Page 2

The Gem

Thursday, March 1, 1990

Peace, Barriers To and Prerequisetes For

Banning nuclear weapons, prohibiting the use of poison gases, or outlawing germ warfare will not remove the root cause of war. Peoples are inge- nious enough to invent yet other forms of warfare, and to use food, raw materials, finance, etc. to subvert one another in an endless quest for dominance and power.

It is thé_root cause of war, and the prerequisites for peace that must be considered. Some of the

barriers to peace are:

Racism: one of the most baneful and persis- tent evils, racism is a major bar- rier to peace. It retards the un-

foldment of the potentialities of its victims, corrupts its perpetra- tors, and blights human progress.

Disparity between rich and poor, a source of acute suffering keeps the world in a state of in- stability, virtually on the brink of war.

om og AS DAY

“MONDA

Unbridled nationalism, ;as opposed to a sane and legitimate patriotism must give way to a wider loyalty, to the love of hu- manity as a whole.

Religious strife, throughout history has been the cause of in- numerable wars, a major blight to progress, and is increasingly ab- horrent to the people of all faiths and no faith.

A few of the prerequisistes for

peace are:

1. Full equality between men and women — Though one of the most important, is the least ac- knowledge prerequisite. The de- nial of such equality perpetrates an injustice against one half of the world’s populations. There are no grounds, moral, practi- cal, or biological, upon which such denial can be justified. only as women are welcomed into full

189 Kent Street,

Charlottetown 894-429]

partnership in all fields of hu- man endeavour will the moral and psychological climate be cre- ated in which international peace can emerge.

2. Universal education — this deserves the utmost support that the peoples of the world can lend it. For ignorance is the principal reason for the decline and fall of peoples and the perpetuation of prejudice. The decision—making agencies should consider teaching the concept of world citizenship as part of the standard education of every child.

3. A fundamental lack of communication between people seriously undermines efforts to- wards world peace. Adopting an international auxiliary language would go far to resolve this prob- lem, and necessitates urgent at- tention.

Two points bear emphasizing in all these issues. One is that the abolition of war is not simply a matter signing treaties and pro- tocols; it is a complex task requir- ing a new level of commitment to resolving issues. The other point is that the primary challenge in dealing with issues of peace is to raise the context to the level of principle. For, in essence, peace stems from an inner state sup- ported by spiritual or moral at- titudes and it is chiefly in evok- ing this attitude that the possibil- ity of enduring solutions can be found.

UPEI Debating Society

ddie “ie °

Would you like to be able to speak in public confidently and convincingly? Would it be a ca- reer asset for you to learn how to debate and think logically and clearly? If yes, then why not check out the debating Society. We need new members and wel- come everyone interested. We ~ meet every Wednesday at 3:00 pm in Main 311.

LADIES RECEIVE “7 UEC carnation

1 ne

cm

CHiCKEW Wikcs

Our team of Brian Pirkey and Bob Smith have just returned from Montreal and the McGill Debating tournament. The com- petition was very strong, and we ended up with a 1-5 record. Al- though not as high as we hoped we did learn a lot. We placed higher in the standings than teams from McMaster, Coast Guard College, Victoria (VofT), Bates (u.S.), Bronx (U.S.). York Windsor, UNB, and UNBSJ. There were teams at the tourna- ment from as far away as Glas- gow Scotland.

COVER. for Vel 3

mats specials pop up throughout the night - every night

the 3 Hour Happy Hour 7 to 10 p.m. Monday thru Thursday