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Conquest of War

COSMIC alchemy differs from each of the other six branches of alchemical science
in that it seeks to transform the energies of society as a whole into those channels of
action which are most beneficial to it, that most effectively assist in the highest
development of its members, and that most completely cooperate toward the
realization of God’s Great Evolutionary Plan.

The other branches of alchemy, one and all, recognize the desirability of mankind as
a whole steadily advancing toward greater perfection, and they give very definite
instructions for the individual to follow in perfecting his character and abilities, and
thus increasing his usefulness both to himself and to society. They also indicate to
him how, for legitimate ends, he may best influence the course of actions followed by
others; and they point out certain occult sciences it would be well for society to
recognize and study, and certain spiritual principles that mankind would do well to
understand and utilize.

But they offer no suggestion in reference to many important problems that society
must face. They do not indicate, for instance, for what measures a citizen should vote
when he goes to the polls. They do not advise him whether the installation of
television in homes is to the best interest of the public. They do not inform him
whether he should encourage or discountenance the development of automatic
machinery. They shed little light on whether or not it is truly advantageous to the race
for more people to gain an appreciation of the beauties and grandeur of nature, or to
cultivate love of poetry, literature, music and art. If these and other things are to the
detriment of the race, the spiritual individual should exert as much pressure as
possible to discourage their popularity; but if they lead in the direction of real race
betterment, he should work tirelessly to develop a wider and increasing interest in
them. Such is the field embraced by cosmic alchemy.

Cosmic alchemy gains no support from materialism, however; for materialism cuts
off from humanity all spiritual light. It denies the existence of Deity. It denies there
are other forces than those physical. It denies there is an inner realm of existence.
And it denies that personality survives the tomb.

It not only denies these things, but it goes to great pains to convince people that there
is no evidence whatever that favors the belief of any reasonable person in any one of
these four. And some of its advocates have resorted to trickery to discredit such
belief. They have made fake tests of astrology, and they have employed experts in
legerdemain to make it appear that all psychic phenomena are produced by
deception.

So determined are they that their authority must never be challenged that they have
even tried to get laws passed which would keep people from learning about astrology
and from learning about extra-sensory perception. If it is permitted that these
subjects may be taught, they have argued to themselves, more and more people will
try them out.

And they have succeeded in their object in so far as the radio is concerned. To quote
from an article by J. Hugh Pruett, Astronomer, General Extension Division,
University of Oregon, appearing in the December 11, 1945, issue of Signs of the
Times:

“But Astronomers are universally intolerant toward astrologers and bitterly resent
any insinuation of amity. A few years ago the American Astronomical Society, with
the aid of the American Society of Magicians, persuaded the Federal
Communications Commission to rule astrological broadcasts off the air. This seems
almost like intolerance, yet to many of us it was a desirable move.”

To many materialists, fostering such intolerance is a desirable move. They do not
want people to try out astrology for themselves; for progressed aspects prove
conclusively that there are non-material energies which upset the whole scheme of
materialistic philosophy. And these materialists do not want people to try out
extra-sensory perception; for it enables people to contact the inner plane sufficiently
that they become convinced of its existence, and often are able to gain for themselves
conclusive proof that personality survives the tomb.

And through extra-sensory perception many people are able to tune in on the
all-pervading intelligence of Deity and sense the general outlines of His evolutionary
scheme. They thus perceive that all souls are being educated to perform a function in
carrying out this universal plan, and that the more people there are on earth who make
satisfactory progress, the more souls will there be who have developed some skill
and obtained the knowledge which furthers them on the road to becoming effective
workmen doing their own particular job in the realization of God’s Great Plan.

The cosmic alchemist, therefore, rejects the idea that only the special privileged few
should be permitted to enjoy such advantages as earth has to offer. Instead, he works
to the end that all the people of the world should have as ample opportunity as
possible to make both intellectual and spiritual progress. Such opportunity is made
possible only under favorable economic, social and political conditions.

