The

EthricaURec on0ISSN 0014-1690

Vol. 96 No. 6

Editorial

MONITORING ARMS SALES

The recent decision by the United NationsSecretary General to set up an internationalregister to monitor arms sales is a verywelcome development. That the UN shouldhave established such a register at least 40years ago need not. now, be dwelt on; 'betterlate than never' is the appropriate response.For the 13ritish organisation, CampaignAgainst the Arms Trade, and for manymillions of concerned people around theworld, this is a step whose consequencesand repercussions will be watched closely.

It conies in the aftermath of the GulfCrisis, which was partly the result of armstrading of a totally unmonitored and un-checked kind. Many previous world criseshave had a similar background. In theGulf, it was a case of different majorpowers vying with each other to feed theappetite of a hungry arms customer (Huss•in),while in other situations the leading powershave sold weapons to a number of clientstates, so making regional conflicts moreviolent than they would otherwise have been.

This general picture constitutes, of course,a sad comment on the role of the worldpowers since 1945. The forces which claim tohave saved the world from German andJapanese fascism, and to be dedicated to thefurtherance of world peace, have in factsupported dictators and fuelled violence.They have also squandered irreplaceable

JUNE 1991

mineral resources in creating their weapons arsenals, putting the fine inventions of indus-

trial technology to a sterile and negative use.Such, then, has been the story so far. The

people appointed to supervise the UNregister will have their work cut out, but anysuccess they achieve will be an improvementon past and present. Questions inevitablyarise on how exactly the register will be kept,and on how statistics given them by armssuppliers and customers will be checked out.Also, how much actual — as distinct fromnominal — power they will have to imposelimits or prohibitions on arms sales remainsto be seen. But despite the problems whichclearly lie ahead for them, indeed because ofthese problems, we should give our whole-hearted support, and make every effort toensure that our government does too.

If they can achieve a substantial reductionin arms sales, that will in turn mean areduction in arms manufacture. The re-sources and technology previously used tomake weapons could then be channelled inpositive directions eg. the production oftractors, farm machinery and agriculturalimplements. Many of these could be sold toThird World countries at reasonable prices

to enable them to build up their agri-cultural base, and so strengthen their pos-ition as trading partners in the worldeconomy. Swords, as the saying goes,could be turned into ploughshares, to thebenefit of the Third World and, ultimately,the whole world. The trade would then bein instruments, not of death, but of life.

CONTENTS PageCould Eugenics Save The World 3Vienpoints & Book Review The Soviet Union Ai The Crossroads The Third Wa3' Scottish Humanism

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The views expressed in this journal are not necessarily those of the Society

. ,

Published by the South 1'lace Ethical Society, Constay Hall, Red Lion Square, London WC1 4RL

SOUTH PLACE ETHICAL SOCIETY

The Humanist Centre, Conway Hall 25 Red Lion Square, London WC I R 4RL. Telephone: 071-831 7723

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t Resigned.* Elected at May 1991 A.G.M.

The Ethical Record is posted free to members. The annual charge to Subscribers is £6.Matter for publication should reach the Editor, Tom Rubens, Conway Hall, 25 Red LionSquare, London WC1R 4RL (071-831 7723) no later than the FIRST OF THE MONTHfor publication in the following month's issue.

PROGRESSIVE LEAGUE SUMMER CONFERENCE August 3rd — 10th 1991

at Wye College, Kent

Lectures, Discussions, Country Dancing, Music and Poetry. Single rooms, tennis, swimming.

Inclusive charge: £210. Detailed programme and booking form from

Joan Miller Flat 7 Rose Bush Court

35 Parkhill Road London NW3.

2 Ethical Record, June, 1991

COULD EUGENICS SAVE THE WORLD?

Summary of talk given on Sunday March 3rd 1991 by Dr. J. NICHOLS

EVOLUTION AND EUGENICS

When Julian Huxley laid down the basic precepts of Evolutionary Humanism, Eugenicsand Conservation had pride of place. He said of mankind "If he is to make a success of hisjob as a guiding agent for evolution, he must abandon the arrogant idea of exploitingnature; he must co-operate and conserve".

He went on to explain how education, population control and Eugenics could help toachieve this. In 1962 he expanded this theme in The Galton Lecture (Eugenics inEvolutionary Perspective). He pointed out that although cultural and genetic systemsreinforced each other throughout the evolution of early man, this situation has beenreversed by advanced civilization: "...the sign of genetic transformation changed frompositive to negative and definite genetic improvement and advance began to halt, givingway to the possibility and later thc probability of genetic regression and degeneration".

He concluded the lecture with a plea for general recognition of the importance ofEugenics to the future of man and of the whole planet: "If, as I firmly believe, man's role isto do the best he can to manage the evolutionary procesS on this planet and to guide itsfuture course in a desirable direction, fuller realization of genetic possibilities becomes amajor motivation for man's efforts, and Eugenics is revealed as one of the basic humansciences".

Much has changed in the quarter century since Huxley wrote these words, but we stillhave to ask ourselves whether mankind, as we sec him today, is fit to perform the task ofstewardship of the planet and of the many species that depend, for their existence, on ourwhims and fancies. Growing ecological crises have only served to sharpen this message.

Can we, then, improve ourselves, as Huxley suggested, arid, if so, how should we goabout it? If we were to implement Eugenics as part of a plan to save ourselves and planetEarth, can we avoid the nightmare scenario of "Brave New World" dreamt up by theother brother, Aldous Huxley?

One can only guess at the conversations Julian and Aldous had about Eugenics andother aspects of the future. In my opinion, however, some of the basic assumptions ofHuxley and the whole Eugenics movement were seriously flawed. The extent to whichenvironmental factors modify genetic endowment has been considerably underestimated.

I have to concede, however, that practical genetics has made great strides and the recentdiscovery of the faulty gene that causes cystic fibrosis (a serious chronic disease of thelungs) has opened up enormous possibilities for medical science.

THE HUMAN GENOME PROJECT

.larnes Watson (of Watson and Crick DNA fame) is masterminding The Human GenomeProject in the USA. This involves making a map to show the position of every gene onevery one of the 46 human chromosomes. This will obviously make the work of detectingdefective genes much easier. Francis Collins, an American scientist involved in trackingdown the cystic fibrosis gene described the hunt for a defective gene as: "Like looking fora burnt out light bulb in a house with no address in an unknown street in an anonymouscity somewhere in the USA". Obviously a map of the "human genome" would change allthis.

Making the map, however, will take many years, and international cooperation. TheUSA will be leading the field with a recurring annual budget of $200 million from

Ethical Record, June, 1991 3

Congress. The benefits to the world of Eugenics will be enormous. Genetic screening canbe developed into an exact science and will have applications in reproductive counselling,career and educational counselling, embryo selection/rejection (as opposed to the crudetechnique of selective abortion now practiced), the study of the precise chemistry of thedefective gene and its disease, and its correction by genetic engineering.

Susan Watt, writing in The New Scientist, predicts the day when the complete geneticcode of any individual can bc recorded on a single CD disc. "A perfect birthday present!"Perhaps courting couples will be able to slot their respective discs into a computerterminal to find out what sort of children they might produce — the end of romance?

In Feb. 1991, James Watson announced that, due to technical problems, work on the(mapping of the genome will be delayed at least five years. I suspect that anotherunex--pected complicating factor will be the emerging importance of nfitochondrialDNA. Because this is located in the periphery of the cell outside the nucleus, it can only beinherited from "mother", as there are no mitochondria in the sperm.

Douglas Wallace of Atlanta led a team that recently demonstrated that one form ofepilepsy is due to a deleterious mutation of mitochondrial DNA. He commented: "Isuspect that a lot of the many mysterious clinical conditions out there will turn out in theend to be mitochondrial defects. The complicated picture that can be produced by thesedefects is only just beginning to be appreciated".

IMPOSING THE GREAT GOD DNA

We must now turn to the many environmental factors that modify our geneticendowment. To determine the true extent of the potential of an individual we shouldconsider the formula for Ontogenctic Potential (P) xt introduced by Dr. Brent Logan(Washington USA) in 1982:

P —GxE

Awhere G = genetic endowment at conception

E = environmental indexA = age

E can be more or less than ONE. Thus if a mother catches rubella when ten weekspregnant and is already struggling against adverse social conditions as well asmalnutrition, P will be LOW despite A being a favourably low denominator, even if G is aHIGH value. The importance of this simple calculation is something that the earlyEugenics enthusiasts failed to understand. Thus, many of their arguments about IQ,social class and sterilization policy are seriously flawed.

