mmt@dciem.UUCP (Martin Taylor) (04/03/85)
> Like any other group of people, the military has good and >not so good people involved with it. What bothers me is their >tendancy to follow set rules rather than think. True, it is >often more "safe" to stay within a framework of regulations, but >somehow I would feel better if decisions about nuclear weapons >and even peaceful nuclear enterprises were made by poets. I know >a few, and these people really think about their decisions, and >about life. In this case, I *think* I would trust set rules rather than poetic thoughts. Some poets have pretty apocalyptic visions, after all, and it might be just the greatest "happening" on earth to annihilate all life! No-one should be able to make decisions about nuclear weapons, because there shouldn't BE any. But there they are, and someone has to ensure that they aren't used. The rules may be wrong, and may fail, but remember Hitler was an artist, and I seem to remember that Nero was a musician, Idi Amin and Qaddafi poets (vague memory here). Poetic (artistic) insight doesn't make people caring and gentle, and thus unable to contemplate launching Armageddon. All the same, I think that the core of what we are trying to achieve is to make the world a place safe for poets, who represent our highest values. -- Martin Taylor {allegra,linus,ihnp4,floyd,ubc-vision}!utzoo!dciem!mmt {uw-beaver,qucis,watmath}!utcsri!dciem!mmt