"The secret to sanity is to exaggerate the good of the world." Jules Henry, Pathways to Madness

Dear FOR Friends,

The Spring Assembly on Saturday, April 17 was very encouraging for Ruth and me - big turn out, wonderful caring and knowledgeable resource people, people from around the state bubbling with creative action ideas. I was impressed with the determination of people who keep the faith even when confronted with the bloodbath in Fallujah, Bush overthrowing democracy in Haiti or the extreme racism of the "war on drugs."

As the novelist Eduardo Galeano observes, "Joy takes more courage than grief. In the end we are accustomed to grief." I find working with you all makes it easier to find joy.

Iraq:
Ruth and I spent a refreshing week in eastern Oregon, watching sandhill cranes, camping in a beautiful canyon and spending a few days with dear old friends along the grand Deschutes River Gorge.

We came back to news of Fallujah and then Bush's support for Israel's permanent seizure of West Bank territory. We were heartened by a well-attended SNOW meeting on peace movement strategy to push for an about-face in bloody US policy toward Iraq. We find more and more people are becoming disillusioned with the policy and we need to reach out and talk to them, provide them with information and give them a vehicle to express their dissent.

The Spring Assembly session on Iraq was very powerful. A young couple just back from Iraq told of visiting a community in which 83 of the 85 men had been seized by the US military and held incommunicado. Dana Visalli from Twisp reported that the experience made it impossible for him to pay war taxes. Instead he contributed $1,000 to the local community center and explained his position in the local newspaper. Vicky Monk reported that her son called from Germany to say that he was being assigned to Iraq. He said he knew the war was wrong and asked her to work for peace. She appealed to us to impress on our representatives that they need to take back war powers from the president. Bert Sacks and I and the group suggested other possibilities. Here are a few that individuals and chapters could take on:

Our special appeal to raise a Challenge Fund was a smashing success. Our goal was $5,000 to challenge new and returning donors to help close our projected deficit for this year. The Challenge Fund has reached over $6,200! Unfortunately the results of our last general fund appeal with a special request to new and returning donors received responses from only 15 people. We hope more new and returning donors will respond to the May fund appeal so we can receive that portion of the Challenge Fund which was pledged on a contingent basis. Thank you for your help!

A reminder: if you know a high school sophomore or junior who would enjoy learning organizing skills, 20 hours a week in July for $8/hour, please send her/him our way.

I was heartened to find that FOR people sing their hearts out. The Spring Assembly started with a loud and joyful rendition of "Ain't Gonna Study War No More" and ended with "We're Gonna Keep on Moving Forward." From my experience with the civil rights movement in Mississippi in 1964, I know how important group singing is in hard times.

I resonate strongly with E.B. White's words, "I arise in the morning torn between a desire to improve (or save) the world and a desire to enjoy (or savor) the world. That makes it hard to plan the day." I am hoping that we can all find a balance of opportunities to save and savor this world.

Final note: Ruth and I are not planning to move from Seattle after we retire at the end of the year. We will want to give the new organizer space but can't bare the thought of living without you in our lives. We will keep on working to improve the world while enjoying it -- possibly in a bit different proportions. Mike

The Area Committee and WWFOR chapters are taking an organizational inventory on combating racism. Some of the questions we are asking ourselves include:

● Have we, as individuals and as a group, participated in confronting-racism workshops?

● Are we actively seeking ways to support the struggles of people of color for justice?

● Do we seek out businesses that demonstrate a commitment to issues of diversity?

The Seattle Chapter has taken some first steps by restarting our Racial Justice Committee (see the report in the March-April 2004 Pacific Call).

Most recently we were deeply moved by a powerful film called "Snitch" exposing serious abuses of the justice system in the government's war on drugs. We have updated our library with excellent books on racial justice that are available to all WWFOR groups. We are working on selecting a project to work on with other racial justice groups. We would welcome your ideas and would be glad to share ours.

Keynote speakers for this 46^th annual event are Karen Ridd (distinguished nonviolent action trainer from Winnipeg) and Richard Deats (FOR staffer for over 30 years, active nonviolence instructor worldwide). Choose from among 14 varied workshops. If you haven't already received a brochure and signup form, please contact WWFOR (206) 789-5565.

