September
1994
Letter
from the Editor
By Martin Rowe
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I remember vividly, fewer than ten years ago, watching
a dramatization of the effect of a nuclear explosion on a northern
English town. I was
deeply disturbed by the docudrama because it seemed to confirm a sense
of apocalypse waiting to happen at any moment. The film asked a simple
question: what would happen if a large megaton bomb fell in a heavily
populated area? The answer was devastation, catastrophic suffering,
the breakdown of all units of civilization — including language
— and finally a nuclear winter.
Despite the arms treaties, and the collapse of the Soviet Union, there
still remains a literal overkill of nuclear weapons in this world.
The
nuclear threat is still there; although perhaps more from power stations
than SS-20s. And there are still missiles around. They are pointing
now in ‘neutral’ directions; but they are still pointing.
What has changed is the psychological terror that was with all of us
even in the late 1980s. It was a sense of meta-political nihilism,
brinkmanship,
all of the psychic disequilibrium that was part of the Cold War mentality.
Then something happened; somebody, some group, some people, some world
woke up to the absurdity. Almost overnight, it seemed, the fear we
all
ingested with our meals vanished.
To those of us who are currently trying to hold our heads above the
poisonous waters of systemic cruelty, massive pollution, and deep,
toxic
sickness, the end of the nuclear arms race’s psychic hold over
us is a sign of hope. We also hope that the world will wake up one day
and realize that the suffering, the waste, the torture, and the denial
should vanish as quickly as did the fear of mutually assured destruction.
The poisoning of the earth, the destruction of the land, the polluting
of the water, the desecration of the animals — all these will
seem the hideous remnants of a psychological imbalance that brought
us to the edge of destruction.
In spite of the winter of our discontent, we need to be aware of these
signs of hope. People are literally reviving themselves through their
diet, taking back the places where they live from environmental degradation,
refusing to accept an animal’s death for their food. Dave Morris
and Helen Steel’s brave fight against the corporate might of McDonald’s
is an example of that refusal to lie down in the face of enormous vested
interests. A similar courage is displayed by Howard Lyman, whose inspiring
story of how he went from being a fourth-generation cattle farmer and
feedlot operator to a vegan environmental activist, is an example of
how the wake-up call is no abstract set of theories propounded by out-of-touch
urbanites, but instead is an explosion of compassionate common sense
detonating in the heart of America and the world. Howard Lyman —
and millions like him — know that life will only have meaning
if the planet we live on can live. It is up to all of us to release
the grip of apocalypse, open our hearts and minds, and take up the
challenge.
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