However prosperous a people may be, if religious intolerance prevails they are
limited in their spiritual progress. Religious intolerance, whether it is exercised by
some orthodox hierarchy or by some group of materialists, strives to keep the people
from having access to facts which are incompatible to its tenets.

For instance, throughout the years 1943, 1944 and 1945 it was only through great
effort and sacrifice on the part of those whose religious teachings would have been
suppressed by such laws that the effort was defeated to get laws passed in California
prohibiting teaching either extra-sensory perception or astrology.

These laws were framed as models later to be enacted elsewhere, and it was the
expressed hope of their sponsors that the whole United States eventually could be
blanketed with them. It was even suggested that the sale of literature on these
subjects be prohibited. Had these efforts succeeded, people in this country would
thereafter have been prevented from learning about the inner plane.

Because to make the most intellectual and spiritual progress people must have access
to facts of both the inner plane and outer plane, and be permitted to live in the manner
indicated by these facts, the cosmic alchemist works vigorously to enable all the
people of the world to have FREEDOM OF WORSHIP.

A people, however, who are sadly undernourished, or a people who must toil each
day until exhausted in order to keep the body alive, have too little energy left for
effective study. If they cannot spare the time to get an education, or if educational
facilities are unavailable, they are curtailed in their intellectual and spiritual progress
even though they have freedom of religion. And if they are too poor to acquire or
otherwise contact the physical things from which spiritual values can be gained, their
progress is retarded.

Because to make the most intellectual and spiritual progress, people must have
sustenance, must have some leisure from arduous toil, and must enjoy certain social,
recreational and physical facilities, the cosmic alchemist works energetically to
enable all the people of the world to have FREEDOM FROM WANT.

Such freedom from want can be obtained for all the people only under the most
favorable political conditions. It cannot be obtained if the privileged few are
permitted to exercise censorship over the views expressed by those who believe in
equal opportunity for all. And it can be attained in full measure only when each
individual is given opportunity to use his natural aptitudes.

Because to make the most intellectual and spiritual progress people must be
permitted to select, without interference by special privilege, their own leaders, and
must be permitted to use their special talents, the cosmic alchemist works
strenuously to enable all the people of the world to have FREEDOM OF
EXPRESSION
.

Fear restricts activities, impairs the health, and chains the attention to images which
engender a dominant vibratory rate which is too low to permit contact with the higher
inner-plane levels. It thus not only hinders the development of spirituality, but it
hinders clear thinking and the most satisfactory intellectual progress.

Knowledge of after-life conditions should banish the fear of death, the economic
conditions of the world should be handled in such a way that abundance will banish
fear of want, and proper organization and cooperation between nations should banish
the fear of war and the atomic bomb.

Because to make the most intellectual and spiritual progress people must know about
after-life conditions, must not be faced with the specter of want, and must not be
compelled to sacrifice time, energy or their lives to war, the cosmic alchemist works
ardently to enable all the people of the world to have FREEDOM FROM FEAR.

Spirituality Carries a Responsibility to Society

–No truly spiritual individual can put any one of these four freedoms aside with a
shrug and the platitude that he is not his brother’s keeper. He should recognize that he
is an intelligent cell in the body of the Cosmic Man, and that as such he has a part to
play in carrying out the Divine Plan of universal progression. It is his mission to exert
his energies, to the fullest extent he is capable, toward assisting other cells in the body
of the Cosmic Man to develop to their highest possibilities. The deific objective calls
for the fullest cooperation of all in its attainment. And every individual has a
responsibility, that rightly he cannot shirk, to exert as much pressure as he is capable
toward advancing the real interests of other members of society. To the extent of his
abilities and opportunities each is responsible for the progress of society as a whole.

But before the individual, no matter how spiritually inclined and energetic, can be of
service toward the advancement of the race, he must know what things really
contribute to race advancement, and what things are detractive.