'It said our Islamic center will become the center of death and destruction,' she added. 'The email said they wanted us to contact terrorist friends in Iraq and tell them to release the hostages. We don't have any connections to anyone in Iraq,' said Omar Hernandez.

"Shelly and Omar Hernandez want to reiterate that their religious beliefs have nothing to do with what is happening in Iraq. They want other Americans to realize they are just as American as anyone else and also want the war in Iraq to come to an end."

Even without consideration of possible escalation of hatred and violence, the current atmosphere is hostile to many of us and our friends and neighbors. We each can make a difference. When we encounter stereotypes and hurtful words, we can reply with comments like "I'm sorry, I don't think jokes that belittle people are funny," or "You know, none of us like being labeled or categorized. Let's recognize people as the distinct and unique individuals they really are."

The recent National Lawyers Guild report into human right abuses since the Bush coup in Haiti revealed "Hundreds of corpses being dumped by morgues in Haiti and...bodies coming in with plastic bags over their heads and hands tied behind their backs, piles of corpses burning in fields and pigs eating their flesh." Supporters of Aristide are assassinated, have fled the country or are in hiding. The new regime of Gerard Latortue is welcoming IMF structural adjustment, privatization and foreign investment. These are the siamese twins of corporate globalization and military domination in the name of democracy of all things.

What is to be done? At the March 20th Peace Rally we collected 942 signatures on a petition calling for restoration of democracy in Haiti. On April 2 a delegation of 10 African American clergy, the Church Council of Greater Seattle president, the head of the King County Labor Council, a King Co. Council member and a number of FOR members participated in a delegation that visited aides to Senators Murray and Cantwell. We asked the senators to visit Haiti, to introduce a strong resolution calling for a restoration of democracy and an investigation into the Bush Administration's role in the coup. At the end of the hour session a black minister prayed for the senators to have courage to speak out for democracy in Haiti.

April 28 is the follow-up meeting with the senators' aides to hear what they are prepared to do and to give our response. Please call or write our senators encouraging them to speak out for the Haitian people who have suffered well over 30 invasions by the US Marines in their 200 years of liberation from French slavery.

Economics: Mary Margaret Pruitt organized and led a highly praised workshop about the global economy. Four speakers presented a variety of solutions. Dick Meyer described how he and others got the City of Olympia to adopt a policy of buying non-sweatshop clothing for City workers. Some Seattle folks became inspired and want to do this in Seattle too. Allan Paulson urged more pressure on politicians to deal with global economic issues (e.g., opposing CAFTA). Eric Smith urged people to screen potential investments according to socially responsible criteria, and also to raise issues through resolutions at stockholder meetings in order to pressure companies to act more responsibly. Michael Tivana highlighted some of his new book's suggestions for caring for the environment. He urged us to use our pocketbooks as "weapons of mass construction."

Oil, resources, empire and war: Bernie Meyer presented the analysis of the emerging oil crisis, which will stun the world when global oil consumption starts to significantly outpace production. Drastic consequences will begin soon, and more by 2009. Joanne Dufour presented clear insights into the rapidly growing US military presence around the world to serve the US empire and control of resources. Shesrao Chavan, a professor and Gandhi expert from India, shared Gandhian perspectives.

Already the US is conducting wars and expanding its military empire for oil and related resources (in Iraq, Afghanistan and the other -stan countries, Colombia, Venezuela, etc.) World oil production is peaking now or within the next few years, but consumption worldwide continues to increase 3% every year. The US is positioning our military now to control the world's dwindling oil supplies. The world's people - including peace & justice activists - should prepare now to cope with the catastrophic consequences for the world, including a dizzying mixture of severe economic and lifestyle shocks that will change "The American Way of Life" forever - not to mention worldwide turmoil.

The morning workshop's participants were alive with information and ideas - so much that seven participants met again for two hours in the afternoon to explore possible next steps. Some folks want the WWFOR to address these issues more thoroughly at the November 2004 Fall Retreat and the July 2005 Seabeck Conference.