In the USA during the 1920s & 30s, however, when a Eugenics policy of compulsorysterilization was being enacted for the feeble minded -and criminal types, one scientistsounded a dissenting voice. Weston Price, a dentist and anthropologist, looked at theeffect of the type of diet we should now call "junk food" when this was introduced toprimitive and remote societies. He travelled all over the world studying peoples as farapart as Switzerland, Australia and South America. He concluded that many of thediseases that were being vaguely ascribed to genetic defects were causdd by the effects ofmicronutrient deficiency and environmental toxins (i.e. alcohol) in the ealiest stages ofdevelopment after conception.

Weston Price also suggested that the germ cells (sperms and ova) could be damagedbefore conception and coined the colourful expression "the poisoned germ cell". If histheories arc correct, these factors could be far more relevant to the ontogenctic potentialof the newborn baby than genetic endowment.

4 Ethical Record, June, 1991

More than 50 years later, I would claim that his theories have stood the test of timerather better than some of the ideas of the Eugenics movement. We now have evidence fora link between spina bifida defects and poor diet, and a micronutrient unknown toWeston Price, Zinc, has shown itself to be a key factor in normal brain development.

There is not time here to go into all the evidence now available, but I recommend to theinterested reader a book by Belinda Barnes and Suzanne Gail Bradley: "Planning For AHealthy Baby" (Ebury Press). I would like to add my own opinion, however, thatenvironmental factors of this sort can actually damage both nuclear and mitochondrialDNA directly — i.e. producing a deleterious mutation. Returning to our formula forontogenetic potential, this implies that the value G can be actually changed byenvironmental factors such as zinc deficiency and/or environmental toxins. This is arather different prospect from the example I gave earlier when an excellent geneticendowment was downgraded by adverse environmental factors during pregnancy (i.e.malnutrition and rubella).

There is already considerable evidence for this view from animal experiments and someexamples in human subjects. In 1988 Professor Matthew Kaufman in Edinburghsuggested that Down's Syndrome could be caused in this way by moderate exposure toalcohol at the time of conception.

Whether we are dealing with the damaging effects of alcohol and other toxins on thegerm cell, or the influence of infection, malnutrition or leaded petrol on the unborn baby,this area of study is best described as "Fetal Ecology". In practical terms, the mainobjective is to achieve a perfect state of health in both parents before conception. By thetime a woman knows she is pregnant it may be too late. Major fetal deformities, forinstance, are already well established.

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF BEING A BABY

Having considered Eugenics and Fetal Ecology, we should now consider the psychologicaldimension. The mental state of the mother and the family atmosphere that a child is borninto have always been considered vitally important to a child's developmant. The animalstudies of Konrad Lorenz (see King Solomon's Ring 1953) opened up a whole new world,however, with the concept of imprinting at birth. Most readers will have heard his story ofthe grey lag goslings whose first sight on hatching out was Konrad Lorenz himself. Theyimmediately accepted him as "mother" and followed him everywhere as they would anatural mother. When they learned to fly they even followed him flying behind his car.

This imprinting phenomenon implies an irreversible change in brain structure andfunction. Lorenz went on to demonstrate imprinting in a variety of species andcircumstances. What about human babies? The human brain has an enormous capacityfor adaptation compared with other animals but there is no reason to suppose that we as aspecies are immune to imprinting and, more to the point, faulty imprinting.

Various experts have cited the removal of a neonate from its mother, to be nursed in anincubator, as faulty imprinting. There is certainly evidence to suggest that this experiencecan be damaging. On the positive side, however, are the benefits of a good birth andnormal bonding with the mother. There is a trend, however, to take the whole processback a step further to intrauterine life, and many researchers are looking at thepsychology of life in the womb. In short, many of them believe that we could be betterpeople if our time in the womb was better spent. Their ideas vary from the simple conceptof intrauterine bonding involving other members of the family (a new born baby will turnquite resolutely to the sound of his father's voice, but not to other male voices), to the ideaof a fetal education curriculum.

Obviously any fetal education curriculum will have to involve talking to the fetus in'his/her own language — womb sounds. Dr Brent Logan has used this approach to build a

Ethical Record, June, 1991 5

four month curriculum consisting of a daily dose of rythmic sound produced by asynthesiser with a sampler facility. The course consists of increasingly complex variationson the in utero maternal blood pulse. He has studied over 1200 children worldwide whohave had this intrauterine programme, and his results are quite startling.

The developmental indices of 12 pilot study children are so advanced that they havegone off the chart for normal values. He claims that this success is partly due to thereduction of a normal process of brain cell death in the developing brain of the unbornchild when cells that do not make good synaptic connections with other brain cells die offby a process of natural selection previously considered to be beneficial. Logan claims thathis results are "...a direct result of enhanced neuronal count and/or differentiation". Hegoes on to say: "Not to seriously entertain this option is to place children in peril of merely

being average, and for the next millenium's challenges such status looms like a deathsentence".

Professor Justus Hofmeyer, head of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at The University ofWitswatersrand in South Africa, sounds a note of caution, however, in the journal"Prc-and Peri-natal Psychology". He points out the fate of another attempt to produce"super babies" by one of his predecessors, Professor Heyns. Heyns's research in the 1960sseemed to show that abdominal decompression and extra oxygen during labour conferexceptional intelligence on the fetus, but his researches were subsequently totallydiscredited. Hofmeyer concludes by stating: "Any new technique should be carefullyresearched, and not recommended for generaL use before there is good evidence that it iseffective and more likely to do good than harm .... particular care should be taken toavoid creating in parents expectations of their children that are unrealistic".

1, myself, suspect that Logan's work represents a major breakthrough. I note withinterest that large scale trials of his fetal education programme are being conducted atQueen's University, Belfast, and the Children's Rehabilitation Centre in Moscow, USSR.Time will tell vidiether fetal education is a revolutionary development or a technique withonly marginal benefits.

THE NEXT MILLENIUM

Of one thing I am quite sure: Mankind has not shown himself to be worthy of thestewardship of planet Earth in the terms described by Julian Huxley. I share BrentLogan's trepidations about our ability to cope with the challenge of the next millenium.To produce a new generation fit to meet this challenge, we should exploit to the full thethree areas I have described — Eugenics, Fetal Ecology and Fetal Education. I have nodoubt, however, that Fetal Ecology is the most important and urgent of these three. If thenext decade were to see the growth of pre-conception counselling not just in this country,but throughout the world, we would be off to a good start.

May I now suggest a likely scenario for the year 2100. Planet Earth is exhausted byoverpopulation and pollution; the great era of science is drawing to an end; and petty wars

are erupting all over the globe. Any one of them might bubble over into a nuclearholocaust that could destroy the planet. Perhaps there are better times ahead. Perhapsthere will be a "Renaissance" in a century or two — who knows. But a group of dedicatedH umanist scientists are working on a project that is their ultimate expression of a belief inMankind. Using, as a starting point, the painstaking mapping of the human genomeinitiated by the great James Watson, they have carried out careful screening and testingover two generations to select ideal germ cells. Now they have genetically engineeredseveral thousand human embryos that are adapted to life as citizens of The Universe.

Their journey starts from a space station above the Moon in an interstellar craftpowered by a laser beacon on the Moon and controlled by fully autonomous computers.They will make the journey at a temperature just above absolute zero. Seven centuries

6 Ethical Record, June, 1991

later the mother craft is in orbit around a distant planet 1.3 times the size of Earth (gravity

and atmospheric density are correspondingly high). One thousand children were

nurtured in ideal conditions by the ship's computers using all Earth's knowledge of Fetal

Ecology, Ectogenesis (cultivation of the fetus outside the womb using an artificial

placenta), and Fetal Curricula. Now they are young adults colonising a giant plateau on

the new planet — wondering at the alien life of this world of hopes and dreams. For them

the total preservation of its ecology and life forms is a RELIGION. It is their highest

priority.A small group of sturdy young people with stocky muscular build, a distinctly different

blood chemistry and heart and lung structure are selected to explore the lowlands. They

will not need special breathing apparatus. The scientists on Earth engineered their genes

to cope with this, but the adaptation will not be perfect. Further genetic engineering over

several generations will be necessary.

VIEW POINTS

JUNG OR FREUD?

Being neither a psychotherapist nor having ever been a patient of a psychotherapist, I am

not competent to compare the merits of the different schools of the discipline. What I like

about Freud is his rational approach and the clarity and unpretentiousness of his writing

which earned him a Goethe Prize, a rare distinction for a man who dealt with the illnesses

of society and the individual. One could only wish contemporary sociologists could

convey their ideas in such simple terms.

Mr Williams seems to dislike simplifications and generalisations and yet he accepts

generalisations about women or Jews, which are bound to remain vague. In contrast to

the animal kingdom, where the species is the most decisive element, in the realm of the

human biped it is the character which overrides race and gender.

I think Mr. Williams overrates Marx's influence on the development of the new

woman. She is in the first instance the product of birth control and the fact that since the

general mobilisation of men during World War 1 women were needed to fill men's jobs in

many spheres and disciplines. Though men tried to push them back at the end of both

world wars, they could never again degrade them to the status quo ante.