If he permits his opinions to be directed by popular vogue, or if, in the erroneous
belief it is spiritual, he supports fanaticism; no matter how good his intentions,
instead of assisting human progress, he is a hindrance, and often a nuisance besides.
Our popular reformers, no doubt, find great self-satisfaction; but more often than not,
in their ignorance both of human nature and of what constitutes real welfare, they
make a sorry muddle of their own and other people’s lives.

Before we can advance the interests of the race through publicly and privately
advocating right measures, through the ballot box, and through personal example,
we must know what things rightly may be expected to benefit society. It is the
province of cosmic alchemy to supply this information.

Experiment Rather than Theories Needed

–Of some things, without further investigation and discussion it can be said that
they are beneficial to the race, or that they are not beneficial. But of other things,
because they are as yet so incompletely understood, or because their influence under
one set of circumstances is quite different than under other conditions, no such flat
statement should be made. About these things it is better to make judgment
provisional upon additional experience.

Take, as an example, the form of government best adapted to human progress. It is
probable that a form quite suitable for a nation at one period of its development is
equally unsuitable at another period. And it is probable that a form that is successful
with one race of people, because of cultural and temperamental differences, may
with another people prove a rank failure. Nor is it likely that any group of individuals
is so wise that it can foresee all the contingencies that would arise from the adoption
of a system not as yet thoroughly tried.

Such wisdom is not expected in the world of mechanics; for even Edison remarked
how unusual it was for an invention, or new device, to perform at first trial as the
originator had been led to expect So seldom does it do so that Edison said he was
always suspicious of anything that worked according to the original plan. Nearly
every one of his more than a thousand inventions had to be brought into final working
condition through the method of trial and error. At first it was defective; but constant
application to finding the cause and remedy for these defects at last brought it to a
state of final utility.

Whether we interest ourselves in mathematics, in chemistry, in biology, or in other
sciences or professions, we find with each that in its application, unless they have
been modified from their original form through observing the effects in actual
operation that fine spun theories fail to get the expected results in their practical
application. Why then, if the human mind in its capacity to predict by reason alone in
all other fields is known to be so fallible, should we expect it to perform with perfect
precision in predicting the effect upon human conduct of some untried political
system? Did those, for instance who forced prohibition on the United States in 1919
anticipate that it would be followed by far the greatest crime wave the country had
ever had? Does anyone actually know whether there is more graft and corruption
under private ownership or under government ownership?

It seems to me that it is far better to admit that as yet we do not know enough about the
practical workings of certain advocated changes to be sure just how they would
result. This does not mean that they should be rejected; but that they should be
subjected to experiment as well as further study. In time, if we try them out
experimentally, we will have definite and accurate information as to their practical
value.

Thus the boundary line of conjecture recedes, and that of knowledge equally
advances, as human experience widens. That which once was supposed to be an
impenetrable morass yields to man’s ingenuity, has its bogs and sink-holes
sign-boarded, and a trail through found that offers firm footing to human feet. But
beyond the frontier reached by this safe road there always lies other uncertain
ground. Should we completely shun this, saying that mankind has traveled
sufficiently far, and that we should leave good enough alone? Or should we, after
mapping a theoretical path, leave firm footing and plunge ahead on this speculative
route, to survive or perish as our theories are correct or false?

I think the example of the chemist, the physicist and the inventor can help us here.
They never rest content with present accomplishment. If they did mankind would
enjoy far fewer conveniences. But neither do they risk their all on untried theories.

Instead, they devise means by which in some manner their theories may be tested
experimentally on a small scale.

The chemist, devising a formula to make some new substance, does not at once sell
stock and build a huge plant for its manufacture. Not if he is a successful chemist. He
first tries out his process on a very small and inexpensive scale. Usually, at this first
trial, it does not work as expected; but not having exhausted his financial resources,
he makes one change after another in the process until finally it works as desired.
Then, and then only, does he risk his all on a plant. So also the physicist, before
risking his theoretical calculations of stress and strain resistances of materials,
devises experiments that in a small way demonstrate the degree of accuracy attained.
Only after the practical application of his calculations have been put to the test in
various lesser ways does he turn them over to engineers as safe tables to follow in the
construction of vast dams, huge skyscrapers, and impressive bridges.