We elected Tacoma's Sharon Moore to an at-large position on the WWFOR's Area Committee, our governing board.

Once again the WWFOR's annual Spring Assembly proved itself to be a significant opportunity for information-sharing, networking, and grassroots organizing throughout the whole Western Washington region. If you missed this year's Assembly, be sure to attend next year!

Yes, it was beautiful weather on March 20. But what propelled over 12,000 people into Seattle streets was the ever-increasing number of fatalities of military forces and civilians in Iraq, the oppression of our occupation on the Iraqi people, and the cuts to human and environmental needs at home.

A diverse array of more than 36 organizations supported the event. It began with an interfaith service featuring a moving reading of names from some of the over 10,000 thousand Iraqi civilians and over 700 US military who have already died in this war. During the march the other pole of my banner depicting these deaths with thousands of dots was eagerly carried by a young Latino construction worker who had never participated in a peace march before. Ed Asner from the Central American solidarity movement was among the inspirational speakers at the rally. Similar marches were held around the world. If world leaders, including our presidential candidates, are wise, they will note that the world superpower peace movement is alive and moving.

I visited Iraq in 2003 with Voices in the Wilderness, just prior to the invasion of that country by our own. I returned to Iraq in February of this year with a Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) delegation. On this latter trip we were met with the same gracious warmth from the Iraqi people as we had been previously, in spite of the intervening war.

Firsthand contact with these attractive, long-suffering people has caused me to think more deeply about the approximately 6 million people that we have killed around the world in the past 40 years, recognizing now that if we had known these people we would have loved them. I've begun to wonder about the obedience of Americans, the tradeoff that most of us make, our taxes buying our comfort at the cost of the lives of others. I've begun to wonder if the next step towards adulthood, towards a real maturity, might not be to face one of the great final fears, the fear one has of one's own government.

When WWFOR's Organizers Mike and Ruth Yarrow retire at the end of 2004, we want a new full-time Organizer to be on the job ready to carry on. We are actively seeking a highly skilled full-time Organizer who can begin Dec 1.

The new staff person will organize, coordinate and serve FOR members and chapters throughout Western Washington to promote effective grassroots efforts for peace and social justice consistent with FOR values and priorities. The person will also manage the WWFOR office on Seattle's Phinney Ridge (NW of Woodland Park), recruit and supervise volunteers, and provide administrative support for WWFOR.

Ongoing Wednesdays, noon - 1 p.m., NW corner of Sylvester Park, corner of Legion & Capitol Way, Olympia, Peace Vigil, come for all or part of the hour to sustain Olympia *FOR's* persistent (every week for 24 years) witness for peace and nonviolence; bring signs or use ours; info Glen 360-491-9093

Ongoing Thursdays; 5 - 6 p.m., near the Westlake Park arch at 4th and Pine, downtown Seattle; Peace Vigil and leafleting by Women in Black, a group in the tradition of the women who vigil weekly in Israel / Palestine, info 206-208-9715

Ongoing Fridays, 4 - 5 p.m., in front of the Bellingham Federal Building; join Bellingham *FOR* members and others in the Whatcom Peace Vigil followed by open discussion at Port of Subs, 5:15 - 6:15 p.m., info 360-738-9205

Ongoing Fridays, 4:30 - 6 p.m., south end of Percival Landing, 4th & Water, Olympia; Please join Olympia *FOR* in this very friendly peace vigil for all or part of this time. Signs provided or bring your own. info 360-491-9093

Ongoing Saturdays, noon - 1 p.m., along Pearl St. at Washington Park in front of library in Centralia; Peace Vigiling by Fire Mountain *FOR*; info June Butler, 360-748-9658 or Larry Kerschner 360-291-3946

Sat May 1, 3 p.m., & subsequent 1st Saturdays, Keystone Cong. Ch., 5019 Keystone Pl. N, Seattle; meeting of Interfaith Network of Concern for the People of Iraq working for peace in Iraq; info Rich Gamble 206-632-6021

Sun May 2, 2 p.m., at the Centralia Library; Fire Mountain (Centralia-Chehalis area) *FOR* meeting, Current concerns include de-militarization, globalized economy, Decade of Nonviolence. Enjoy multi-issue connections & share a finger-food potluck. info June 360-748-9658 or Larry 360-291-3946

