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win. Studies ha ve shown that most
TV shows depicting violence have a
definite negative effect on mental
health. cau ing a rnarked tendency
toward aggressivc and antisocia l be–
havior in viewers.
AND ALL TIJE REST.
ft wou ld
take reams of paper to list and ana–
lyze a ll thc many faccts o f our mod–
ern society that may be contributing
to menta l diso rders. A lack of pri–
vacy on a personal and ins titutional
basis may play a ro le in our psy–
choses. The boredom many of us
face on the job day after day may
a lso have an effect. Accelerated
change (ncatly cata loged by Alvin
Toffier in his book
Future Shock)
ca n also ge t to us. And our society's
subtl e and noH,o-subtle laek o f re–
spect for human dignity causes each
of us to experience our share of
mental anguish. So it's obvious our
environment rcally is d isturbing all
of us mentally as well a
physically. But what can be
done about it?
Can We Change Anything?
Most of the problcms dis–
cussed abovc are th e direct
or indirect rcsult of th e way
our institutíons and our so–
ciety are structured. Indus–
tri al pollution is hard to
check because such indus–
tri es are vita l to our way of
life.
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f we hamstring all pol–
luters and make them turn
out their products in a to–
tally "clcan" fashion. many
of them would be forced
out of business. Their work–
ers would be la id o!L a nd
ou r cntire cconomy wou ld
take a ca tas trophic nose
di ve.
of this, we must be will ing to make
some extcnsive sacrifices and
changes in our entire way of lite.
lt
ap p ea rs we may be forced to
"evolve" from the complex to the
simple - perhaps evcn be forced to
wipe everything out and start all
over, from the bottom up.
Some economic thinkers have
speculated on what kind of society
cou ld be built if such a thing were
poss ibl e. E.
F.
Schumacher, writing
in
Sma/1 Is Beautifu!,
proposed a
, model society of people with ex–
cellent tools running small indus–
tries lo supply loca l needs with a
mínimum expenditurc of energy
and a maximum utilization of the
human hand and brain. These small
en trepreneurs wou ld fu nction under
a centra l
gov~rnment
that preserved
th e freedom a nd responsi bility of
local governmen ta l uni ts.
This is a nice dream. bu t don' t
seems to confirm tha t setting up a
sa ne society isn't easy, human na–
ture being wha t it is.
But wha t about isolating a nd
solving the multiface ted pollu tion
problems? Certainly governments,
communities, industries. and you
and
1
can coll ectively work togethe r
to help clean up our environment
and s ub stan t ia ll y reduce our
chances of "going bananas." But
will we a ll join hands, cast our self–
ish
interes ts aside, and ge t the job
done? Or is thi s an imposs ible
dream?
The world's least-understood and
most-a rgued-a bout book. the Bible,
devotes a major portion of its pages
lo the explanation of a bíblica( uto–
pía. The Old Testament prophets
claimed that just such a society is on
the way. Before things get too much
more out of hand - before mankind
act ua lly dest roys itse lf - th e Bible
indica tes that God is goi ng
to step d irec tly into the
thick of humani ty's strug–
gles a nd solve the problems
his
way. whether man likes
it or not.
Christ promised tha t he
wou ld return to set up a
utopi an wo rld government
founded upon institut ions
th at va lue the protection of
the environment, that bui ld
a sense of community, and
that pul people ahead of
"progrcss" and profit. ln
that era. the en ti re earth
will be filled wi th the
knowledge of God. Ci ties
won't be ove rc rowded .
Every man will be able to
own sorne ground and sil
under his "vine or his fig
tree." All of mankind will
finally be at peace. There
will be no more frenzicd
scrambling for a living; leí-
Likcwisc. it is ncarly im–
poss ibl c to c limin a te or
even contro l auto exhausts
wi th o ul com plcte ly u p–
se tting our en tire life-style
and cconomy. Our noisy,
overcrowded. blighted big
o
sure time wi ll be avai lable
~
to a ll. But more impor-
liiiiiiiiiíiiii¡¡¡¡.¡iiiiiiiiíli¡¡l:
tantly. pcople will be at
.... peace wit h themselves and
cities with their sprawling suburbs
are also part of this ovcrall pattern.
All of these disturbing and upse tting
factors are in t imatcly interrelated.
and to changc any one of them is
difficult without upsetting the entire
delicatc house or cards.
ldcally, to cffcctivcly change any
The PLAIN TRUTH November 1976
hold your brea th. Man has had
dreams of recapturing a peaceful.
harmonio us. plcntcous utopía cver
ince he was forcefully removed
from the Garden of Eden. Ironi–
cally. he has cvcn rought with his
fellowmen in enorts
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bring il
about. Six thousand years of fa ilure
wit h God. In that wonderful day
God promises to pour out his spirit
on a ll flesh. and utopía wi ll finally
arrive. (lf you are in terested in ob–
taini ng a more in-depth undcrstand–
ing of this vast subj ect. picase write
immediately for you r free copy of
The
Good News
magazine.)
O
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