Watching the World

The World at War

◆ Depending on how you count wars, at least 30 conflicts worth calling a war are in progress today, said Col. R. D. Heinl, Jr. And there have been more than 50 significant international clashes since 1945, but so far the hypothetical “Third World War” has not happened. Today, men are fighting another kind of war​—guerrilla war, insurgency, revolutionary war, “war of national liberation,” as the former Russian ruler N. Khrushchev called it. This, said Col. Heinl, is probably the most significant politico-military phenomenon of our century. The French simply call it “Modern War.” Out of some 250 recorded instances of revolutionary insurgency since the dawn of history, nearly a hundred have occurred in this century, two thirds of them since the end of World War II. What must be admitted, said Heinl, is that there is no peace in our time.

In Search of Food

◆ A published report from Brasília tells of thousands of starving peasants invading towns, breaking into stores and private homes in search of food. About 200,000 people have been stricken by a drought that has swept northeastern Brazil. The hungry people have left their homes in search of food. Six freight trains were robbed of all food supplies the latter part of May in the area around the city of Fortaleza. Banks and businesses in many interior towns have closed their doors in fear. One thousand five hundred tons of food have been flown into the drought area, but starvation still threatens many.

Sex Problems and Celibacy

◆ A published report from San Francisco, California, said that a study of 280 Roman Catholic nuns and priests under psychiatric care revealed significant sexual maladjustment, possibly due to the stress from vows of celibacy. Dr. Robert J. McAllister reported in May that 75 percent of 80 outpatient nuns and priests studied “were involved in conflictive sexual behaviors”​—including chronic masturbation, sexual relations with members of the opposite sex and homosexual activity. Of 200 studied in hospitals, he said, 36 percent were involved in similar sexual behavior. Homosexual behavior was the most frequent maladjustment, with 17 percent of the hospitalized priests and 12 percent of the hospitalized nuns having histories of homosexual behavior as well as 28 percent of the outpatient priests and 28 percent of the outpatient nuns.

Change or Die

◆ Former Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson of Canada, calling for drastic reforms, said that the United Nations must change its ways or die. He specifically advocated reviving proposals for a United Nations military force to carry out Security Council orders in peace enforcement​—proposals that were quietly shelved some twenty-two years ago. With Secretary-General U Thant at his side, Pearson quoted the warning that Thant made about a year ago: “The United Nations has ten years to become effective or disappear.”

Salt in Baby’s Diet

◆ In man or in rats, there is no sure way to identify early in life those individuals genetically prone to high blood pressure, according to Dr. Lewis K. Dahl of the Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York. But Dr. Dahl observed: “One sure way to spur the development of hypertension is to feed genetically prone individuals a high salt diet.” Conversely, “one way to avoid it is to avoid foods with a high salt content.” Dr. Dahl reported his findings on rats. He fed 25 genetically prone rats an exclusive diet of commercial baby foods. All developed hypertension within eight months; 12 died. On the other hand, 15 rats from the same strain, fed a low-salt diet, failed to develop hypertension. Apparently feeding a salt-containing diet aggravates the problem.

“Man’s Great Tragedy”​—Rivalry

◆ Evidence of man’s failure to benefit all men is everywhere. The specter of war haunts him. Overpopulation, poverty and pollution are reminders of his failure. Dr. Hugh L. Keenleyside, chancellor of Notre Dame University, Nelson, British Columbia, and former chief of the United Nations technical assistance administration, said man’s greatest tragedy is that he based his society on competitive rivalry rather than cooperative association. “All governments of the world together spend less money in seeking peace through the United Nations than New York city spends on its unsuccessful efforts to dispose of its garbage,” he said.

Police Protest

◆ The city of Stockholm, Sweden, was described as wide open early in June, when policemen staged a protest against the government for refusing to discuss their demands for better salaries and working hours. Since it is illegal for policemen to strike, they decided to resort to such tactics as refusing voluntary overtime duty and reporting sick. With the police off the streets, a band of 150 looters in a fleet of 50 cars reportedly rampaged through Stockholm on June 7. Gangs smashed and looted a gas station, a liquor store and an amusement park.

Church Business

◆ Former Commissioner of Internal Revenue Mortimer M. Caplin, in testimony before the United States House Ways and Means Committee last year, said: “A number of churches have entered into active and aggressive commercial endeavors. One, for example, has become a wholesale distributor of popular phonograph records. Another has acquired at least seven sportswear-and-clothing-manufacturing businesses. A third manufactures mobile homes and operates a drilling business. Others conduct real-estate-development businesses, provide petroleum storage facilities and carry on a broad variety of manufacturing enterprises.” Churches engage in a dazzling variety of activities, ranging from the manufacture of wine to a Baptist skating rink, gym and bowling alley. Their business ownership includes electronics firms, a girdle company, supermarket supplies, schools, hotels, clothing, insurance, funeral homes and cemeteries. Does all of that sound like the Lord’s business​—the course and example laid down by Jesus Christ and his apostles?