Tues May 4, 1 p.m., at the Olympia Timberland Library, 8th & Franklin, Olympia; Capitol City Roundtable: David Price, a faculty member at St. Martin's College, Discusses U.S. State Department & Related Foreign Policy Issues. info Bob Marugg 360-786-8602

Weds May 5, 7:30 p.m., at Bradford Center, 700-108th NE, downtown Bellevue; Eastside *FOR* presents Amy Goodman's movie "Independent Media in Time of War", a documentary and a fine introduction to the topic "Truth in Media." Guest speaker - Bert Sacks, an expert on using the media to make a point and win a cause, info Michael Tivana 425-454-4865

Fri May 7, 7 p.m., Wesley Terrace, lower level, 816 S. 216th, Des Moines; South King County *FOR* meeting, info Mark 206-243-9238 or Mary Emma 206-870-2005

Sat & Sun May 8 & 9, 7:30 p.m., at University Temple United Methodist Church, 1415 NE 43rd St., Seattle; Seattle Peace Chorus presents Great Peacemakers; a choral story in which we proclaim and remind our leadership of the Power of Peace as it has been practiced and proven for centuries, invoking Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Rigoberta Menchu, and others. Tickets $12 in advance, $10 seniors and students; $14 at the door, mothers half price on May 9. tickets and info 206-264-5532

Sun May 9, 5:15 p.m. business mtg, 6 potluck, 7 program, at the Friends Center (formerly Hillside Church), 2508 S. 39th St, Tacoma; Tacoma *FOR* program with a speaker from the Bill of Rights Committee on a local response to the controversial new Federal Detain & Deport Center; info Sharon 253-396-1275

Sun May 16, 5 p.m. potluck, 6 p.m. announcements, 6:30 - 8 p.m. program, at Woodland Park Presbyterian Church, 225 N 70th near Greenwood, Seattle; Seattle *FOR* presents Nick Mele speaking about the Nonviolent Peaceforce and their work in Sri Lanka; Free, an offering will be taken. info 206-789-5565

Fri May 21, 7 p.m., at the Fellowship Hall, Longview United Methodist Church, 2851 30th Ave, Longview; Cowlitz County Longview/Kelso area *FOR* meeting, showing the second part of A Force More Powerful, on nonviolent resistence in South Africa, documentary about nonviolent social change movements, Discussion and snacks will follow. Please come and join like-minded people; info Janey 360-423-7338

Thurs May 27, 7 p.m., in Tumwater; Olympia *FOR* Committee for Alternatives to the Death Penalty meeting. info Chuck/Rozanne 360-705-8520

Tues June 1, 1 p.m., at the Olympia Timberland Library, 8th & Franklin, Olympia; Capitol City Roundtable: Dr. Tom Rainey, a TESC faculty member, Discusses U.S.-Russian Relations. info Bob Marugg 360-786-8602

Fri June 4, 7 p.m., Wesley Terrace, lower level, 816 S. 216th, Des Moines; South King County *FOR* meeting, info Mark 206-243-9238 or Mary Emma 206-870-2005

Sun June 5, and subsequent 1st Sundays, 1 - 3 p.m., at Dougass-Truth Library, 23rd Ave & Yesler Way, Seattle; Support Group of Nonviolent Peaceforce which will provide a resource for peacekeeping and training with a program on nonviolence. Organizational mtg 3 p.m. info 425-482-3026

Sat June 5, 3 p.m., & subsequent 1st Saturdays, Keystone Cong. Ch., 5019 Keystone Pl. N, Seattle; meeting of Interfaith Network of Concern for the People of Iraq working for peace in Iraq; info Rich Gamble 206-632-6021

Wed June 9, 5:30 p.m., in the Rose Garden Kitchen shelter at Priest Point Park, Olympia; Olympia *FOR* Steering Committee meeting to provide overall direction and decision-making. Everyone is welcome. followed at 6:30 or 7 by Potluck picnic. info Ramona Hinkle 360-491-5483