Gertrude Elias

Dr. John Nichols — in his article, "Could Eugenics Save the world?" — employs an

obviously informed medical perspective to consider several efforts for improving the

human condition. H e persuasively argues that individual performance is critical for such

generic improvement, and utilizes my Law of Ontogenic Potential to illustrate the

importance of early influence — even beginning in utero.

In identifying that approach1 developed in 1982, The Prelearning Program (16

audiotapes of curricularized. maternal heartbeat, conveyed to the unborn starting

midterm), Dr. Nichols cites the concerns of Professor Justus Hofmeyr. I am providing a

detailed response to those issues in the Pre and Perinatal Psychology Journal, but would

just po(nt out that in addition to expanded American evaluations — and the QueerCs

University study Dr. Nichols mentioned — prelearning is also experiencing a controlled

clinical trial at the Children's Rehabilitation Center in Moscow. To date, the degree of

consistency among prenatally stimulated children attaining developmental stages before

the norm is both consistent and substantial, with results regularly published in the

Ethical Record. June, 1991 7

professional literature.Leaving eugenics to parental choice, prelearning is a most exciting discovery, and

definitely suggests we can do more for tomorrow than merely reinforce the status quo ofhuman achievement as optimal; compared with the alternative, what choice is there butprudent daring?

Very truly yours,Brent Logan, Ph. D.Director,

Pre-Learning Institute, Neurogenetic Research & Development, Snohomish, WA, U.S.A.

BOOK REVIEW

BEING TRUE TO YOURSELF. Margaret Chignon 1991. 64 Pages £4.95 including postage from LS.L 20 Heber Road London NW2 6AA

The book is a sequel to "Exercising the Imagination" and "Opening the Mind's eye" bythe same author. There are 63 chapters, or themes, with titles such as "CrucialDecisions", "Ecstasy and Agony" and "Life's Rich Tapestry". In an appendix readers areinvited to enter for a social inventions competition with a prize of £2500.00.

As the title implies, the aim is therapeutic, but "not directly but in a gentle way, to leadus to find out more about the complexities of our own nature". The book is mainly basedon the author's experience with groups and is aimed both at groups and individualreaders. There is a front cover design by Yvonne Malik and interesting and humorousillustrations in the text by Valerie Yule.

I am sure that the book will be read profitably by many people, although it seems to methat the chapters are not intended mainly to lead the reader to any specific conclusion butrather to form a basis for discussion. There is a vaguely religious flavour in some places,with mentions of Jesus, God and the Bible, but nothing dogmatic.

There is virtually no mention of health in the book. We cannot command good healthbut we can encourage it, and I would have thought that people who wish to improve theirminds ought to want to improve their bodies also, on "the healthy mind in the healthybody" principle, and a few paragraphs on this topic would be helpful.

If "knowing oneself ' implies "improving oneser I would advise readers of this bookto follow on by studying "A Discourse on Method" by René Descartes.

There is virtually nothing about morality in the book. It starts "We are all subjected topressures to conform". Indeed we are, and the traditional solution is the code ofbehaviour called morality, which derives mostly from the golden rule "Do as you wouldbe done by". The desire for freedom is universal, there is always a democratic majority infavour of freedom, but an unenlightened demand for freedom is simply a demand forchaos. Attribution of the golden rule to the Supreme Being is optional but those with areligious turn of mind could turn to the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew Chapter 5onwards) or Paul's advice in Romans Chapter 12 onwards.

Subject to these comments, I commend this book to your readers. The publisher of thebook is the Institute for Social Inventions, at the above address (of which MargaretChisman is a director) which your readers might find worthy of attention for its manyinteresting publications.

Roy Simpson

Ethical Record, June, 1991

THE SOVIET UNION AT THE CROSSROADS

Test of a talk given to S.RE..S. on Sunday March 17th 1991 by ANATOLIA DANILITSKI

Millions of people living in the Soviet Union are voting today for their future and the future of

their children. For many, this choice is not just an endorsement of certain legality — be it Union

or Disunion. They look beyond the immediate frontiers of political squabbles and social or

ethnic strife. They face a dilemma of their whole life — which way to go that points to a normal,

truthful and prosperous community of peoples united solely in the desire to break loose from

inhumanity and the sufferings of the past.

Some of them coming to the polling stations will see many slogans. Those in great abundance

will read: "Comrades! Motherland is in Danger! Say "Yes" to the Union, "No" to the chaos".

Another banner will prompt: "The break up of the Union means unemployment, poverty and

raging crime". It is difficult to say how many will find these appeals striking chords with their

own fears but one can assume that the "silent majority" which is sick and tired of unremitting

political upheavals and deteriorating living standards, might opt for the devil they know and

give it another try, rather than venture into uncharted territory.

Fatigue and confusion prevail among vast sections of the Soviet Union's population. Earlier

enchantment with Perestroika and Glasnost gave way to overwhelming apathy and disillusion-

ment. Instead of lofty intellectual notions, people are increasingly governed by a simple but

unavoidable obsession with daily routine. In such conditions the slogans I was just referring to

might appear convincing to some who need an easy explanation of all those foes they are venting

their frustration at.No doubt, the political agitation implied in those slogans bears a striking semblance with the

antique theatre. Then it was masks that served the role of blunt and unsophisticated messages.

The definition was simple — laughter or sadness, Good or Evil.

In our present day life we encounter many reincarnations of those masks which, while

concealing true problems, do not solve them at all. Populist politicians of all sorts are using the

masks to play their game. This holds true for the Soviet Union too. The protagonists are there

a-plenty. The methods they use are the same. Demagogy is their common currency. Both

extremes in the Soviet political spectrum — militant Communists and radical Democrats — are

slowly but visibly mutating themselves into a similar bunch of people, as far as their style is

concerned. Hence the distrust a growing number of people show towards the solutions which

are presented by either of the two polarised factions as a panacea. Unfortunately the logic of

political confrontation and, lately, of the power struggle unleashed in all earnest, doesn't allow

the common-sense middle ground to hold its camp firmly. Gorbachev's proclaimed adherence

to the centrist policies, albeit benign in its intention, in reality amounted to tight-rope balancing

in order to survive in the complex, Byzantine-style political context.

However, it may still be too early to judge the final outcome of political trends in our country,

and we might expect — sooner rather than later — that the population of the republics which

constitute the USSR will eventually realize the benefits of middle-of-road policies.

The state of affairs — in economy, social life, morality of individuals and communities — that

we have found ourselves in is really depressing and alarming. Short of civil war, the society is

torn between various intransigent groupings, fueled by hatred and intolerance towards each

other. Six years of Perestroika have been indiscriminately wasted and led to the huge pile-up of

unresolved problems. The country has been steadily sinking into a swamp of degradation.

Glasnost was the only elixir that filled the blood vessels of our society with adrenalin. But you

cannot run on adrenalin indefinitely. Gorbachev once said:"Perestroika will succeed if it succeeds economically".

Too much prevarication and inconsistency in the reform process predetermined its failure.

One ought to candidly admit that the hasty demolition of the old command economy and lack

Ethical Record, June, 1991 9

of a coherent strategy to replace it with a new mechanism of prudent. macro-economic management were and remain the principal reasons for the crises the Soviet Union is facing now.

Alas, there was a belated recognition of this fact. While Gorbachev was flirting with the ideaof the rapid plunge into a market economy, the momentum of acute negative changes in theeconomy was so high it was impossible to prevent it sliding even further downwards. On top ofthis, ethnic violence and nationalist resurgence in some of the republics put an enormous strainon the ability of the Government to control events. That was the moment when the rulingCommunist Party and with them the Gorbachev Administration panicked. Heretoforedormant "nomenclatura" forces woke up to fight for their survival. Power was slipping fromtheir hands. The newly born progressivists and radicals were on the offensive and expanded theirappetite for a greater say in running the country day by day.

The inability or unwillingness of the state bureaucracy at all levels to apply Perestroika ideasin real terms antagonised democrats, thus adding to their impatience to do away with theremnants of totalitarian philosophy and practices. Gorbachev hesitated to cut his tutelageconnections with the Communist Party, his instincts made him fall back on the party elite forsupport. This dependence grew even stronger as developments erupted one after another,threatening his own precarious position. The Gorbachev-Yeltsin confrontation only compli-cated the situation.

Pressures from the right-wing orthodox communists intensified immensely. They clamouredfor revenge, they were obliquely after Gorbachev's "Blood". Democrats wouldn't listen to hisadmonitions either, about the need to tread the centrist course of consolidation.

