250 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
250 lines
12 KiB
Plaintext
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"The unleashed power of the atom has changed everything save our modes
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of thinking and we thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophe."
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Albert Einstein, 1946
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The development, deployment and use of nuclear weapons have
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forever altered our environment. For the first time, a species
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has the capability of destroying itself and its life support
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system. Our thinking, however, has not yet caught up with that
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reality. In order to survive, we must change our mode of
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thinking. This change requires knowledge, decision, and action.
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I. KNOWLEDGE
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A. War is Obsolete
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Throughout recorded history, war has been used to acquire, to
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defend, to expand, to impose, to preserve. War has been the
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ultimate arbiter of differences between nations. War and the
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preparation for war have become intrinsic to human culture. Now
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we must accept the reality that war has become obsolete.
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* We cannot fight a full-scale nuclear war. A full-scale nuclear
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war would destroy civilization as we know it and would threaten
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life itself.
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* We cannot fight a limited nuclear war. Detonation of even a
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small percentage of the world's nuclear arsenals could trigger a
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"nuclear winter" and could cause the extinction of humanity. It
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is also highly probable that a limited nuclear war would escalate
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to a full-scale nuclear war.
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* We cannot fight a conventional war among the superpowers. Such
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a war would likely escalate to a nuclear war.
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* We cannot fight a conventional war among the non-superpowers
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without potentially involving the superpowers. The growing
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interdependence of nations has produced a network of "vital
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interests" that the superpowers have pledged to defend. This
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defense could, in turn, escalate through conventional war to
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nuclear war.
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Today, because war has become obsolete, we must learn to resolve
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conflict without violence.
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B. We are One
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"Once a photograph of the earth, taken from the outside, is available...
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a new idea as powerful as any in history will let loose."
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Sir Fred Hoyle, 1948
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The view of the earth from space is a symbol of the
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interconnectedness of all life. This symbol of oneness is
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validated by a variety of scientific discoveries of the last
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century.
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* Physics demonstrates that nothing exists in isolation. All of
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matter, from sub-atomic particles to the galaxies in space, is
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part of an intricate web of relationships in a unified whole.
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* Ecology provides the understanding that all parts of a living
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system are interconnected and that greater stability results from
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increased diversity.
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* Biology reveals that, in a totally interrelated system, the
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principle of survival of the "fittest" is now seen as that
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species which best contributes to the well-being of the whole
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system.
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* Psychology explains the projection of the dark side of the
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personality upon an "enemy." That knowledge gives us new tools
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to understand conflict and to improve relationships between
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individuals and between nations.
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Together these discoveries reveal in a new way the meaning of
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"One." We are one interconnected, interdependent life-system,
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living on one planet.
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C. The New Mode of Thinking
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The knowledge that war is obsolete and that we are one is the
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foundation of the new mode of thinking. Our mode of thinking is
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what we identify with. It determines our values, our attitudes,
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our motivation, and our actions.
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Until recently, we had not experienced the earth as one
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integrated system. We had limited experience of other peoples
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and other cultures. Therefore, our primary loyalty has been
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limited to our family, tribe, race, religion, ideology, or
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nation. Our identification has been restricted and we have often
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seen those beyond that identification as enemies.
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In the nuclear age this limited identification threatens all
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humanity. We can no longer be preoccupied with enemies. We can
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no longer see ourselves as separate. Modern transportation,
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communication systems and the discoveries of science have
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increased tremendously our direct and indirect experience of the
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world. We now see that all of life is interdependent, that we
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share a common destiny, that our individual well-being depends on
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the well-being of the whole system. We must now identify with
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all humanity, all life, the whole earth. This expanded
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identification is the new mode of thinking.
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It may be that we will never eliminate conflict between
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individuals or between nations. There will always be different
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perspectives, different ideas and different approaches to
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problems. However, an overriding identification with the whole
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earth will enable us to resolve conflicts by discovering
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solutions that benefit all. Diversity will no longer be a cause
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of war. By changing our mode of thinking, diverse points of view
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will become a source of creative solutions.
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The human species has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to
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change its mode of thinking. As we have matured and acquired new
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knowledge, we have expanded our identification beyond the tribe,
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clan and the city-state. As we began to expand our
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identification beyond race, we abolished the institution of
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slavery. Now, by expanding our identification to the whole earth
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and all humanity, we will build a world beyond war.