No. 2 Killer

◆ Venereal disease was once looked upon as a problem under control and on the way toward elimination. But today, VD is in near-epidemic proportions in America. Reported cases of syphilis and gonorrhea increased by more than 10 percent last year to a shocking total of 529,575. And authorities estimate fewer than one third of the actual cases are reported to public health offices. Syphilis now ranks as the No. 2 killer among communicable diseases.

High Cost of Living

◆ For about twelve years the United States has enjoyed an almost uninterrupted boom. Money was, for the most part, easy to get, and people got a bit careless about their money-spending habits. Now the money squeeze is on. Old-fashioned thrift has to be practiced once again, but how? It might mean getting rid of a car or moving into a cheaper house. It may mean canceling charge accounts, destroying credit cards and living as much as possible on a cash basis. It may pay to plant a vegetable garden, give up precooked foods and take instruction on do-it-yourself repairs. Perhaps a letter with a 6-cent stamp will serve just as well as a long-distance call. Millions of dollars are spent on candy, soda pop and pizza, which one can do well without. When the children want to go to the movies or bowling, suggest a walk in the park or a trip to the zoo. Make some of your family clothing and drapes yourself. If the electric bill is over the budget, perhaps the television set can be turned off at 9 o’clock for thirty days and family members can brush their teeth manually. A little saving here and there can make a big difference without noticeably reducing your standard of living.

“Music” Can Harm Eardrums

◆ The British medical magazine, The Lancet, stated that two hours of discotheque music can adversely affect one’s hearing. Too much noise can add to and speed up normal hearing loss caused by aging, the magazine said.

Cost of Drug Addiction

◆ The heroin habit is said to be costing drug addicts $1,000,000 a day in Washington, D.C., alone. In turn, a tidal wave of robberies, burglaries and larcenies is forcing merchants to raise food prices as much as 10 percent and doctors to station armed guards in their of offices. Dr. Roger C. Smith, former director of San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury Clinic, determined that the cost of heroin for 35 of his patients exceeded $2,300 daily. Since stolen goods bring only a fraction of their value, these 35 addicts alone had to steal some $10,000 worth of property every day. The Johns Hopkins Hospital Drug Abuse Center estimates that with the average addict stealing $50,000 in merchandise in Baltimore, addicts there account for $500,000,000 in theft each year. At that rate New York’s 100,000 addicts may be stealing $5,000,000,000 a year. Said one former $100-a-day addict: “I slept three to four hours a night; the rest of the time I was hustling. . . . It’s a 24-hour commitment.” The ones who steal are wrong, but what about the people who buy goods that they know or suspect to be stolen? They must share the blame.

Court Backs Draft Exemption

◆ Who are entitled to draft exemption? The Supreme Court of the United States ruled on June 15 that men who have conscientious scruples against all war based on moral and ethical reasons are entitled to draft exemptions. The new interpretation of the Selective Service law by the High Court’s 5-to-3 decision exempts from military service “all those whose consciences, spurred by deeply held moral, ethical, or religious beliefs, would give them no rest or peace if they allowed themselves to become a part of an instrument of war.” Considerations of policy, pragmatism or expediency would be no bases for exemption, the Court ruled.

“Living on Borrowed Time”

◆ Can man last out the century? Scientists seriously doubt it. “It may already be too late,” said Dr. Paul R. Ehrlich, outspoken ecology expert, to do anything about saving mankind. Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, biologist and Nobel laureate, declared: “At present, we are on the road to extermination.” “We are spewing out toxic materials far more rapidly than other people on the earth,” said zoologist Wayne Davis, “and when civilization collapses on this earth, as it’s going to do within the decade, it’s going to hit the U.S. first.” “We’re living on borrowed time now,” was his conclusion.

“Domestic Agony”

◆ A domestic crisis exists in the United States. In 1968 Richard Nixon at the climax of his presidential campaign adopted the slogan, “Bring Us Together.” Now, a year and a half later, says a news report from Washington, D.C., “Americans are so torn apart, so savage toward each other, that the president and Mrs. Nixon, obviously for safety reasons, were prevailed on to cancel trips around the country.” “The country,” said Mayor Lindsay of New York, “is virtually on the edge of a spiritual​—and perhaps even a physical—​breakdown.” Historian Arnold Toynbee commented: “The American people seem to be moving rapidly towards civil war: middle-aged noncombatants against young men subject to the draft; the affluent against the poor; white against black, students against the National Guard . . . The decision on the American home-front is going to decide the fate of the world, and the rest of us can do nothing about it. We have no say, but we, too, are going to be victims of America’s domestic agony.”