In the background of all these uncertainties total disarray in the economy left him with noother choice but to abandon the Shatalin Plan and embark on the Stabilization road: The roadwhich in fact went backwards. In Gorbachev's own words,"miracles never happen in this world,and we can't leap from authoritarian rule to a democracy, from a rigid distributive economy to amarket economy". The Soviet President claims this retreat in methods to achieve reforms isbased on tactics, not strategy. He says the reform objectives have not been lost. Naturally thereare many critics in my country who think otherwise. However, I do believe that it's premature todraw final conclusions on the drama of Perestroika. In fact, irrespective of certain disciplinarysteps taken by the new Pavlov Government which many view as meant to strangle the emergingmarket-oriented business, the enterprise intrastructure in our country is rapidly gaining ground.Co-operatives and small businesses, newly established stock and commodity exchanges areflourishing. One shouldn't forget that Gorbachev has never stopped committing himself to amixed market economy. It is still the goal and the imperative which even die-hard orthodoxcommunists cannot possibly negate.

Yet, on balance the present policy-line followed by the Pavlov Cabinet is far from being trulyreformist. There are so many conceptual and practical contradictions in the Governmentalpronouncements that even the best minds among Soviet economists find it hard to follow thatenigmatic path towards a market economy. If you look at the composition of the Cabinet ofMinisters, you'll see a lot of familiar faces from the previous administration. By and large, theyrepresent the ever powerful military-industrial complex. It is no coincidence that Pavlov is togive priority to heavy industries which are 80 per cent dominated by defence production.

There is a danger that in an attempt to stabilize the situation and restore some normality toboth industrial and agricultural production, the Pavlov Government may be sucked into avicious circle of a centralized command management. The temptation to reanimate old ways isgreat, and the transition towards the declared goal of the market economy might take muchlonger than any sensible analysis can suggest.

One can only hope that sooner or later the leadership in the USSR will realize that there can beno successful answer to the manifold economic problems unless the country takes to genuinereforms in the areas of ownership, finance and enterprise initiative. It is my firm belief thatPresident Gorbachev understands this.

continues on page 15

10 Ethical Record, June, 1991

SOUTH PLACE ETHICAL SOCIETYThe Humanist Centre, Conway Hall

25 Red Lion Square, London WC IR 4RL

S.P.E.S. COURSE

FOUR TWENTIETH-CENTURY DRAMATISTS: THE INDIVIDUAL AND SOCIETY

An 7 week evening class to be given by JIM HERRICK

Thursdays 7pm to 9pm starting Thursday 23 May 1991 in the library, Conway Hall.

Admission 0.50 including refreshments.

I. Arthur Miller: A View from the Bridge. Individual responsibility versus fate.

Bertolt Brecht: Galileo.The sceptic and scientist versus authority.

Samuel Beckett: Waiting for Godot. Outside society.

Harold Pinter: The Homecoming. The individual and the family.

The course will include play-reading and discussion. Other aspects which will be

considered are the development of theatrical technique and twentieth century humanism.

BRITISH HUMANIST ASSOCIATION

International Young Humanists Conference. "Friends, Lovers, Enemies". July 22-28 in

Conway Hall, London. Offers of accommodation for participants welcome.

B.H.A. Annual Conference — "The limits of Tolerance" at Roehampton 19-21 July. For

more information on both of the above, contact B.H.A.

14 Lambs Conduit Passage, London WC 1 R 4R11

Tel: 071-430 0908

Ethical Record, April, 1991 11

SOUTH PLACE ETHICAL SOCIETYThe Humanist Centre, Conway Hall

25 Red Lion Square, London WC I R 4RL Telephone: Secretary 071-831 7723 Hall Manager 071-242 8032

PROGRAMME OF EVENTS

Lectures and forums are held in the library and are free (collection).

JUNESunday June 16at I I am Lecture: The Life and Work of Malcolm Muggeridge: T.F. EVANS examines the

merits and contradictions in Muggeridge's life and work.

at 3 pm Forum: Thomas 'Clio' Rickman - Paine's Boswell? JIM CLAYSON describes howRickman Vindicated his friend Thomas Paine's reputation.

Monday June 17at 2.30 pm Lecture- discussion: The Anise and her Public. PETER HEALES completes his series

with 8. The Humanity of Art: The qualities which make art valuable, and possiblyessential, as a human activity.

Thursday June 20at 7 pm Course: Four Twentieth-Century Dramatists. JIM HERRICK Continues his evening

class with Samuel Beckett: Waiting for Godot Outside society. Adthission £1.50 perlecture, including refreshments. Concessionary rate /1.00. For complete syllabus,see page I I

Sunday June 23at II am Lecture: Against Religion - Why We Should Try To Live Without It. A.N. WILSON,

noVelist, biographer and journalist discusses the issues arising from his hard-hittingnew pamphlet "Against Religion" (Chatto and Windus, Counterblast No. 19)

at 3 pm Forum: Do Unbelievers in Religion need Rituals? BARBARA SMOKER, SPES appointedLecturer and President of the National Secular Society, and greatly in demand asofficiant for secular marriages and funerals, considers this question.

Wednesday June 24at 6.30 pm Policy and Programme Committee Convenor: DAVID MURRAY. For SPES members only.

Thursday June 27at 7 pm Course':Four Twentieth-Century Dramatists. JIM HERRICK'S course continues with 6.

Samuel Beckett's `Godoe and Harold Pinter's 'The Homecoming'.

Sunday June 30at I I am Lecture: Model-Making: Its Joys, Powers and Pitfalls. PROF. RICHARD SCORER

discovers common features in the characteristically human intellectual process of'model-making' — whether the models be mathematical, moral, theological,economic or whatever.

at 3 pm Forum New Religious Movements. DR EILEEN BARKER explains the need forINFORM, a non-sectarian charity conducting research into and providinginformation about new religious movements, of which she is the Director, andauthor of 'New Religious Movements: A Practical Introduction" (HMSO).

12 Ethical Record, June, 1991

JULYThursday July 4at 7 pm Course: Four Twentieth-Century Darmatists. JIM HERRICK completes his course with

7. Harold Pinter: The Homecoming. The individual and the family.

Sunday July 7at 11 pm Lecture: 0.0. Potebnia and The Philosophy of Language.. NADIA KERECU illustrates

the significance of the work of Ukranian theoretical linguist Oleksander Potebnia

(1835-1891) as a precursor of 20th century linguistic thought.

at 3 pm Summer Social And Colloquium. A chance for members and friends to exchange

views and mull over the nature of 'life, the universe and everything' in a congenial

atmosphere. Refreshments El.

Sunday July 14at II am Lecture: Marxism And Religion. DAVID MURRAY

at 3 pm lecture: Anarchism And Religion. NICOLAS WALTER, Today's speakers examine the

idea and practice of religion in relation to the subject of their special interest and

study, marxism and anarchism respectively.

Thursday July 18at 7 pm Special Lecture: Scepticism And The Paranormal. by PAUL KURTZ, Professor of

Philosophy at the State University of New York and Chairman of CSICOP (the

Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of the Paranormal).

Sponsored by 'Skeptical Enquirer'

Sunday July 21at II am Lecture: Ethics In Law. Ross CRANSTON, Professor of Law and barrister, adviser to

the Labour Party on legal affairs, author of 'Regulating Business' and 'Legal

Foundations of the Welfare State' discusses the question of ethics in public affairs.

at 3 pm Forum Is Quantity A Straight-Jacket For Science? MURIEL SELTMAN,

mathematician, reviews the history of the use of mathematics and in particular the

use of number, and asks whether science and practice have been limited by our

ideas of quantity.

Lectures resume at the end of September.

Ethical Record, June 1991 13

SOUTH•PLACE ETHICAL SOCIETY

wishes to appoint an energetic Humanist (age 21-60 pref) as Secretary to the Society

in flexible 35 hr/wk post to:

compile lecture programmedevelop Society's activities

- service committees (inc some evenings)- carry out bookkeeping and general office admin

must have secretarial and WP skills

. SALARY c £11000

Application form and further details from: Lesley Dawson, Acting Secretary,

South Place Ethical Society 25 Red Lion Square London WCIR 4RL

Tel: 071-831 7723

SOUTH PLACE ETHICAL SOCIETYRegistered Charity No. 251396

Founded in 1793, the Society is a progressive movement whose aim is the study and dissemination of ethical principles based on humanism, and the cultivation of a rational and humane way of life.

We invite to membership all those who reject supernatural creeds and find themselves insympathy with our views.

At Conway Hall there are opportunities for participation in many kinds of cultural activities,including discussions, lectures, concerts and socials.

A comprehensive reference and lending library is available, and all members and associatesreceive the Society's journal, The Ethical Recordten times a year.

The Sunday Evening Chamber Music Concerts founded in 1887 have achieved internationalrenown.

Memorial and Funeral Services are available to members.

Minimum subscriptions are: Members £6 p.a.; Life Members £126 (Life Membership is availableonly to members of at least one year's standing). It is of help to the Society's officers if members paytheir subscriptions by Bankers Order, and it is of further financial benefit to the Society if Deeds ofCovenant are entered into.

