and missile force there will be accidents!
One of the most bizarre in all of the history of mankind was the recent accident involving a mid-air collision of American aircraft off Spain.
A worldwide furor was touched off as a result of this one case of happenstance. Every last vestige of American technology was employed to recover the nuclear device hanging precariously on a deep undersea canyon off Palomares, Spain. Only the most sophisticated of U.S. undersea exploration devices was able to accomplish the feat!
When you realize the "staying" power of the radioactivity of plutonium is almost indescribable — the terrible diplomatic problems come more clearly into focus. For example, the time it takes plutonium to lose half its radioactivity, or its "half-life," is calculated to be 24 thousand years! Theoretically, the traces of the accident in Spain remain, therefore, perpetual!
Can anyone safely guarantee there will not be a Russian, French, British, or even a Chinese nuclear weapons accident this year or the next?
The incredible headaches of governments over nuclear weapons are simply indescribable!
Space technology is yet another fantastic brain-stopper for the leaders of states. Now the biggest single industry in the United States, employing more people than any other part of the economy, the race to the stars has become one of the biggest political headaches of all time.
Charges and countercharges of spy satellites, the specter of the approaching moment in world history when Russian cosmonauts will be sitting at the controls of orbiting satellites armed with nuclear weapons; the future possibility of the interruption of ground communications by satellite-borne jamming equipment; these are only a few of the space-age headaches graying the hairs and furrowing the brows of leaders of states today.
The whole panorama of this modern space-age technology defies description. The French timetable, calling for nuclear missiles to be operational between 1968 and 1970 — the rumors that Egypt is building a missile through Soviet aid — the fact that India and Pakistan could soon enter the "missile club," the approaching launch of an orbital satellite from Australia, and the first combined European space effort, only adds a few more dazzling problems to the headaches.
And so it is that government today is the biggest collection of imagination-defying, description-denying, unbelievable and incredible headaches the world has ever known.
The Dangerous Domestic Dilemmas
Time was when the domestic crises of many a small nation not only escaped the attention of the average citizen in other countries, but couldn't have captured his interest if he heard of it.
Today, however, the entire picture has changed. Now the domestic crises of small, forgotten, seemingly unimportant areas of the world are fraught with terrible dangers for the big powers!
A coup here, an election there, a riot in some far-off street, a flag or an effigy burning in front of an embassy, these seemingly unimportant domestic crises suddenly appear as the match that could spark nuclear-bomb war!
Take a look at the weird, crazy-quilt pattern of domestic crises around the world.
The continuing eruptions along the border of Israel and Syria, or Israel and Jordan mean constant nightmares for the big powers. Always apprehensive about the deep hatreds of some of the nations of the Middle East, the United States, Britain, France, Russia and other nations continue to sell arms to these nations in small dribbles, hoping that some sort of precarious balance can be achieved — ever watchful that tiny, spiteful border incidents could erupt into an all-out war in the Middle East.
Like a running sore, the deep hatreds between the Pakistanis and the Indians continue to worry the minds of elder statesmen the world over. The continuing threat (though little mentioned in recent news) of Nationalist China versus Red China gives cause for concern. The constant, nagging worry of German reunification has overtones that reach into every vestige of world power politics on a global scale. Ian Smith's white government of Rhodesia, versus the economic sanctions of Great Britain, added to the possible South African reaction mean trouble in that part of the world! The steeping, simmering resentment of the Spanish toward Britain over Gibraltar remains a running sore on the face of the earth — and is a constant source of threats and recriminations in Spanish publications.
The tribal hostilities, religious resentments, superstitions and taboos of many of the African nations mean the imminent possibility of war almost anywhere on the African continent. The continuing war on the southern tip of Saudi-Arabia, with Feisal of Saudi-Arabia backing Aden while Nasser continues to support Yemen, means the possibility of yet another war in that part of the world.
Vietnam continues to dominate the headlines as a smoldering, heartbreaking, hopeless war which is not even called a war continues in that part of the world.
But even all THESE problems are supranational and foreign in nature.
The purely internal and domestic crises of dozens of nations are almost beyond belief.
The poverty, squalor, filth, degeneracy and illiteracy of much of the world can be understood only if you, as an individual, travel to such areas and see (and smell) conditions for yourself.
And even in the affluent nations the disease of "too much" has, taken deep root.
Look at the crazed mania of the British to entertain themselves in the face of impending economic and political disaster.