The most important problem facing the world today is how to provide that all the
people of the world shall be able to enjoy freedom from want, freedom from fear,
freedom of expression and freedom of religion. The attainment of these freedoms
seem, logically enough, to be the next great strides in race development. If anything
needs doing on a world scale, one might think from the brief summary previously
given, it is the attainment of these freedoms. Yet before discussing possible means to
such ends we first should be sure that they would actually conduce to human
progress. And as war is so potent a cause of fear, let us give it first consideration.

Origin of War

–Biologically war is the transference toward members of one’s own species of an
impulse as old as life itself. All creatures have natural enemies from which they must
escape, or escape being impossible that they must destroy if they are to survive. As a
general thing the ability to fight is a prime requisite either in a race or in an individual.
Those not possessing it usually perish.

Even among the members of a species, those possessing unusual ability to destroy
their opponents are commonly most favored. The strongest wild stallions whip the
others and gather to their leadership and protection the most mares. Thus few colts, in
the wild state, are sired by weaklings. The most powerful bulls, the strongest stags,
the most pugnacious cocks, are fathers of the most offspring. And even among
monogamous animals, those skilled in combat hold the safest retreats and gain the
choicest supply of food. By virtue of these advantages the strong, the courageous, the
skillful and the cunning more often live to reproduce themselves, to pass these
attributes on to their progeny.

Man, emerging from bestiality, also found it advantageous to be a good fighter. He
was surrounded by predatory creatures that were a constant menace to his existence,
and he must destroy them to survive. As family expanded into community, and
community enlarged into tribe, and tribes banded together as a nation, the
effectiveness of concerted action against an enemy became apparent. And because,
as yet, large groups of men had not learned how to cooperate with each other to the
mutual advantage of all, there was rivalry for choice of habitat and food supply. Even
when society had progressed to a point where it no longer tolerated the settling of
personal differences through the slaughter of one individual by another, it still
glorified the slaughter of the enemy in the prosecution of war.

At a time when war was largely a matter of personal combat, unusual skill and
strength tended to prolong the lives of the hardy and valorous. Sagacity and alertness
also permitted escape from a too numerous enemy. Such qualities, because they
aided the survival of the individual, were perpetuated in the children, and contributed
to the development of such qualities by the group.

The Survival of Weakest

–But exactly the reverse was true in World War I and World War II Strength and
courage and keen intelligence were attributes that spelled almost certain doom to any
individual. The first to reach the modern battlefield are the flower of the land. As call
after call for additional troops arrive, finally defectives are all that remain. Nor does
the strength and intelligence and courage of those who go prevent their extinction.
Against machines and chemicals and atomic energy the strong perish as quickly as
the weak.

Political affiliations of chance or design are of more importance today than the
individual ability of the soldier. And scientific developments that can be utilized to
wipe out a large part of the population of a whole nation in a single night before they
are aware an attack is contemplated, are possibly more important still. This state of
affairs may encourage political adroitness, and it may encourage scientific
discovery, but it does not save the life of the fighter. The ten million men who fought
and died in World War 1, and the greater number who fought and died in World War
II were not inferior to those who stayed at home. They were the best examples of
health, strength, intelligence and ability the world could provide. Did they live to
perpetuate these sterling qualities? Not so I And the race as a whole is sadly
weakened by their loss.

Nor is it likely that the over-all picture would be changed by the use in war of the
binding energy of the atom. Civilian populations would be wiped out, it is true; but
those who would do the fighting, and who also would die in great number, would be
the most capable men and women that could be found. Nor would there be any
guarantee that the nation making the most scientific progress would survive; for the
discoveries of its scientists no doubt would be used by any ruthless and barbaric
aggressor group seeking world domination.

