Tag Archives: Bertrand Russell

Immorality of War: Pauling & Ikeda

The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of PeaceThe excerpt from Linus Pauling & Daisaku Ikeda‘s 1992 book A Lifelong Quest for Peace is the twentieth chapter of The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of Peace. This dialogue continues the Post-Vietnam to the Present (1975-  ) section of the book.  Linus Pauling — who died 2 years after co-authoring his book — was a  chemist, biochemist, pacifist, author, and teacher. Ikeda is the founder and current president of Sōka Gakkai International (SGI), an international lay Buddhist association which focuses on peace, cultural and educational activities.  He is the recipient of  the 1983  United Nations Peace Award and has written over 80 books.

In his amazing career, Pauling won the  1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and the 1962 Nobel Peace Prize. When he was awarded the Peace Prize the Nobel peace Prize committee issued the following statement:  Continue reading Immorality of War: Pauling & Ikeda

Royal Book of the Week: Monday 8/1/11

Einstein: The Life of a Genius by Walter Isaacson is the Royal Book of the Week. Duke Augustus just finished this book.  The book is included among the Royal Books of the Week for the discussions in it of Einstein’s pacifist, socialist and internationalist politics.  Up until World War II, he was a ardent pacifist.  Einstein even called for 2% of all draftees to resist the draft to bring down the military culture.  He believed strongly in a society where every citizen had a guarantee that her basic needs were met, but did not believe in a dictatorship of the proletariat to achieve it. With the unleashing of atomic energy, Einstein continually called for strong supranational organization that would prevent wars and the use of nuclear weapons.  He and Bertrand Russell even co-authored a statement calling for such a supranational protection.

Einstein was above all a champion of individual freedom.  He opposed totalitarian regimes on the right and the left. After the founding of the state of Israel he became a public supporter, but he also spoke out for the rights of the Palestinians.  Einstein was a supporter of Civil Rights.  He supported the Scottsboro Boys, and called opposed the death penalty for the Rosenbergs.  He was an early critic of Sen. Joseph McCarthy, and called for intellectuals to refuse to testify before the House Un-American Committee based on their First Amendment rights.

When the author Isaacson steps onto the stage to give his own opinions, they are often those of the corporate media where he was a leader.  Isaacson tries to paint Einstein’s politics as too radical, and his warnings as unnecessarily dire.  Isaacson insists that American government is self-correcting.  Isaacson does not take into account that such self-corrections have taken place only because of those like Einstein who were willing to risk everything to protect the country he loved.  Continue reading Royal Book of the Week: Monday 8/1/11