Witness the insane urge of the younger generation to reach out and grasp the tattered shreds of a life which seems destined to disappear before it has begun.
The evidence is everywhere; in the mounting juvenile crime, wild sexual abandon, growing venereal disease, and toying with hallucinogens and brain-damaging drugs.
The boiling, bestial race hatreds running like a riptide of violence through the large cities of the United States are destined, according to nearly every observer, to erupt into full-scale racial war in the very near future.
Mounting crime, rising divorce, the bankruptcy of small businesses, the eroding of national morals and principles, the decay of religion, these are all part of the giant headaches inherited by any leader of a large and prosperous state. And, though you might not "like" to believe things are all this "bad," though you might like to HIDE your eyes from the stark TRUTH of these dizzying days of impending disaster, all these problems really DO confront governments of this world today, and not one single one of them seems to have any immediate solution!
It is a ridiculous over-simplification of these monumental problems to simply quote "gross national product," employment figures, shorter working hours, more leisure, minimum wages, and better "living conditions" for only a tiny FEW in this poverty-ridden world.
Anyone who feels these statements are "sensational" is so utterly out of touch with the brutal reality of world conditions as to appear locked in a mental straitjacket, living in a world of rosy, self-created hallucinations.
Each "New" Government — Attempts Success Where Others Have Failed
The most immediate problems of ANY government are the three basics of life: food, shelter and clothing for the populace of the nation.
ALL governments have, while differing greatly in their methods of achieving these things, the same basic goals. They seek to govern their peoples in the particular fashion which that government has deemed most appropriate to give those peoples these basic essentials of life.
Government signifies by its very term, LAW and ORDER!
Yet, many governments are lawless and chaotic!
Governments today represent every extreme from totalitarianism to the "democratic" or republican form of rule by the majority.
Time and again — and in many cases in very recent history — nations have wildly supported a new-found champion who promised relief from their misery, higher wages, a burgeoning economy, settlement of all strife and domestic issues, and a place of greater stature in the world — only to find their new-found "Savior" was just a leap from the frying pan into the fire.
Witness Cuba with its former government of corruption and police rule; the very epitome of the totalitarian state. After his successful revolution, Fidel Castro began his tireless and endless series of executions, vast reforms, and eloquent promises.
With brother Raul and CM Guevara immediately established in dizzying pinnacles of power, the inevitable occurred. The economy began to stagnate, people were living in terrible fear, and all the usual trademarks of the power-drunk dictatorship began to appear: heavy taxation; nationalization of industries, transport and communications; agrarian "reforms;" compulsory military conscription; state control of all education; with increasing hardships and less food for all!
And the same pattern is being repeated in many a nation around the world, from Africa to Indonesia and Vietnam; from Uruguay and Guatemala to the Sudan.
The plain truth is, NO GOVERNMENT, no, not in the history of the world, has ever brought its people lasting peace, prosperity, and happiness!
True, certain governments have succeeded in achieving dizzying military conquests and glamorous economic heights. But each, in its own turn, tottered and toppled, leaving only the splintered shards, ruined buildings and dust-covered monuments to mark its passing.
Believe it or not, the problems of government ARE easily understood.
And it's exactly as simple as "two plus two equals four."
From the time the first men began to organize themselves, seeking to govern or rule their fellow men for the fulfillment of their hopes and dreams (whether those hopes and dreams were personal or national) each attempt at government has failed!
Look how simple it really is — and understand. From the time Cain killed Abel, men have sought peace on earth. Today, in this modern world of the yawning gap of orbital satellites and illiteracy, this world stands in momentary jeopardy of that "ultimate insanity:" nuclear-bomb war, which would annihilate every last man, woman and child on earth!
It's the age of the H-hangover, space-sickness, technological terror, and nuclear nerves.
This war-weary world seems, at this moment, further from world peace, harmony and understanding between nations than it has ever been.
And so, just as simply as two plus two equals four, it is true that the ATTEMPTS of mankind to achieve PEACE, and to do it his own way, apart from HIS GOD, have resulted in this modern culture of chaos.
Where will it all end? How will it all resolve itself? What lies ahead in the FUTURE? These are the really BIG questions today — and apart from the revelation of Almighty GOD, the most unanswerable!
But there is an answer — and it really makes sense!
Next month, you'll see the tragic and pathetically humorous problems facing the United Nations; the impossible problem facing many new nations; and the FINAL SOLUTION to the problems of Government!