But, after all, is it desirable that more than a few of the most intelligent, strong and
courageous should survive? Just before each of the first two world wars a philosophy
was popularized in the aggressor nations that found no place for compassion, that
looked upon morality as weakness, and that exalted ruthless selfishness to the throne
of superman. It advocated that the strong should climb the hill of progress by
trampling under foot the bodies of the weak. The masses were to be but cattle to do
the work of their overlords, to be housed and clothed only because of their
usefulness, to be educated only sufficiently to be good servants, but not enough to
make them dangerous rivals. Thus, it was taught, the superman would rise above
mercy, would have no morals but his own ambition, and would develop courage,
strength, cunning and leadership to the end of vanquishing his enemies and
dominating a servile human race.

In such a materialistic scheme the only important thing is victory. If it enables the
more cultured few to survive and propagate their offspring, and thus perpetuate the
race of overlords, what matter that tens of millions of the world’s finest perish on the
field of battle? Their only usefulness, according to this culmination of materialistic
philosophy, is to do the work and fight the battles that give more power to their
masters. And if some of the masters also perish in the fight, that is the chance the
masters must take. It is their job, at any cost to themselves and others, to be
victorious.

Yet in its application such a philosophy would yield only a temporary and material
advantage to these devilish supermen. Unless skill, originality, initiative and
intelligence are encountered among those who do the work of the world, that work
becomes shoddy. A man who is intelligent enough to make a valuable discovery in
chemistry, in physics, or in astronomy, is intelligent enough to plan means to end
serfdom. A man who is engineer enough to construct bridges, aqueducts and
skyscrapers, is capable of engineering the downfall of oppressors. The inventor who
has the ability to construct a new device is not so lacking in ingenuity that he fails to
invent a way to gain freedom.

The things that add to human comfort and prolong life do not originate in the minds
of ruthless military or political leaders. Without the development of high intelligence
and skill among the masses those things upon which progress depends would not be
forthcoming. Almost every family today possesses conveniences that were not even
dreamed of by royalty a few generations ago. Yet the same intelligence that brought
the motor car and the radio is the intelligence that found a way to decrease the power
of aristocracy.

We cannot cut off one end of a stick and have a stick possessing only a single end left.
Nor can any group of men decrease the welfare of other large groups of men without,
after a time, finding themselves less advantageously situated.

World Advance Depends Upon the Progress of All Men

–The world needs leaders to be sure, just as it needs various other types of ability.
But leadership alone is unavailing. In addition to competent leadership and
organization, to travel far there must be the cooperative effort of highly trained
specialists. Competition between business firms has demonstrated this. Intelligence,
initiative, skill, loyalty to the concern, and friendly cooperation are the outstanding
qualities of the individual working for the most successful institutions.

Such institutions prosper and advance beyond their competitors by encouraging the
development of the utmost in ability, and affording ability opportunity to work. The
world also is just an institution, only on a larger scale. As yet a vast number of its
individuals are ignorant, unskilled and incompetent. But give them proper training
along the lines of their natural aptitudes as revealed by their charts of birth,
encourage the use of the abilities thus developed, raise the level of intelligence, and
the whole organization is benefited. Every backward person in a business slows its
pace, and every undeveloped person in the world retards its progress. Those at the top
can reach only so high as standing on the shoulders of others permits, and if these
shoulders are low, so is the highest reach.

Einstein, with his theories, is valuable to the world only because there are others who
sufficiently understand them to put them to practical use. Excellence in authorship is
encouraged because there is a reading public sufficiently educated to appreciate
better writing. Better music, better art, better movies, better television, will be
forthcoming when the people have developed a taste demanding them. Thus do those
of exceptional ability stand on the shoulders of the masses, and without such support
their efforts prove futile.

From our standpoint as cosmic alchemists, therefore, we view the world as one big
organization of workers in which the success of the organization depends upon the
development to his highest possibilities of every person, and upon the opportunity to
exercise his full abilities. World progress depends upon the advancement of all
people.

