Swanwick Star Issue No. 12 (2019)
Our Second ‘You Are the World’ Conference
Before coming to this Second ‘You Are the World’ Conference at KECC, I’ve been asking myself what I have done to embody some of the things we talked about last time in my life over the past year & this is what I came up with:
*Continuing to live peacefully without confrontations
*Working at creating green spaces for wildlife & plant life
*Using less plastic & paper; using only the resources one needs; cutting back on excess in business, as well
*Promoting peaceful means of communication on social media
*Promoting a ban on nuclear & depleted uranium weapons; teaching others about their negative biological effects on social media and in co-authored books
*Advocating remediation of radioactive contamination on social media
*Respecting Nature & trying to help preserve other species (one can do this just by having a single birdfeeder in one’s garden – it’s perceived as a ‘safe space’ & it’s amazing the baby birds and squirrels I’ve found myself babysitting!)
When I asked a friend who participated in the conference last year the same question, he said:
*Living a peaceful life without conflicts
*Leading a simple life
*Not using more than he needs;
*Not having more things than he requires to exist
*Caring for others & Nature
Even before we can start talking about cooperating and begin to curb the current climate-change crisis, it is clear to me as a scientist that there are certain basic issues we must address like using war as a means of ‘trying’ to solve our problems. With the advent of biological, chemical, nuclear, thermonuclear, depleted uranium, and, possibly, meteorological weapons, war must cease altogether in order for there to be a serious dialogue, cooperation among nations, and any meaningful change in the world.
So, I’ve crafted The World Peace Treaty & would like to put it forward for everyone’s input as part of this dialogue
- No country should invade any other & all nations should agree to peaceful coexistence
- If one country invades another, it should be boycotted by all other nations & subjected to rigorous economic sanctions
- One country should not be able to start a war against another, but if it does, it should be ostracized by all other nations & all diplomatic relations should be severed
- State-sponsored acts of terrorism, sabotage, or civil war should be punished in the same way
- No country should be able to use nuclear, thermonuclear, depleted uranium or any other type of bombs against another country, but if it does, then it should pay full reparations
- Chemical, biological, and meteorological weapons should be illegal
- Nuclear testing should be banned since it contributes to climate-change
*Note: As a result of the First You are the World conference in 2018, many serious environmental issues that are confronting the planet were discussed. This year, the Canadian climate-change authority, Dr. Peter Carter, was the invited speaker and he touched on various topics during the retreat. Historically, we are currently in the Sixth Mass Extinction in which many species are being wiped out and certain experts predict that humans will be extinct by the end of the century. The last Fifth Mass Extinction famously wiped out the dinosaurs. We also learned about an interesting new movement of teenage climate activists like Greta Thunberg, who are shaking up the world of complacent politicians. As a young man, Peter was involved in the nuclear disarmament movement, which is still a relevant topic, today.
CS (September 2019)
Musical Interlude organized by Chanda (November Retreat)