14 Ethical Record April 1991

continued from page 10

Parallel to this, he is fully aware of the importance of cooperating with the West to salvage thenational economy. At present the USA and other leading countries in the West including Britainare somewhat cagey, preferring to foot-drag over the issue of aid.

Obviously, one can appreciate the Western stand in terms of the reaction to what happened inVilnius and Riga. The Soviet President took it seriously and made it absolutely clear that hedeplored violence and the use of armed forces for political ends. The relevant investigations arestill going on, and those responsible will be brought to justice.

Naturally, the situation has changed dramatically over the last several months. Gorbachevsuffered a number of set backs. His personal rating dropped substantially in comparison withthe ever increasing popularity of Yeltsin. The President had to rely on the proven state and partystructures to uphold his authority. There was no alternative for him. There is too much at stake.We still know little of what's going on inside the Kremlin inner decision-making process. Andprobably we'll have to wait quite a while to grasp the whole meaning of the drama which hasbeen unravelling during the past few months.

The accepted version of the events as portrayed in the West alleges that President Gorbachev,caught between the hammer and anvil of right and left, has turned to the siren song of thehardliners and generals. It is much easier to assert than to explain how Gorbachev the Reformerhas become Gorbachev the Dictator in a matter of months. Some time ago there were fears thatGorbachev the Liberal would be toppled in a coup; now there are worries about Gorbachev thePsychopath, ready to crush his own vision of perestroika and the movements for sovereignty inthe republics.

Cooler heads, East and West, ponder whether the hardliners really are Gorbachev's puppet-masters as he fights to keep his idea of perestroika on the rails. Maybe the President has fallenback on public conservatism in a bid to re-establish law and order, stabilize the economy andcarve another benchmark in the reform process.

The latter may appear to be more plausible, and in these circumstances certain attempts in theWest to "teach Gorbachev a lesson" to influence his policies could back-fire.

In effect, shutting off Western aid and investment will strengthen the hardliners' hand. Thereare still a lot of top party bureaucrats in Gorbachev's team who entertain a conspiracy theory,that is — foreign investments and loans are the Trojan Horse of imperialism, which has its eyeson the final prize — the USSR's rich natural and cheap labour resources.

Such views — crazy as they sound — prevail in the upper echelons of the Communist Party ofRussia headed by Ivan Polzkov. Those militant-orthodox Russian Communists are extremelyactive now, they feel there is a chance to engineer a turn-about in the country's history. They arethriving on the atmosphere of crisis, deliberately fanning up hysteria about an imminent civilwar.

Yeltsin's uncompromising stance, his vehement rhetoric and, to some extent, resort toneo-Bolshevik tactics of street agitation, play into the hands of the hardline communists ofRussia. For them it's a good excuse to intimidate people with the bogey of a return to capitalismand exploitation. In thus scaring people they naturally use the most dreadful examples ofDickensian 19th Century capitalism. Of couse, this is a blatant distortion of the democrats'programme. But such distortion is inherent in every demagogy, under every mask.

If the situation in the country is allowed to slip away from whatever minimal control by thePresidential authority, thus resulting in a showdown between the mighty hardline establishmentand fledgling radical democrats, the consequences could be disastrous.

I personally don't believe there could be a real civil war dividing the whole country into twowarring camps. Ordinary people are not so politically polarized as some try to convince us. Thecivil war notion is needed to frighten people into submission and ignite hostility towardsdemocracy as the system of individual liberty.

Those forces envisage a return to a neo-Stalinist "paradise" which would allow them to cling

Ethical Record, June, 1991 15

to power while presenting a modern up-lifted decorum to the outside world. They couldprovOke the democrats into a final clash in order to crush them. That would be the worstscenario.

Maybe, there is some simple wisdom in Gorbachev's words when he says: "The politicalcentre may not be so loud as the extreme factions but it embraces the bulk of the people who areconcerned about the future of their country and will say their final word at the necessarymoment.

It is the essence of Peresdroika to move through revolutionary reforms rather than throughconfrontation and civil war. Enough of the confrontation of the Red, the White, the Blue, or anyother colour. We are a country, a society, and we must search for answers that would meet thefundamental interests of the country and move it on within the framework of political pluralityand by comparing programmes publicly".

THE THIRD WAY - ASPECTS OF DEEP ECOLOGY

by HELEN PRESCOTT

We in the deep ecology movement owe much to Gandhi. He is one of our mentors; he showedthe way forward. Gandhi represents "The Third Way". The phrase "The Third Way" is likely tobecome more acceptable. For some people it is the new age and just a fashion whilst for others itis the new order and an enlightened philosophy by which to live. Looking at our politics inBritain, Socialism is no longer fashionable and Toryism is a threat. The world's burgeoninggreen movement is chiefly flying the flag for the third way which reunites our spirit with theearth.

The Third Way is a new sub-culture, a new consciousness; it is futuristie and the age of beingrather than having. Cliches can confuse but there is a philosophical basis for the middle waywhich is both green and Buddhist. It is largely to Schumacher that we owe thanks for bringingthis knowledge to us. Such thinking stands for self reliance, decentralisation, self developmentand self management, and government by individuals and groups. There is a new vision to thefore, both positive and inspirational. A strange and new society is emerging. This wisdom is outof context with the reasoning of the past few hundred years but it is something we must embraceto steer society to better things.

Often as an individual in the middle of these shifting values you assume that other people arewith you too. They are not always, but the green movement shows that a certain army ofinfluence is there when others are switched off from these values and even deny them. There arepersonal, psychological and sociological consequences of these changes. We have reached aturning point in our philosophy — rationalism is in decline, bureaucracy is on the way out,hierarchy is collapsing — for deep ecology we have lift offl A strong aversion exists to thetechnological society, the transient throw-away society that this society has brought us. We haveheard many attacks on capitalism before, and Wittgenstein, who is still the philosopher of themoment, railed against the modem age, taking an anti-industrial stand. The old order prevailsbut it is being flushed out.

My main concern is to look at the practical solutions to world problems and these must, 1believe, start with the individual and then the community. Like Gandhi we must begin withgrassroots initiatives, commence -at the bottom and move onwards. Maybe we should putpolitics on one side, for it could be many a day before the greens have their way. We can all makesalt. The self reliant community may yet save the world.

The Third Way is an attitude of mind, an interpretation of the world which for manytranslates into a lifestyle. For some this is Right Livelihood or Lebensrichtig, doing the rightaction. Progress seems to have cost us dear but we have broken away from the industrial age inthe profoundest sense. Deep ecology shakes the very foundation of many a person's belief and

16 Ethical Record, June, 1991

quite frankly they don't like it. The Third Way purports that the mechanistic world view together with all its relations such as rationalism and materialism are on the way out! Such views are superseded. But we must look at the practical way forward or not look at anything at all.

There is a social revolution happening in many a garden and living room. Will it survive orsimply fizzle out? It can be seen in Eastern Europe and Russia too. Some redundant world-viewsstill flounder around. Materialism and rationalism still hang on by a thin thread, theseoppressive forces which are counterproductive to society. Many of us have emerged from aninstitutionalised education system which rams rationalism down your throat! Your educationbegins the day your formal education ends! As John Muir the Scotsman once said, "One day'sexposure to mountains is better than cartloads of books." People often work throughcontemporary ideologies as a means of finding themselves e.g. Marxism, Communism,Capitalism, Socialism even Fascism. Sometimes they are compelled to take these views on boardand sometimes the become stuck in rigid systems. Are the views of Gandhi more than these, and,if so, why?

Gandhi's views are part of a new way of thinking about society and of course India still has itsproblems, as do all other countries. But Gandhi wished to empower the individual and createcooperation which is one of the hardest things to achieve. It is not surprising that it is taking along timc. The green movement is extending Gandhi's philosophy.

Arne Naess, the Norwegian philosopher, first coined the term Deep Ecblogy in 1972. Theterm became popular in America and is catching-on in Britain, although Naess is not well-readby the public. Deep ecology is about the practice (which is where Gandhi fits in ), activities andphilosophy of the ecological sell There are two camps within the environmental movement:these are reform ecology, and deep or transformative ecology, which is of wider significance.

REFORM ECOLOGY DEEP OR TRANSFORMATIVE ECOLOGY

Green Parliamentarians — Realists Green Communitarians — FundamentalistPrescriptive; do's & don'ts, problems, Insight, awareness & understandingwrongs put right, pollution, miclear waste, concerns wide ranging e.g. ancient spiritualwhat can I say, do about it. Motivation; traditions; Aboriginees; religions, Buddhism;political pragmatists, support coalitions, writers etc. Motivation; spiritual or how IGreen 2000 group; Westminster Wing feel relate, percieve the world. IdeologistsParties, opposed to pacts; decentralists.

