Nuclear Test Moratorium

Sagan’s article is an eloquent and passionate statement about ending nuclear testing and stopping the arms race.

For 40 years millions of words have been written in similar protests. The more protests, the larger has grown the mountain of nuclear warheads and their launching systems until today we have the Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars), which is actually a search for the ultimate means to destroy the military power of the Soviet Union.

I believe the meeting between President Reagan and Gorbachev will produce small results for the simple reason that our military-industrial empire has become all-powerful in this country. Its leaders look to the day when the Soviet Union has been dismembered and the untapped natural resources of the Eurasian continent have been opened to our exploitation. The military will guarantee the rights of conquest with its armaments of unbelieveable destructive force designed for any occasion.

This is an extremely dangerous game, irrational by any standards. One would expect this from crackpot extremists, but not those who pride themselves as being highly rational.

The truth is that greed and the lust for power are the masters of this enterprise. Its source is the American jungle we call free enterprise, along with the irresistible passion for gambling for the highest possible stakes. If we lose, all mankind will pay the price.

ERIC ERICKSON

Solvang