Page 10 RAIN Jan./Feb. 1984 ELNA. —Steve Salmi Perspectives: A Teaching Guide to Concepts ofPeace, by the Educators for Social Responsibility, 1983,402 pp., $12.95 from: Educators for Social Responsibility 23 Garden Street Cambridge, MA 02138 How do we grow beyond the simplistic rhetoric of war versus peace when we barely understand one or the other, and feel powerless in any case? How do we balance the complex inequities that promote borders and conflicts? Setting aside for the moment the global ultimatums, how do we disassemble personal barriers, personal paranoias and personal hostilities that compound into larger tensions? And if we accomplish any of this, despite our own cynicism, how do we communicate it to children, who have the most to gain or lose from our success or failure? Perspectives admits to being no finished product or facile answer to the questions noted above. What it is is an outline, a set of exercises and a carefully thought-out approach to these questions. Children and teachers are encouraged to take "peace" apart, analyze its components and define it in active terms, not just as the absence of war, but as a tough and vital attitude towards life. They are urged to look at peacemakers critically—were Henry Kissinger or Martin Luther King peacemakers, each of them with their Nobel Peace Prize? What defines a peacemaker? Are we all capable of peacemaking? How can we cultivate a peacemaking stance in ourselves? They come up with conclusions that will not be new to readers of RAIN (think globally, act locally, for example), but the detailed study enroute to these conclusions, the simple daily assessment of ideas, actions, and their consequences, will certainly increase the awareness; involvement, and, perhaps most important, the faith of anyone who participates in the activities described in this book. —Carlotta Collette "Whole Earth Security: A Geopolitics of Peace," by Daniel Deudney, World- watch Paper #55, July 1983, $2.00 from: Worldwatch Institute 1776 Massachusetts Avenue, N.W. Washington, DC 20036 After visiting the Soviet Union, Joel Schatz (see "Bridging Hemispheres" elsewhere in this issue) commented that the only fear he ever felt while there was in knowing that he was the target of an American nuclear arsenal capable of destroying that country several times over. Most of us realize that is the feeling shared by people in every single country. We're all hostage to any nation's nuclear stash. The result is that security is no longer divisible by national boundaries; common security is desperately needed. Fortunately, as Daniel Deudney shows in this Worldwatch Paper, the basis for a planetary security system is already available: communication and monitoring satellites and terrestrial sensing networks. Relying on tremendously thorough, computer- enhanced electronics to bear governments' need for eyeing their neighbors renders nuclear weapons less important. To do this, though, space must be left for planetary information technologies. If these technologies are protected—i.e., if weapons are banned from space—a lid will also be placed on the arms race. You probably won't find a more practical visionary description of how we can return security to Earth's crew. —KN What Will It Take to Prevent Nuclear War?, compiled and edited by Pat Farren, 1983, 239 pp., $6.95 from: Schenkman Publishing Company 331 Broadway Cambridge, MA 02138 Here is a fascinating collection of over 200 responses, from people of all walks of life, to the question of how to prevent nuclear war. Editor Pat Farren distributed nearly 25,000 fliers throughout the country and published notices in 50 national and regional publications, seeking answers to the question. In this book he shares the best of the nearly 1,000 responses. They are the voices of children, professionals, teachers, farmers, seniors, artists, monks, fugitives, housewives. ... They are the thoughts that inspire, frighten, activate, discourage, empower, rattle, and pacify. We do not recognize the names of most of the authors, although there are some responses from prominent politicians, writers, and activists. Few of the thoughts are profound or offer real solutions, but they are an expression of honest concern that is heartening and moving. This collection, divided into sections such as Fear, Hope, Education, Suggestions, Transformation, and Nonviolence, does not provide a representative view across the political spectrum. The proposals range from a nuclear weapons freeze to unilateral disarmament. There are calls for civil disobedience and anarchy. But few of the voices are from the middle of the road or the right wing. Those on the other wing will certainly find Ferren's book to be good reading and the source of some positive answers. Here is one such answer submitted by a woman from Newmarket, Ontario: It will take sanity and cooperation on a scale never before demonstrated in human history. It will take leaders with the courage to call a halt to the production and deployment of nuclear weapons. It will take public pressure, and the obliteration of mass apathy and resignation to fate. It will take thousands ofpeople with the courage to leave their jobs-and thousands of others to help them find useful employment. It will take a massive swallowing ofpride by every over-developed nation. It will take an attempt by hostile countries to trust and respect each other. It will take immediate action. It may be too late.—TJ
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