Bill Devall in "Simple in Means, Rich in Ends" clearly explains the practise of deep ecologyand sees St. Francis as an early mentor of the subject. Deep ecology is biocentric, it challengesthe anthropocentric view that humans are the centre of everything and natuit is there only forour benefit. Nature exists in its own right and has an integrity beyond that which we bestow on it.

The idea of the "new community" is not new, it is old. In Britain for 25 years there has beentalk on the creation of a Green Village but it has.yet to happen. Those with both the will andinitiative should proceed to establish Gandhian communities as models of excellence. These canbe replicated around the world and act as a network whereby individuals can move from one siteto another, from one country to another if they so wish. Much has been said of the influence ofthe Findhorn Community in Scotland and how its supporters have set up their mini-Findhomsin their own locality. Unlike Findhorn, we need a poor-person's Findhom that can appeal andbe within reach of everyone. Such a community, the ashram, was what Gandhi pioneered. Selfreliance and cooperation were an integral part of such a community.

The quality of life, harmony and special relationships with each other and nature could beprovided by such small proups. People need not be tied to any one place but still see the integrityof place. With these small communities which could be anything from a single house, to a farm,to an entire village, solidarity with peace and cooperation would be created. Such groupingswould have real strength and for those individuals and families or groups who fear the idea of the"communal", instead they can engage in ecological hospitality whereby they too are part of the

Ethical Record, June, 1991 17

netwOrk without necessarily being an ashram.Participants could agree to abide by a "Community Environment Charter" which pioneers a

green lifestyle as a universal experiment in non-violence, peace and cooperation. Many peoplewant to try this and the means could be there for them to do this.

A brief chart shows the evolving of The Third Way and its contrast with the Mechanisticworld view.

I.

MECHANISTIC

Nature is inanimate

THE THIRD WAY

Fields pervade all nature Inert atoms of matter Atoms as structures of activity Determinate, predictable Indeterminism, chaos Knowable Dark matter Universe a machine A developing organism Earth is dead Gaia No internal purposes Attractors

S. Not creative Creative evolution9. Eternal laws Evolving habits

Deep ecology is about the quality 'of life, harmony, symbiosis, self realisation andrelationships within the whole of nature, not just what relates to 'mankind'. In the past societyhas rarely examined or taught about the deep meaning of nature and little has been done toencourage rapport. Different images of nature are looked at, including an instrumentalised viewof nature which sees the environment as materialistic and exploitable. With such an opinion ofnature it is hard to imagine one having an empathy or respect for the land.

Deep ecology talks about the integrity of place, of landscape, an openness with nature and abelonging to the place. New Age ideology is seen as still human-centered. Civilisation is furtherthought of as technocratic or given the princely title "high tech". Detached and neutral feelingstowards the environment will never enable the ecological self to prosper. Dwelling in a mixedcommunity of people, plants and animals, is a way of practicing deep ecology to achieve abalanced lifestyle and a good quality of life. Indifference to place is indifference to one's self.Many people are severed from nature as they are cut off from their real selves.

Bioregionalism is an important issue in the context of deep ecology, having an intimateacquaintance with one's locality and an understanding of its culture and its problems which canbe readily managed at a local level. We should have knowledge of the terrain, its plants,watersheds and its distinctiveness. Like native peoples, bioregionalists can claim to have aspecial relationship with a place — topophilia would be the love of a region. One needs to be apart of one's habitat, not an entity at variance from it. Bioregionalists are 'stewards of place' whofirst act 'responsibly at home'. They celebrate local connections of every kind. An interestingpart of this account is "an exercise in Bioregional studies" which are exercises in understandingyour place.

Deep ecology is better expressed than explained, Bill Devall thinks, referring to poets likeGary Snyder or writers such as Thoreau or Susan Griffin, whose insightful writings areinspirational. A poet uses metaphors rather than reductionist labels and theories.

The lifestyle of a deep ecologist is freely chosen and based on simplicity and right livelihood asopposed to consumption. With practice they achieve a high quality of life and psychologicalwell-being. Their lifestyle may seem at odds with the prevailing culture but it is one rich inexperience and anti-consumerist. (They have a lack of novophilia — loving something orwanting it simply because it is novel or new.)

Deep ecology is the "middle way", neither self indulgent or self denial, as the Buddhists wouldsay. A compassionate and simplistic approach to life is important with an emphasis on selfreliance.

18 Ethical Record; June, 1991

The deep ecologists are up against the ever rising tide of consumption in a society whichRoszak says is telling us what to think and do. It is writers like Paul Goodman, MurrayBookchin and Lewis Mumford who supported the traditions of communalism and selfsufficiency in the organic society, and castigated urbanism, imperialism and modernity. Thegrassroots movement is primarily of deep ecological origin — 'doing' rather than talking orpoliticising. "Practicing deep ecology lifestyles is a process of rediscovering what is essential,what is important and meaningful in our lives". Bill Devall adds "the goal is not to get someplace but to be in a good place, a utopia". Simple food and observing local traditions adds to therichness of life.

Jokingly, the phrase "eradicate the cities" was seen as a useful slogan for deep ecology but wecould begin by being capable of hearing nature's sounds which the city prevents. Many of ussuccumb to the ceaseless din of the TV.

Rituals and festivals are ways of celebrating deep ecology. The development of intentionalcommunities such as Auroville in Southern India or The Farm in the USA demonstrates deepecology and an appropriate lifestyle. Politics is only part of the green movement, which is reallyan empowered grassroots movement. The women's movement, the peace and non-violencemovement, are also part of deep ecology practice. Action is important to all of them as a meansof social transformation towards ecotopia.

One of the best examples of a dynamic grassroots movement is that of the Chipko people inthe Himalayan foothills. It is chiefly a women's movement involving the protection of trees fromthe loggers who wish to fell the forests. Sunderlal Bahuguna, an active member of the Chipkomovement, speaks of the rights of forests, saying that "Trees are part of your family". Theybelieve in planting trees for food, for habitat creation and to make communities self sufficient,self renewing and provide an economy. There is much antagonism especially with theindustrialists in Uttar Pradesh but the Chipko struggle continues to create its own permanenteconomy without degrading the land.

The greens are a resistant movement opposed to the inane culture in which we find ourselves.Modern living seems to be mining both people and places in the name of progress.Industrialisation is seen as anti-evolutionary, a step backwards. The children of the indigenouspeople's tribes now need deschooling to fit them into their traditional way of life, such has beenthe shock and manipulation of modern education. People are no longer independent or able togrow their own food, they must rely on others for everything, the provision of jobs, houses,clothes, etc.

There are four strands within the greens resistance movement — ecology, grassrootsdemocracy, social responsibility and non-violence. Greens are non-conventional in theirapproach. Within the movement there is a rift which has clearly been shown with the differentfactions in Die Grunen; certain people choose a different emphasis. In green ecology generallywe find a divide. Bookchin for example asserts the uniqueness of human beings and rejects adeep ecological basis. Capra and Spretnak stress tne biocentric and spiritual values of the greens,especially the reverence for nature, which causes some concern with some people, more so thosewho fail to understand this reverence.

Thus deep ecology is about practice and action, but so is direct action and what some see asmonkeywrenching or ecotage. Civil disobedience was proposed by Gandhi and Martin LutherKing. Actions can often be dangerous, as many Greenpeace endeavours are, but illegal actswhich form part of forest defence such as tree spiking are frowned upon by the average green.Some actions are more effective with more people. In fact Gandhi supported social action as agroup struggle. The Gandhian view was to "clearly announce their case and the well defined goalof their campaign".

Contemporary society has shallow concerns which do not involve the mixed community. Thedeep ecologist is against human. intervention in everything, against monoculture and the ideathat nature exists simply to be experimented with. The impact of animals in areas where theyhave been introduced by humans, has often led to overgrazing and subsequent famine. One of

Ethical Record, June, 1991 19

deep ecology's answers is 'Permaculture', a design systems approach to nature pioneered by BillMollison. Permaculture is more than just common sense, it ira sustainable form of agriculture,which avoids pesticides but relies on companion planting and sees the value of "weeds" forlifting nitrates amongst other things. With permaculture the practice is that all of nature isinterconnected and all natural forests and ecosystems illustrate this point.

The question of population is a serious issue for the deep ecologist who thinks that citiesshould be contained rather than completely abolished. All in all deep ecology wants to see a richand compassionate society where "ecotopia in not a fantasy but rather a statement of anecological annd ethical ideal towards which all can strive"

"SCOTTISH HUMANISM"

by R.A. SKENE

I first "drifted into" Conway Hall, W.C.I., H.Q. of South Place Ethical Society and now one ofthe centres of British Humanism, some twenty years ago from Calvinist Scotland to work in theEast End after a brief sojourn "seeing the World" in Birmingham. Relevantly, I had just beenrejected for a post-graduate training for the Ministry of the Church of Scotland for a career inclinical psychology. Today, being now back in my roots, free-lance, for the past seven years, Ifeel it might be interesting to try and present an outline of the history and development ofHumanism in Scotland as relevant to S.P.E.S. and to postulate the movement's current role anddilemma in this country.

