“Oh Daniel, oh Daniel, it’s not alright,” the world is not “alright”

Every time I say goodbye to Daniel, our 2 year old grandson, he says to me, “Alright now Grandpa. See you next time.”

And, I return to my office and think, ‘Oh Daniel, oh Daniel, it’s not “alright” the world is not “alright” it is not well-arranged. For example 122 nations want to eliminate all nuclear weapons, but the UN’s Permanent 5 – and its residue insist on keeping theirs. Daniel has no idea of the threats, the evil threats being prepared for him and the children of this world.  The “zero sum game” of ignorance, arrogance and greed must be stopped.    

He does not know that the danger of nuclear war is real and growing – that we are marching to the brink of a catastrophe that threatens all of humanity. To be clear, I find no better purpose for the remaining years of my life than to work for the total elimination of nuclear weapons (and other weapons of mass murder and destruction).  That is why this “Clown Show” (Democratic Party Presidential Debates are important).  Do these candidates see nuclear weapons as a threat or benefit to a country’s security? What are their plans for them?  Do they know their effects, the global consequences? – That sort of thing.

In the first two Democratic Presidential Debates, less than 15 minutes was spent on Climate Change and not one minute was spent on the danger of Nuclear Weapons (or Foreign Policy for that matter) and the possibility of Nuclear War.   After all, nuclear weapons are the ultimate climate change (nuclear winter).

 The Nuclear arms race is real.  Russia and China are aware of the Pentagon’s nuclear “modernization” program which the Livermore Laboratory terms a “Life Extension Program” and which we Democratic World Federalists call a “Life Extinction Program” – to the tune of 2 Trillion dollars overs the next 30 years. There are chicken hawks in Congress, now, who support a nuclear “first strike” option.

We want Presidential Candidates to address the two most important issues facing Humanity today: Climate Change and Nuclear War.  Pope Francis says “the very possession of nuclear weapons is immoral.”  And, so they are too dangerous to keep around – and must be eliminated everywhere.  

The Five Policy Solutions we share with other organizations and for which we want Presidential Candidates commitment are as follows: (1) Renounce the option of using nuclear weapons first (2) End the sole, unchecked authority of any president to launch a nuclear attack (3)Take U.S. nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert (4) Cancel the 2 Trillion dollar (30 year) plan to replace the entire arsenal with enhanced weapons, and (5) Actively pursue a verifiable agreement among nuclear-armed states to eliminate their nuclear arsenals. 

The only lasting solution, one which the world community can rely on, is for the UN to fix or replace its Charter so that the UN becomes a Federation of Nations – we become a global family, a world federal government such as seen with the Constitution for the Federation of Earth.

We are hopeful that you and your colleagues will join us in recognizing the 2020 – 75th Anniversary of the founding of the UN and demanding UN Charter Review.