War Breaks Conservatism

–Due to a peculiar conservatism of the human mind this advancement in the past
often has been hastened by war; and in some directions, notably in the perfection of
chemical substitutes for natural resources that may be lacking, and in the invention of
engines of destruction, war acts as an accelerator even today. But because chemistry
and invention are already far ahead of economic organization and social control, to
hasten their further development through the agency of war is to pay for these things
that are not vitally needed now the enormous price of destruction of the most
treasured possessions of society.

Among primitive peoples living today, however, and among those of the past in so
far as their records reveal, we find a condition well illustrated in the migratory flight
of birds. In more ancient times there were rivers and lakes where none now exist, and
various natural barriers that long since have disappeared. But the birds in that time in
their flight were compelled to detour to avoid the barriers, and to gain more ample
food supply followed the streams. Thus were migratory routes established; much as
human beings become accustomed to do something in a particular way. Yet in the
long course of time streams dried up and mountains were leveled. Nevertheless, the
birds still keep to the customs established by their ancestors. They follow the course
of streams that no longer exist and dodge what once were highlands but now are level
plains.

And thus it is in primitive society. Whether it is the making of an arrow, the painting
of a piece of pottery, the building of a home, or the manner of wearing the hair; once a
custom is established it tends to remain. Even the simplest matter of household
routine, because of custom, takes on religious significance. Among those more
highly organized, penalties are prescribed for anyone so injudicious as to depart from
the established methods; and among those with no centralized authority for
enforcing the will of the group, the individual who thus Haunts the sacredness of
group tradition is promptly ostracized. No one speaks to him, no one gives or trades
him food, no one extends him succor in sickness, no one even recognizes him as
having existence until he retracts in suitable manner and returns to the methods
prescribed by his ancestors.

Nor is this slavery to habit confined to primitive peoples of the present and the past. It
stands today, even among the foremost nations, as the greatest single obstacle to
racial progress. Because we are all too apt to think this tendency to crystallize has
been routed, let us consider a few rather modern examples. They appear ridiculous
today because the innovation that then seemed such a menace has now become the
accepted custom. Yet innumerable things are opposed today on quite as flimsy
grounds, and the arguments so seriously advanced against them now will seem just as
ridiculous tomorrow.

The use of anesthetics in surgery, for instance, was stoutly condemned at the time of
its introduction. It was held immoral, to be in violation of God’s holy ordinances.
God had decreed that man should suffer, and to lessen this suffering by artificial
means was held to be sinful. Only after a struggle was the opposition gradually worn
away. And even now similar arguments are advanced with considerable success
against contra conception and against modern painless methods of childbirth.

Quite as vigorous an opposition arose to the introduction of the bath tub in America.
A great controversy ensued, and an ordinance was passed in at least one large city
against the use of this newfangled idea of cleanliness. It threatened, for a time, to
become a political issue, but was finally elbowed to one side by other matters.
Almost everyone is aware of the struggle necessary to introduce the telephone, and
the fight that developed against the use of the steam engine. The British Admiralty
went so far in 1804 as to declare it their duty to discourage the use of steam vessels,
because the introduction of such vessels was calculated to strike a fatal blow to the
naval supremacy of the Empire. (Energy of the New World, by Slosson.)

About the same time there was a vigorous opposition to the use of coal as fuel, and
Colonel George Shoemaker was threatened with arrest for endeavoring to sell a few
wagon loads of it in Philadelphia. Going back still further, we find that in 1306 King
Edward I issued a proclamation making the use of coal as fuel in London a capital
offense, and for this crime one man was executed. (Energy of the New World, by
Slosson.)Usually whatever has been sanctioned by custom, however inadequate it may be, is
defended upon religious grounds. Not to draw down displeasure of the gods,
primitive man must dress in a particular fashion and use only certain weapons in the
chase; or if he had arrived at the agricultural stage, he must plant his crops and tend
them only with tools such as were used by his forefathers. One more example, quoted
from Energy of the New World, by Slosson, this time giving the arguments in detail,
will suffice to show this at all times numbing influence of conservatism:

“A German paper, in 1816 (Koelnische Zeitung, March 28) condemned the project
of street lighting on six points: (1) Theological, as blasphemous, since God had
divided the light from the darkness; (2) Judicial, people should not be compelled to
pay for gas they do not want; (3) Medical, the emanations were injurious to health,
and people would stay out late and catch cold; (4) Moral, the fear of darkness would
vanish, and crime would increase; (5) Police, the street lights would frighten horses
and embolden thieves; (6) Economical, great sums would be sent to foreign
countries.”