Sat June 12, 10 a.m. - 6 p.m., "Super Saturday" at The Evergreen State College in Olympia; Stop by the booth jointly sponsored by the Olympia *FOR* Committee for Alternatives to the Death Penalty and the Washington Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty. info Alice Curtis 360-943-4076 or Glen Anderson 360-491-9093

Sun June 13, 2 p.m., please phone for details; Fire Mountain (Centralia-Chehalis area) *FOR* meeting, info June Butler, 360-748-9658 or Larry Kerschner 360-291-3946

Sun June 13, 5:15 p.m. business mtg, 6 potluck, 7 program, at the Friends Center (formerly Hillside Church), 2508 S. 39th St, Tacoma; Tacoma *FOR* program on Alternatives to Military Recruiting; info Sharon 253-396-1275

Sun June 13, 5 p.m. potluck, 6 p.m. announcements, 6:30 - 8 p.m. program, at Woodland Park Presbyterian Church, 225 N 70th near Greenwood, Seattle; Seattle *FOR* meeting, tentative topic listening to returning military personnel; Free, an offering will be taken. info 206-789-5565

Fri June 18, 7 p.m., at the Fellowship Hall, Longview United Methodist Church, 2851 30th Ave, Longview; Cowlitz County Longview/Kelso area *FOR* meeting, showing the part of A Force More Powerful, on nonviolent resistence in WWII Denmark, documentary about nonviolent social change movements, Discussion and snacks will follow. Please come and join like-minded people; info Janey 360-423-7338

Fri - Mon July 2 - 5, at Seabeck conference center in Kitsap County, WA; "Training for Nonviolent Change" regional *FOR* conference - enjoy meeting more than 200 folks of all ages from Wash., Ore., and BC. Keynote speakers include Richard Deats, who has conducted nonviolence training all over the world and worked on the national FOR staff for more than 25 years. Workshops, networking, music, and fun. info Oregon FOR 503-585-5436

Fri July 2, 7 p.m., Wesley Terrace, lower level, 816 S. 216th, Des Moines; South King County *FOR* meeting, info Mark 206-243-9238 or Mary Emma 206-870-2005

Sat July 3, 3 p.m., & subsequent 1st Saturdays, Keystone Cong. Ch., 5019 Keystone Pl. N, Seattle; meeting of Interfaith Network of Concern for the People of Iraq working for peace in Iraq; info Rich Gamble 206-632-6021

Fri July 16, 7 p.m., at the Fellowship Hall, Longview United Methodist Church, 2851 30th Ave, Longview; Cowlitz County Longview/Kelso area *FOR* meeting, showing the part of A Force More Powerful, on nonviolent resistence in Poland, documentary about nonviolent social change movements, Discussion and snacks will follow. Please come and join like-minded people; info Janey 360-423-7338

Fri Aug 6, 7 p.m., Wesley Terrace, lower level, 816 S. 216th, Des Moines; South King County *FOR* meeting, info Mark 206-243-9238 or Mary Emma 206-870-2005

Sat Aug 7, 3 p.m., & subsequent 1st Saturdays, Keystone Cong. Ch., 5019 Keystone Pl. N, Seattle; meeting of Interfaith Network of Concern for the People of Iraq working for peace in Iraq; info Rich Gamble 206-632-6021

Sun Aug 8, 3 p.m., the Friends Center (formerly Hillside Church), 2508 S. 39th St, Tacoma; Tacoma *FOR* potluck picnic with 2 guests from Guadalupe House's garden project and work on the new Friends Center Garden worm bins and rain barrels; info Sharon 253-396-1275

Wed Aug 11, 5:30 p.m., in the Rose Garden Kitchen shelter at Priest Point Park, Olympia; Olympia *FOR* Steering Committee meeting to provide overall direction and decision-making. Everyone is welcome. followed at 6:30 or 7 by Potluck picnic. info Ramona Hinkle 360-491-5483

Sun Aug 15, 4 p.m., Potluck at 5, at Carkeek Park Shelter # 2; Seattle *FOR* annual potluck picnic; FOR will provide plates, cups, and eating utensils; all welcome; info 206-789-5565

Fri Aug 20, 7 p.m., at the Fellowship Hall, Longview United Methodist Church, 2851 30th Ave, Longview; Cowlitz County Longview/Kelso area *FOR* meeting, showing the part of A Force More Powerful, on nonviolent resistence in Chile, documentary about nonviolent social change movements, Discussion and snacks will follow. info Janey 360-423-7338

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Special feature in the Web Edition!