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"The Age of Nations is past. The task before us now, if we would not
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perish, is to shake off our ancient prejudices and build the earth."
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Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, 1936
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II. DECISION
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The process of building a world beyond war begins with the
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acknowledgement that war is obsolete and that we are one. Change
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then requires a decision to reject totally the obsolete and to
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commit totally to build upon the new identification.
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Decision means "to-cut" (-cision) "away from" (de-), to reject
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forever an option, to close the door to an existing possibility.
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Without a decision it is impossible to discover the new. There
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is always a peril in moving into the unknown. We cannot preview
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all that will happen. We must draw upon our individual and
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collective experience of making such "leaps" in the past.
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The decision to change our modes of thinking must be made on an
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individual basis. Individuals are the basic element of
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societies. Without an individual change, societal change cannot
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occur. Each of us must decide to adopt the new mode of thinking
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as the basis of his or her life.
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"To compromise in this matter is to decide; to postpone and evade decision
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is to decide; to hide the matter is to decide...There are a thousand ways
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of saying no; one way of saying yes; and no way of saying anything else."
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Gregory Vlastos, 1934
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III. ACTION
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Societies generate their own vision of what is possible and draw
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their behavior from that vision. This nation must renew its
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commitment to the vision upon which it was founded and build
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agreement about the implications of that vision in the
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contemporary world.
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"We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal;
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that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights;
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that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; that, to
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secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving
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their just powers from the consent of the governed."
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Declaration of Independence, 1776
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We have not always lived up to the highest expression of our
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founding principles. For example, "all men are created equal"
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originally meant only white, tax-paying, property-owning males.
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Clearer understanding of these principles has resulted in
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creative change. When enough of us agreed that "all men are
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created equal" meant black and white, we abolished slavery. When
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enough of us agreed that it meant women and men, we instituted
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women's suffrage. When enough of us agree that it mean more than
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"separate but equal," we recognized civil rights.
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When new agreements about principles are reached, laws, treaties
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and policies are developed to implement them. That is the only
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sequence of lasting change: agreement about principle, the law.
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Law cannot effectively precede agreement. Agreement must spring
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from new understanding of principles. The action through which
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agreement is built is education.
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Today education must be based upon the knowledge that war is
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obsolete and that we are one. We now know that the principle
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"all men are created equal" applies to every human being on the
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planet. We now know that the unalienable right to life, liberty
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and the pursuit of happiness cannot be secured by war. We must
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now work together to build agreement based on that knowledge
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throughout our society.
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Power comes from individuals who are connected to universal
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principles and who are working together to build new agreements.
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The power of the nation has come from involvement of the people
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in the unfolding of our founding principles. We have always
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agreed that such involvement is not the exclusive right of the
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elite. Truth is self-evident: it is available to all. Power
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flows not from the top, but from the consent of the governed.
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Our Great Seal says it clearly: "E Pluribus Unum--Out of Many,
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One."
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We have become a demonstration of that statement on our Great
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Seal. The possibility that resulted from the process of
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involving people in the pursuit of truth has been unfolding for
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200 years. This process has served as a beacon of hope and
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inspiration to people around the world. It has drawn the largest
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diversity of people ever assembled in one nation. We have
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gathered the "Many"--the religions, the races, the
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nationalities--working for the well-being of the "One," the
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United States of America.
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To fulfill the purpose and vision upon which this nation was
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founded, we must change our understanding of the principle "Out
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of Many, One" to include the whole earth and all life. We must
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work together to build a world beyond war.
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"I know of no safe repository of the ultimate power of society but the
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people. And if we think them not enlightened enough, the remedy is not
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to take the power from them, but to inform them by education."
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Thomas Jefferson, 1820
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************************************************
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Try to take the whole concept in together. Do not get lost in a
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disagreement on a small point or technicality. This is the most important
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issue to face Mankind. We need your help, now!
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Questions or comments concerning this concept should be directed
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to the Beyond War BBS (FIDO 301) at (213) 477-5706, 23 hours per
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day. Give us a call.
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Call The Works BBS - 1600+ Textfiles! - [914]/238-8195 - 300/1200 - Always Open
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