Such great pressure is brought to bear in support of ancient customs that races often
live side by side in almost daily contact without adopting conveniences and better
methods from each other. Such being the nature of the human mind, marked steps in
progress often are taken only as a last resort in dire extremity. Such a situation has
frequently been furnished by war.

A people threatened with extermination at the hands of an enemy will grasp
desperately at any means that offers hope of survival. When greatly outnumbered
and thus sure to be defeated if they use only the old war-club, they will take the only
chance left open and use the new-fangled bow and arrow just invented by some
young radical. Slaying their opponents at a distance, living through the agency of this
new contraption, they retain it as a part of their equipment henceforth. Or, faced with
starvation due to siege, one more adventurous than the rest tries out a vegetable that
hitherto has been considered inedible. He does not die as expected, so others try it,
and thus it becomes after a time a staple of food. Harassed by enemies, with their
lives in constant danger, even better tools are developed; for there is the necessity to
make things in haste, and no opportunity to indulge the taste for precedent and
decorum.

In time of war, or in time of other great crisis, civilized peoples often bring about
changes quickly, both for good and for ill, that otherwise would be held back a
hundred years. The abolition of slavery at the time of the Civil War, the introduction
of nation-wide prohibition made possible by World War I, and the utilization of
atomic energy during World War II are examples in the history of America. It is
probable also that both chemistry and aviation were advanced at least half a century
of their normal development during World War I, and that radar and the use of
plastics made equal strides during World War II.

But for these advances we have paid far too great a price. The brutalizing effect
alone, to say nothing of the lives lost, the maimed and diseased, and the loss of vigor
to coming generations, far outweigh any chemical or mechanical advantage.

Once the Greek city-states were the glory and the envy of the world. Yet in spite of
their magnificent culture, these city-states, led by Sparta on one hand and by Athens
on the other, so weakened themselves in warfare with each other that within a little
over one hundred years after the repulsion of Persia they could offer almost no
resistance to Macedonia. The fragments were gathered in with little adieu by Phillip
and Alexander.

Today, aviation and radio have brought the nations of the world as closely together as
were those little warlike Greek city-states. And because the world is capable of
producing and distributing abundance for all, there is no more real need for war than
there was for those little Greek city-states to decimate each other.

With the production of atomic bombs, we have reached a point in the development of
mankind where we must divert our aggressiveness, initiative and ingenuity into
constructive channels if the race is to escape extinction. The wars of the future must
be against disease and other obstacles to human progress and happiness. Never
before has there been such opportunity to exercise talent for human betterment. And
the most valuable talent of all just now is that which can unite the nations of the world
into a cooperative whole.

The amalgamation of business concerns has reduced duplication of effort, effected
economies in management, and increased total output, thus benefiting both business
and the buying public. The difficulties in the way of forming such combines have
often seemed insuperable. Traditional jealousies and hatreds have had to be
overcome. It is the outstanding business achievement of the last half century that
these difficulties have been surmounted.

Likewise among nations, there are bitter feuds, temperamental dislikes, suspicions,
and hereditary animosities. To draw them into one great cooperative organization is a
Herculean task. Yet it must be accomplished. It is the only way to preserve and foster
civilization. And the advantages to be gained by all are so tremendous as well to
repay every possible effort.