On April 17, 2004 Professsor Chavad addressed the 6^th Annual Spring Assembly of the Western Washington Fellowship of Reconciliation, meeting at Fauntleroy United Church of Christ in Seattle. Professor Chavad. is active with the Global Peoples Assembly Movement. He currently lives and teaches in Aurangabad, India.

The world today presents a paradoxical contrast. There is poverty amidst plenty, overproduction vs. undernourishment, affluence and wasteful life, in contrast to bare survival, over-development vs. under development, economic growth vs. ecological crisis, consumerism fir a few as against vast masses of illiterates, globalization vs. intense parochialism, and alternates. Science and technology instead of being utilized in the service of humankind, are used as instruments of domination, exploitation and destruction.

The collapse of East-West divide has highlighted the North-South disparity, between development and underdevelopment, perpetuating the income transfer from the poor to the rich. Economic disparity is greater than before. The richest 20 per cent of the world (mainly the industrialized countries) receive more than 150 times the income of the poorest 20 per cent of the world. About 1.3 billion submerged in absolute poverty; 17 million die from disease and 800 million do not have enough food. Some 35 million lead the uncertain life of refugees. No less than 850 million subsist in areas of desertification; two-thirds of the women are illiterate and 34,000 children die daily from malnutrition.

Along with the South, the North also has its pockets of poverty and deprivation. Over 100 million are beneath poverty and poverty line and some 30 million are unemployed there. Even Canada, rated highest in human development index, has one million children living in poverty; two million depend on welfare assistance, 104, million rely on food bank and over a quarter million are homeless.

The need of the hour is to adopt a humane angle, where man is the centre of our concern, and where development is of the people, for the people.

The present day human problems call for new social and community ethics, comprehensive and all embracing in its scope ambit. Gandhi’s ethics-spiritual worldview provides the direction that the world will have to adopt for its future guidance and development.

Gandhi rightly maintained, "There was enough for everybody’s needs, but not for everybody’s greed." His clear distinction between wants and needs went to the root of the environmental crisis and hinted at the carrying capacity of the earth. There was only one earth and its resources were limited and not meant to be squandered away. Limitations of wants, satisfying the basic needs of all, acceptance of voluntary poverty, emphasis on quality rather than quantity, "to be" rather than "to have", all these constituted the ideal society of his dreams.

Empowerment of the people was the bedrock of all his movements. People’s solidarity and their participation in the decision making were the cardinal principles of such thought.

In place of "top-down" and "trickle-down" theory of development, Gandhi’s concept of constructive programme worked from "bottom up" and relied on grass-roots support and sustenance. As against elite-based, urban-centered programme of development, Gandhi stood for people-based rural approach to development. For Gandhi people were the mainstay; they were the major vehicle of his action and movements. People’s power (LokShakti) was the most dynamic element of his thought. Today’s grassroots movements derive their inspiration from these traditions that Gandhi lived through his life. Mobilisation of people in a disciplined way opens out a creative avenue for our future society.

Gandhi wanted to create a new man and better and a saner civilization. The new man had to live a life under his own striuct vigilance, life that was dedicated to the observance of eleven vows, namely, Satya, Ahimsa, Birahmacharya, Asteya, Aparigraha, Aswad, Anhaya, Asprushyata Nivaran, Sharir-Shram, Swadeshi and Sarvadharma Samabhava. A lifestyle, based upon such high quality virtues was bound to generate waves of change and transformation through its demonstrated example and pave the way for a society of peace and harmony. For Gandhi, swarajya meant control over one’s own self to start with and only thereafter self-government; in the same fashion individual transformation preceded social transformation. He stood for permanent and total revolution, permanent because it was to continue forever. It was not once all transformation. It was a dynamic, ever moving and ever-evolving system. It was also total since it involved the whole man and the entire human race.