Most elementary articles on Humanism try and present its basis tenets or principles, but myaim rather is to outline a more personal exposé of its development as in Scotland, that erstwhiletheocratic nation.

Theology has traditionally been pertinent in the Scotsman's make-up. This is emphasisedhistorically. Archaeological evidence would indicate that homo-sapiens was wandering the hillsand glens of Scotland at least by 4,000 B.C. and that in the Neolithic era of 2,500 B.C. his"superstitiousness" about a God can be seen in his burial kists, e.g. in Orkney. Again, the historyof Scottish folklore can be quite fascinating and currently manifest as in Hogmanay and NewYear celebrations. But the point often forgotten is that the early priests or Druids were essentiallyphilosophers or teachers offering intellectual insights and inspirations rather than establishmentfigures.

The incoming Romans' victory at Mons Grampius, probably in Aberdeenshire, led to thebuilding from 120 - 128 A.D. of Hadrian's Wall between Berwick and Carlisle and furtherNorth, the Antonine Wall in 142 AD. to keep the Scots separate from their Southernneighbours' ideology. When Christianity came, the subsequent early Church in Scotland,influenced by Ninian at Whithorn in 400, Patrick Of Ulster in 493, Bridget, 524, and Columba,522 -597, was characterised by a political sense of unity with Rome, if not uniformity. This can beseen by 664 in the Synod of Whitby that strengthened a national church between Celtic andRoman Catholic influences. The Book of Kells, 800, is a history of Scotland and the Irish andCeltic influences. And by the I Ith Century in Scotland, the Pope was still independent of thelocal aristocracy. Mediaeval Scotland preserved its own traditional ethos and allegiance toRome.

But intellectual thought was to have some impact on the status-quo. Locally, BishopElphinstone, founded Aberdeen University for the training of priests, and his influence mayshow that the Reformation was not due primarily to the steady decay and corruption of theChurch, and Wishart tried to provide a bridge between the Reformers, like Knox, and thetraditional church. Again, N. Winzet is one of the few examples in Scotland of the JesuitCounter-Reformation, relative to their influence in Europe. The unpopular argument remainsthat the old religion effectively defended itself.

There has, then, always been a tradition to maintain the establishment, despite theCovenanters' 1644 Westminster Confession's hatred towards the Pope. Chalmers's (1843) FreeKirk of Scotland was basically a social reforming movement influential for recent liberationtheology in South America and South Africa but so, also, were the Roman Catholic Evangelistsin the Highlands. As an example, the political Red-Clydesiders of the 1920's were essentially

20 Ethical Record June, 1991

social reformers rather than rabble supporters of either Celtic or Rangers football teams. Inshort. Scotland's painful position has been the conflict between its (proud) tradition and reactionagainst this.

This, perhaps rather tedious, sketchy outline of the history of religion in Scotland has beenmentioned because it used to be the emotive "wine and bread" of every Scots lad's education andbecause ii remains a rather frightening conditioning for anyone. Scotland used to be a theocracyfor better or worse, hut it is relevant to outline the other side of the coin, i.e. Humanism that wasinfluential.

Aristotle's influence on the development of Humanism had its predecessors in Easternphilosophers. hut after over 1,0(X) years, the movement did not resurge until about 1453 with thereaction against the Fall of Constantinople to the Ottoman Turks. The pessimistic attitude of theintellectual, A.S. Piccolomini at that time gave way by 1516 to the optimism of the Dutchmanand European traveller, Erasmus. His "Novum Instrumentum" dedicated to Pope Leo X in thetimes of the French. Spanish, German and indeed, Scottish monarchies, is said not to differ verymuch from Aquinas's views. The auempts as through Leonardo, Galileo and Machiaevelli wereto be "natural" rather than "spiritual" through nationalism, capitalism and the developments inmodern science. The ethos might be epitomised in Durer's "Melancholia" and in the Spanishecclesiastic. Xiamenes' reforms, D'Etaples in French education; Colet and Sir Thomas More inEngland.

But some argue, with N4 ichelet. Buchardt and Toffanian that this revival in ClassicalHumanism. essentially an aristocratic movement rather than explicable as a rebellious-individual front, was a development of the Middle Ages rather than a reaction against it andmanifest in France as well as the non-barbarised lands over the Alps in Italy. It reflected itself inthe philosophic thought of the newly developing Scottish Universities being established duringthe Renaissance. James IV of Scotland's "golden age of Scottish poetry", influenced by Franceand the Continent's developing Humanism, emphasised the sensual rather than the pietistic,ethical, spiritual. Renaissance humanism had its counterpart in Scotland in aesthetic andintellectual thought.

Rut again, theology reasserted itself in Scotland with the horrific Reformation during the 16thCentury. I remain persuaded that a large impetus for this rests on the individual's spiritual,ethical needs. At its close, witch-hunting with its execution of over 1,000 "witches" in Scotlandby about 1590 and leaving no "odd" middle-aged women safe, was due to the Fundamentalist,Calvinist Theocracy then and related to uncertain, social institutional, capitalistic changes dueessentially to family jealousies and reflected in the then "System". Freemasonry was to developout of a similar disaffection in the 17th Century in Scotland and become influentialinternationally. 17th Century Scotland showed a certain individualistic, intellectual frame-of-reference that was to become later marked.

In 1689, in Scotland, the "Glorious Revolution" (recently quietly celebrated) heralded the Eraof Scottish Enlightenment, whose intellectual influences, because of the ancient Franco-ScottishAlliance, were to be manifest throughout Europe and hence, by the end of the 18th Century,internationally. Humanistic thought was revised and expressed by the developing Literati,revolting against Hohhes's selfish, egotistical concept of the nature of man.

This movement was co-related with a generation of economic prosperity in the linen trade, inthe Tobacco Barons of Glasgow (dealing in147 Millions in 1771), and with afforestation andimprovements in agriculture. Literacy became virtually universal in Scotland, because of the1688 Revolution and the Union with England in 1707. The scientific study of medicinedeveloped with the first hospital opened in 1729, the Edinburgh Infirmary. Mental healthpractice was given impetus with the Montrose Royal Hospital in 1781 and by about fifty yearslater, all Scottish cities had built a mental hospital.

Eminent Scottish philosophers during the Enlightment included Francis Hutcheson,influenced by Mandeville's views, who opposed the selfish theory of man and helped to developLiberalism. David Hume's scepticism shows the influence of Reid and Kant, and AdamFerguson was affected by Montesmaeu's and Mill's thought. Adam Smith pursued the Free-Market Policy which still persists. Literary clubs and societies developed, like the New Club inEdinburgh and the Aberdeen Philosophical Society. These are only examples of the HumanistMovement in Scottish thought in the 18th Century.

It is now necessary to broaden the perspective and relate Humanism in North Britain to thatin England and indeed internationally. Out ol'"the wind of change" in the French and American

Ethical Record, June, 1991 21

Revolutions at the end of the 18th Century, the political optimism of T. Paine and ScottishOwenite socialist-liberalism and utilitarianism, Holyoake helped to establish the Society ofRational Religionists and "The Reasoner" in 1851 advocating secularism. There were reputed tobe 100,000 sympathisers of Humanism in England then. Spencer's thought together withDarwin's Evolutionary Humanism in the mid-I 9th century encouraged Bradlaugh, an overt,intellectual-atheist and his founding of the National Secular Society in 1866, and some feel themovement's high-water mark was in 1877. The Fabians, Ruskin and Huxley diverted it into theSocialist banner. Comte's Positivism was an attempt to return the movement under Congreve topseudo-ecclesiastical rituals that became influential politically in South America. The I st BritishEthical Union was founded in 1886 by the American, S. Coit and published the "LiteraryGuide" by the Propagandist Press that became known in 1890 as the Rationalist PressAssociation, whose current medium is the "New Humanist". Other influential publications haveincluded the American, F. Adler's "The Thinkers Library".

The movement, then, had adopted a radical, athiestic, reforming dynamism and, alternately,a tendency to return to under an ecclesiastical umbrella. The latter approach was developed outof the religious denomination of Unitarianism, e.g. South Place Ethical Society developed fromthe Unitarian Fox's dissatisfaction with Calvinism in 1796, so that by 1970 Conway Hall had lostall its religious pretensions. But a few London-Scots still attend there.

To return to Scotland more recently. There are small Humanist Societies in Edinburgh,Glasgow and forcefully revived in 1990, in Aberdeenl Their organ, 'The Scottish Humanist",edited from a cottage in Orkney, has a subscription of under 100. Relative to its small size, theScottish Humanist movement has been influential in guiding national thought on issues such asdivorce, abortion and religious education in schools. A more recent furore was MargaretKnight's Aberdeen radio talks in 1959 on "Morals without Religion" advocating ScientificHumanism.