Nor do I minimize the importance of competition. Unity and peace have their
dangers. When Babylonia, Egypt, and the Roman Empire had for some time attained
immunity from their neighbors, there set in a species of dry rot in each that corrupted
their institutions and led to downfall. But these were absolute monarchies, imposing
their will, by means of adequate standing armies, upon their subjects. The
independence and initiative of the subject peoples were crushed out. In a world of
cooperative peoples, however, it would not be difficult to encourage competition
among individuals and among races, even as modern business encourages
competition among its employees and among departments, to devise and develop
ideas and things that are beneficial to the whole organization.

To Conquer War

–It would seem that the only practical manner in which to attain this world-wide
unity and freedom from wars is through a United Nations Organization. The peoples
of the world at present have customs so different, and the education they have
received is so unequal in different areas, that at first the authority of the United
Nations Organization will need to be limited to certain essential functions.

First of all it must have at its command a military force of sufficient power to impose
its will on any nation, or any likely group of nations that otherwise might go to war.
This military force, at all times under the command of the United Nations
Organization, would perform for the world the duties of the police force of a city. It
would simply be a law enforcement agency. And to be effective, it must have its units
so deployed, and possessed of such powerful weapons, that any nation or likely
group of nations would realize it would be suicide to make a sneak sudden attack on
any other nation. It must possess the power and be given the duty of preventing war in
any section of the globe.

And even as in a city or nation there are secret police whose activities help prevent
crime and apprehend criminals, so must the United Nations Organization have under
its direction investigators with authority to examine activities in all countries of the
world and reveal the production of such destructive weapons as are forbidden to be
produced by any nation, but which may be produced and owned only by the military
force of the United Nations Organization.

When, through the competition of other nations a nation finds itself deprived of
access to materials on which its very life depends, it goes to war. And the foreign
policies of some country or group of countries may work other unbearable hardships
on the peoples of some land, Therefore, even at start, the United Nations
Organization should have the authority to regulate the foreign policies of all
countries in the world.

As the present backward peoples of the world gain in education and experience in
self-government, the governing functions of the United Nations Organization should
gradually be increased. National sovereignty in certain matters other than foreign
policy, armament and the making of war, should then gradually be relinquished in
favor of the authority of the United Nations Organization, even as certain state rights
were gradually relinquished to the Federal Government when the 13 colonies banded
together to form the United States of America.

As time passes, the nations of the world, while retaining the independence possessed
by the various states within the USA, should permit the United Nations Organization
to exercise much the same function in world affairs that at present the Federal
Government exercises in the affairs of these United States. This not only will abolish
war and increase the prosperity of all, but will provide the machinery through which
any nation can seek just treatment from any other nation or group of nations without
going to war. There will be no more incentive or opportunity for one nation to go to
war with another than there is for one of our 48 states to go to war with another of
these states.

The United States of America affords a working model that long has passed the
experimental stage It worked. But in building a world organization following a
similar pattern new and serious problems are sure to arise. These problems must be
faced and solved as they appear. It is not necessary that they all be solved now. But
the cosmic alchemist knows what the initial step must be to prevent much of mankind
being exterminated by the tremendous power of present-day weapons of war, and he
knows toward what ultimate goal the peoples of the world should be working.

In spite of leaving the details to be worked out step at a time, he knows what kind of a
world he wants. And he realizes that the only way to build such a world is first to
create a public sentiment favoring it. When public sentiment throughout the world is
insistent enough, leaders will be chosen who have the skill to build a cooperative
world organization.

Long before a world can be built in which there will be freedom from want, freedom
from fear, freedom of expression and freedom of worship, and long before a world
organization can be constructed in which specialization of parts, division of labor
and effective cooperation between the parts contribute to man’s physical, intellectual
and spiritual progress, an organization can be formed to perform the essential
functions necessary to prevent further wars.

But such an organization, or one providing still greater benefits, can only be
constructed if there is sufficient public sentiment throughout the world favoring it. If
public sentiment is strong enough, leaders will be found and selected with sufficient
skill to form and handle such a United Nations Organization. Therefore, the cosmic
alchemist works with unflagging zeal to create a worldwide sentiment for a United
Nations Organization that can and will abolish war.

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