If the world of today has turned into a "Global Village" then it should be livable, accessible and amenable to the common man! Needless to say, such a development would lead to peace and harmony in the world.

The issue of environment disaster is perhaps, the single most critical problem before the world today.

Environment and its proper usage is closely linked with the concept of Gandhian sustainable development. Sustainability is closely related to equity. Here it is not the numbers which are critical but rather who consumes what and how much. This in turn is dependent on relations of power, on who decides what it to be done with an area’s natural resources. Nature’s resources are a common heritage of mankind and Gandhi looked to nature with respect and reverence and would make the most economical use of them. He was equally averse to inequity and injustice. The modern concept of sustainable development fits in with the major premises of Gandhian thought.

Closely associated with sustainability is the evil of consumerism, spreading like wildfire all over the world. Apart from being a burden on earth resources, the practice is self-defeating and, in the long run, unsustainable.

The world has reached the crossroads of history when the very survival and future civilization depends upon the ecological balance and the preservation of environment. Man is part of nature and he is to live in harmony with nature. Indeed security has to be redefined in terms of the state of the biosphere. With the dwindling of resources, the wars of the future are likely to be fought for the resources of the earth.

Both peace and security should be safeguarded, if Gandhi’s prescription is followed. In our age of transition and transformation, Gandhi’s vision inspires and guides us like a beacon light. In the memorable words of General Omar Bradley, "Ours is a world nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more of wars than we know about peace, more about killing than we know about living. We have grasped the mystery of the atom and rejected the Sermon on the Mount."

More than 1600 scientists, including 102 Nobel Laureates, underscored this point by collectively signing a "Warning to Humanity" in late 1992. It states, "No more than one or a few decades remain, before the chance to avert the threats we now confront, will be lost and the prospects for human immeasurably diminished … A new ethic is required for caring for ourselves and for the earth. This ethic must motivate a great movement, convincing reluctant leaders and reluctant governments and reluctant peoples themselves to effect the needed change." Gandhi advocated that food and clothing should be produced by each person for himself, or each family for itself as far as possible with his or her own labour. A small community, such as that making up a village, could produce what its members needed, the surplus of any article produced might be exchanged with a neighbouring village, for some other surplus article produced by them. This was decentralized production, production by the masses by making use of small quantities of natural resources present everywhere in nature. It was the antithesis of centralized mass production, in which profit is the driving force, and the consumer, instead of being at the same time producer and sovereign individual determine his own wants, is reduced to a unit in a remorseless and impersonal marketing chain, whose wants are determined by the producer and made compulsive by media blitz.

This consumerism, it may be remembered, takes into consideration only that segment of humanity which is endowed with what is called purchasing power. It takes no account of those vast numbers who possess nothing except the skin on their bodies and their won bodies and their own body labour. They have no scope left for access to food, drinking water, housing, schooling or medical aid of any sort. They are born in anonymity, and after a purposeless life of toil and suffering, depart from the world unlamented and unsung.

They comprised Gandhi’s Daridranarayana – the poor and the meek in whom Gandhi saw God face to face, with whom he totally identified himself. The loincloth that he wore symbolized this identification. In August 1947, when India was waking up to freedom, Gandhi had this to say to someone:

"I will give you a talisman. Whenever you are in doubt, or when the self becomes too much with you, apply the following test. Recall the face of the poorest and weakest man whom you may have seen, and ask yourself, is the step you contemplate going to be of any use to him. Will he gain anything by it? Will it restore him to control over his own life and destiny? In other words, will it lead to swaraj for hungry and spiritually starved millions."

Then you will find your doubts and your self melting away.

The Indian masses responded to Mahatma’s call in a spirit of total surrender.

He aroused the people, more widely than anyone had done before in history, to the evils of social injustice. He took it upon himself to awaken the conscience of the human race. The world saw the astonishing phenomenon of a revolution led by a saint. He was no ineffectual angel beating in the void his luminous wings in vain. He claimed and proved himself to be a practical idealist and showed goodness can be made effective.

Thank you.