1 have so far tried to outline the history of Scottish Humanism. It is now intended to offerpointers as to the sociological, psychological and philosophical implications of the movement

Being ir-religious, a-religious or anti-religious is co-related with the social decline in religion.From its highwater mark in 1912, the number of confirmations within the Anglican communionhad declined by a fifth fifty years later, and over the past fifteen years, membership of the Churchof Scotland has declined relatively by a third. And this at a time when both Fundamentalism andLiberal theology hold high claims for the functional; social role of religion. To practisepsychotherapy implies a Humanist frame-of-reference. Politically, the movement is oftenmisconstrued as associated with Communism or Anarchism and may be criticised for being tooanthropocentric in its questioning of "What is Man?".

The above, then, has been an outline of the history of Scottish Humanism. The Scot hasalways been a theological arguer since the Druids. Temperamentally he is different from theSouthern Englishman, as was recently witnessed in his political revulsion against Thatcherism.His dilemma remains in reconciling his tradition-thought with individuality. The AncientScottish Universities reiterated Humanist thought and principles, although within anaristocratic-Benevolence framework. The wander - lust of the Scot broadened his nascentHumanist instincts. But the optimism and cult of sensual beauty is rather alien to the dour Scot.He used to admire Education as a means of economic prosperity, that is associated withHumanist virtues.

There is a strong case to support the view that Humanism was manifest in Scotland, which,unfortunately, is dwarfed historically by the emphasis on Calvinistic religious bigotry. Scottishphilosophical thought during the Enlightment deserves its proper, important recognitioninternationally. Scotland, today, is far less "a priest-ridden nation". But with all theseconsiderations, it is felt currently that there is more need and scope for re-developing ScottishHumanism both as a belief system and organised institution.

• It is hoped that these comments and outline of the nature of Scottish Humanism might notonly provide its record but also act as a stimulant.

"Stands Scotland where she did? ... Yes, scarce afraid to know herself"

22 Ethical Record, June, 1991

The Alma-Ata Declaration by the World Health Assembly of

"HEALTH FOR ALL BY THE YEAR 2000 A.D."

Summary qf the talk given on Sunday. 27 January 1991, by Dr. M. Sharif SQA, D.SC. (Hon.), FRCS(Eng.), Retired W.H.O. Consultant and Former Director for WHO and UNRWA

in the Near East 1964-77.

In the economy of life, health occupies the place of pride and value, and good health is theexponent, par excellence, not only of the wellbeing of an individual but of the welfare andstability of a people. The philosophy of health has been well and truly enunciated in the ancientLatin adage: "Mens sana in corpore sano", meaning a "healthy mind in a healthy body". In anidentical sense, the old English Proverb narrates that: "health is wealth; if wealth is lost, little islost, but if health is lost — all is lost". It is in the self-same sense that the nations of the worldattach so much importance to the health and welfare of their people and endeavour their utmostto provide means to attain this end, particularly in the development of their natural resources inthe sectors of agriculture, food production, animal husbandry and fisheries, water and powerresorces, clothing, housing, commerce and industry, etc.

In prehistoric times, man lived and acted individually in the interest of self-preservation andlearned to protect himself against the hazarduous elements of nature in crude ways in a wild andfree existence. But as he grew to live as a social being in community life, experience taughthim/her that people must look after each other collectively as well. These people had littlecontrol over diseases until such time as medicine made its appearance through their own simpleobservations and experiments. Although, in due course, great sages and learned men practicedmedicine and enunciated sound medical aphorisms, especially great physicians recorded inhistory such as Sekhet-en-Enoch of Pharaonic Egypt, Hippocrates of Ancient Greece, andAvicenna of Ancient Persia, medical practice, by and large, remained confined to symptomatictreatment of disease. Little was done to prevent and control disease until relatively recent times.Epidemics of communicable diseases would flare up every now and then, here there andeverywhere, and wipe out whole sections of the human race all over the globe. Such diseaseswere accepted as natural calamities and people submitted to them resignedly, taking them as evilvisitations or acts of Divine Wrath.

With the progress of time and development of international and inter-continentalcommunications, some of these scourges, especially plague, cholera and influenza made theirappearances in pandemic form. The Cholera pandemic of 1831 spread like wild fire across Asia,North Africa and Europe and this stirred up the affected nations to mutual consultations onmethods of control on an international platform. Earlier, quarantine had already come intoexistence in the beginning of the Fifteenth Century A.D. when Venice established what it called a'lazaretto' with the underlying idea that passage of time would give dormant disease opportunityto manifest itself and would lead to dissipation of the infection brought by persons or goodsfrom an infected area, during the period of confinement. Other city-states and countriesfollowed the example of Venice until some form of sanitary regulations became general in manycountries during the suceeding centuries.

The first international health council was held at Constantinople in 1838 and the firstinternational sanitary conference followed in Paris in 1851 and lasted for six months, duringwhich various epidemiological theories of the day were aired and certain views on quaratineemerged. An International Sanitary Code was prepared comprising 137 articles dealing withCholera, Plague, and Yellow Fever, but the convention did not receive effective ratification.Another important Conference was held at Rome in 1907 at which the "Office Internationald'Hygiene Publique" was established, a technical office for the study of epidemic diseases andrevising and administering the International Sanitary Convention, and a centre for the rapidexchange of epidemiological information in which it collaborated with the Pan-AmericanSanitary Bureau founded in 1902, and other bodies subserving similar functions, notably theEgyptian Sanitary, Maritime and Quarantine Board and the Singapore Bureau.

Ethical Record, June, 1991 23

The World Health Organization, which came to assume most of these responsibilities, had itsorigin in April 1945 during the Conference held at San Fransisco to set up the United Nations.The representives of Brazil and China were the initiators. A technical preparation Committeemet in Paris in March 1946 and drew up proposals for the Constitution, which were presented tothe International Health Conference that met in New York in June 1946. This Conferencefinalized the text of the Constitution of the World Health Organization, which was then signedby the representatives of 51 members of the United Nations and ten other countries. Upon itsratification by 26 members on 7th April 1948, the World Health Organization formally cameinto existence as a Specialized Agency of the United Nations and began to function. This is why7th April each year is celebrated as World Health Day

The first World Health Assembly met in Geneva — Switzerland in June 1948. TheConsitution of W.H.O. enshrines the principles that are basic to the happiness, harmoniousrelations and security of all peoples in the world, and includes the following:-

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing and not merely theabsence of disease or infirmity. The enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of healthis one of the fundamental rights of every human being, without distinction of race, religion,political belief, economic or social condition.The health of all peoples is fundamental to the attainment of peace and security, and isdependent upon the fullest co-operation fo individuals and states.The achievement of any State in the promotion and protection of health is of value to all.Healthy development of the child is of basic importance; the stability to live harmoniouslyin a changing total environment is essential to such development.The extension to all peoples of the benefits of medical, psychological and relatedknowledge is essential to the fullest attainment of health.Informed opinion and active co-operation on the part of the public are of the utmostimportance in the improvement of the health of the people.Governments have a responsibility for the health of their peoples which can be fulfilledonly by the provision of adequate health and social measures.

W.H.O.'s Headquarters is located at Geneva in the Palais des Nations. It is responsible for allpolicy guidance, direction, programming and buclgetting on a world basis.

W.H.O. assistance takes many forms, e.g.:-Strengthening national health!services;Helping train more and better health workers of all categories;Fighting major diseases like Malaria, Tuberculosis, Small Pox, Cholera, Plague, YellowFever, Bilharziasis, etc. etc.;Protecting Maternal and child Health;Improving Sanitation and Water Supply;

(I) Promoting Mental Health; etc.W.H.O. also provides services needed by all countries alike, and which include an Epidemic

Information Service, International Quarantine Measures, World Health Statistics, theInternational Standardisation of Drugs, Vaccines and other medical substances, thc Promotionof Medical Research, and a technical Publications programme.

This is how W.H.O. advances scientific knowledge in all health matters and assists nationalgovernments to fight ignorance and disease among all the peoples of the world so as to enrichmankind with health and happiness and thereby consolidate and perpetuate peace across theglobe.

It was in this spirit that the world Health Assembly at its fortieth annual mceting held at AlmaAta in April 1978 adopted its famous resolution, now known as the 'ALMA ATADECLARATION OF HEALTH FOR ALL BY THE YEAR 2000 A.D.! Since then, thepursuit of Primary Health Care is being pursued as a fundamental national health policy by allthe nations and peoples across the globe.

With W.H.O.'s guidance and co-ordination, all the 166 Member States are now unanimouslycommitted to health for all. Let us hope and trust that this fundamental objetive will come to berealized by the year 2,000 A.D.

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