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The INVITATION ... an emperience in the Peace Dome |
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The Nobel Peace Prize Laureates you meet in The INVITATION Alva Myrdal’s commitment to people reveals a tremendous span, both in terms of time and spheres of interest. As far back as the 1930’s she was a staunch champion of women’s liberation and equal rights. She proved to be a brilliant diplomat and was the first woman to be appointed head of a department in the United Nations. She left that post to become Sweden’s ambassador to India. As a researcher and disarmament expert, with a wide knowledge of the problems of world politics, she commanded attention in the international forum where her influence was profound. Alva Myrdal became a rallying point for men and women who cling to the belief that in the last resort, mind is bound to triumph over matter. |
Alva Myrdal The driving force in the development of our civilization, at least since the Renaissance, has evidently been the progress of technology. But technology is two-edged. It can always be exploited either by good forces or by evil forces. And we human beings do not seem to have succeeded to make a choice quite consciously, nor how to steer the considerable consequences. The credit side of this necessarily double-entry form of bookkeeping has naturally to record the tremendous progress that has helped to overcome so much misery and raise millions of people to a comfortable living standard. The inventions and the great discoveries have opened up whole continents to reciprocal communication and interchange, provided we are willing. The scientific innovations, not least in the field of medicine, and a great deal more must, of course, be placed to the credit of technology. But on the other hand, the triumphs of the evil forces are visible in numerous areas. I shall confine myself here to what I really know something about, and which is also the most ominous development: the growing role played by armaments. First and foremost arms are tools in the service of rival nations, pointing at the possibility of a future war. War and preparations for war have acquired a kind of legitimacy. The tremendous proliferation of arms, through their production and export, have now made them available more or less to all and sundry, right down to handguns and stilettoes. The cult of violence has by now so permeated the relations between human individuals that we are compelled to witness an increase in everyday violence, violence in the streets and in the homes. These are the models we set for our young people. It does not just happen. ©1982 The Nobel Foundation, reprinted with permission |
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Ask how your school or organization can preform The Invitation. Email us at peace@som.org for details |
See the College of Metaphysics performance of
available on dvd |
