When Albert Schweitzer ultimately decided to voice his concerns about the seriousness of the consequences of radiation and the testing of nuclear weapons, he called upon the world in his "A Declaration of Conscience" to muster the courage "to leave folly and to face reality." Yet, nearly 50 years later, we haven't left folly. We are still blurring the lines between play and reality.
In our childlike imaginations, the United States, the world's "GI JOE," makes bold accusations of other plastic leaders' use of terror, mass-murder, and nuclear might, which threatens our playpen. In our fantasyland, these fanatical and despotic enemy play figures are swiftly knocked down, and their plastic and plush assets repossessed by the "good guys." On a few occasions in the past, however, our play world got "out of control." One such instance was when we dropped two big, bad "neuclear" bombs that obliterated two of mother's antique vases. That event harshly brought reality into the play world, and "disappointment " - though not punishment - disrupted our focus of fantasy. Yet, we returned, unscathed, to Barbie, Ken and the nuclear gang.
In our wild hallucinations in the real world, we never question the double standard and hypocrisy of condemning other nations' use of our tactics: torture, preemptive attacks, and possession or use of WMDs. On some level of consciousness, we envision our real tanks and missiles and planes as plastic tanks and missiles and planes that are preparing for another full assault on the ragged plush toy in the corner. We conduct our subcritical "neuclear" tests beneath the loose floorboard in order to "keep us strong" from the bad guys. While North Korea's "neuclear" tests are bad, our subcritical and simulated (Divine Strake) nuclear tests are good.
It is time that we, citizens of the world, wean ourselves from this plaything that we never fail to project unconditional love and tolerance. While there is nothing inherently wrong with playthings or the phenomenon of "play," it becomes exceedingly dangerous when play is a mental state of our leaders, our media and concerned citizens.
If we don't choose to leave folly, the "real" reality will one day horribly disrupt our fantasy world. That introduction (to reality) won't be in the form of melted plastic and burnt plush, but burnt bodies and parentless children in our midst.
