Putting the Genie Back in the Bottle

Friends,

17 year old Erik Choquette won first prize in this year's Swackhammer Disarmament Video Contest, sponsored by the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation. Erik's 3-minute video, The Nuclear Genie, focused on how we can all help "get the [nuclear] genie back in the bottle" through our participation in the democratic process.

Erik's is one of 120 short videos submitted for this year's competition; they all addressed the topic "Breakthrough: Putting the Nuclear Genie Back in the Bottle." You can view the winners and honorable mentions by clicking here. All 120 videos are available at YouTube.

Jonathan Schell, in his book The Seventh Decade: The New Shape of Nuclear Danger, reminds us that “the bomb was born in the mind”, and that we must “let it return there”. But is it possible to put the genie back in the bottle? To quote Schell, “it is no more possible to return to innocence than it is for a grown person to return to childhood. Shall we, like a child, insist on multiplying the device merely because we can? Or is it possible, like an adult, to exercise a mature restraint?”

Schell’s message is ultimately one of hope, but a hope predicated on our ability to act like adults and as a community of nations. And it will be up to each of us as citizens of this community of nations to play our part. That will require our being deeply engaged in the political process both as individuals and as members of organizations working for nuclear disarmament. There is strength in numbers, as one of the winning videos stressed.

Thanks to videos like Erik's, we can reach more people with the positive message and engage them in the movement. Spread these videos around. Share them with family and friends, and especially YOUNG people.

Peace,

Leonard