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How Is Our World Today?

HAVE you who are old enough to remember 1945 seen any change in standards and morals? Millions have embraced the “new morality,” which supposedly offers greater freedom. But at what price?

A 70-​year-​old man who served in the U.S. Navy during the second world war stated: “In the 1940’s, there was much greater trust, and neighbors helped one another. Where we lived in California, we didn’t even have to lock our doors. There was no street crime, and there was certainly no armed violence at schools. Since that time trust has practically vanished.” What is the situation today in your part of the world? It is reported that in New York City, half the teenagers over 14 years of age carry weapons. Metal detectors are used in some schools in an effort to keep out knives, box-​cutters, and guns. Each year about one million teenagers in the United States get pregnant, and 1 in 3 of these have abortions. Young teenagers are already mothers​—children having babies.

The powerful homosexual and lesbian lobby has promoted its life-​style so effectively that more and more people have condoned and embraced it. But, along with others, they have also paid a high price in sickness and death due to sexually transmitted diseases such as AIDS. The AIDS epidemic has spread to the heterosexual population and to drug abusers. It has cut a mortal swath through Africa, Europe, and North America. And there is no end in sight.

A History of Private Life states: “Violence, alcoholism, drugs: these are the principal forms of deviant behavior in Swedish society.” That statement stands true for most of the countries in the Western world. With the collapse of religious values, there has been a flood of moral degradation, even among many of the clergy.

Drug Abuse​—Then and Now

Back in the 1940’s, drug abuse was almost unknown among the general population of the Western world. Yes, people had heard of morphine, opium, and cocaine, but only a relatively small group abused these drugs. There were no drug lords or peddlers as we know them today. There were no junkies on street corners. Now what is the situation in 1995? Many of our readers know the answer from their experiences in their own neighborhoods. Drug-​related murders are becoming the daily fare of many of the principal cities of the world. Politicians and judges are held captive to powerful drug lords who can order and obtain the liquidation of any uncooperative influential person. The recent history of Colombia and its drug connections is proof of this.

The drug plague reaps about 40,000 lives each year in the United States alone. That problem certainly did not exist in 1945. It is no surprise that after decades of governments trying to eradicate drug abuse, Patrick Murphy, a former police commissioner of New York City, wrote an article for the Washington Post with the heading “The War on Drugs Is Over​—Drugs Won”! He says that “the drug trade . . . is now among the most successful enterprises in the [United States], with profits that could reach as high as $150 billion this year.” The problem is massive and seems insoluble. Drug abuse has a growing clientele, and as with many other vices, its clients are hooked. It is an industry that underpins the economy of several nations.

John K. Galbraith, professor of economics, wrote in his book The Culture of Contentment: “Drug dealing, indiscriminate gunfire, other crime and family disorientation and disintegration are now all aspects of everyday existence.” He states that minority communities in many major American cities “are now centers of terror and despair.” He writes that “greater resentment and social unrest should be expected.” Why is that? Because, he says, the rich are getting richer and the poor, “the underclass,” who are growing in numbers, are getting poorer.

The Tentacles of International Crime

Evidence is now mounting that criminal groups are spreading their influence worldwide. For years organized crime, with its “crime families,” has had its links between Italy and the United States. But now UN Secretary-​General Boutros Boutros-​Ghali has warned that “organized crime on a transnational scale . . . scoffs at frontiers and becomes a universal force.” He said: “In Europe, in Asia, in Africa and in America, the forces of darkness are at work and no society is spared.” He also said that “transnational crime . . . undermines the very foundations of the international democratic order. [It] poisons the business climate, corrupts political leaders and undermines human rights.”

The Map Has Changed

Vaclav Havel, president of the Czech Republic, said in a speech given in Philadelphia, U.S.A., that the two most important political events in the second half of the 20th century were the collapse of colonialism and the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe. A comparison of a 1945 map with one of 1995 soon shows the upheavals that have occurred on the world stage, especially in Africa, Asia, and Europe.

Compare the political situation for the two dates. During the intervening 50 years, Communism reached its zenith only to end up being defrocked in most former Communist countries. In those nations totalitarian rule has given way to some form of “democracy.” However, many people are suffering the effects of the transformation of their society to a market-​based economy. Unemployment is rampant, and often money is worthless. In 1989 the Russian ruble was worth $1.61 (U.S.). As of this writing, you need over 4,300 rubles to equal one dollar!

The magazine Modern Maturity reported that today about 40 million Russians live below the poverty line. One Russian said: “We can’t even afford to die. We can’t afford the funeral.” Even a cheap funeral costs about 400,000 rubles. Unburied bodies are piling up at morgues. At the same time, it should be noted that over 36 million Americans live below the poverty line in the United States!

The Guardian Weekly finance correspondent, Will Hutton, wrote about Eastern Europe’s problems. Under the title “Enter the Age of Anxiety,” he stated: “The collapse of communism and the retreat of Russia to its smallest size since the 18th century are events whose implications are still barely understood.” Some 25 new states have replaced the former Soviet empire. He says that “the jubilation with which the collapse of communism was greeted has now passed into growing anxiety about the future. . . . Descent into economic and political anarchy is ever more likely​—and western Europe cannot expect to remain immune.”

With such a pessimistic outlook, little wonder that Hutton concludes his article saying: “The world needs a compass better than simple appeals to democracy and markets​—but there is none to hand.” So where can the nations turn for a solution? The following article will offer an answer.

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The UN Since 1945

Why has the UN, formed in 1945, been incapable of preventing so many wars? Secretary-​General Boutros Boutros-​Ghali stated in his speech “An Agenda for Peace”: “The United Nations was rendered powerless to deal with many of these crises because of the vetoes​—279 of them—​cast in the Security Council, which were a vivid expression of the divisions of that period [of the Cold War between the capitalist and the Communist governments].”

Is it that the UN has not attempted to keep the peace between nations? It has tried, but at a high cost. “Thirteen peace-​keeping operations were established between the years 1945 and 1987; 13 others since then. An estimated 528,000 military, police and civilian personnel had served under the flag of the United Nations until January 1992. Over 800 of them from 43 countries have died in the service of the Organization. The costs of these operations have aggregated some $8.3 billion till 1992.”

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Tank and missile: U.S. Army photo

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Television

Educator or Perverter?

Relatively few homes had television in 1945. It was still in its naive infancy of black and white images. Today, TV is a condoned thief and interloper in almost every home of the developed world and in every village in the developing world. Although a minority of programs are educational and upbuilding, the majority are degrading to moral values and pander to the public’s lowest common denominator. With the popularity of films on video, the exploitation of pornography and X-rated movies is another nail in the coffin of good taste and healthy morals.

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Wars, such as the one in Vietnam, have cost more than 20 million lives since 1945

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Patrick Frilet/​Sipa Press

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Luc Delahaye/​Sipa Press