Evening star., 1954-04-01
Revolt OF the.Mind

It may seem akin to treason to say this.
but 1t Is doubtful that much is going to come
Of the Governments effort to alert and arouse
the people to the dangers Of this atomic
hydrogen age For the picture-the confused
picture-which is being spread before us is too
much to keep with us day in and day out.
Somewhere deep in the human mind there is
an intelligence or an instinct which revolts
against way Of life which is organized and
dictated by fear.
1t is not that people do not understand the
words, They grasp the import, for instance, of
Defense Secretary Wilson'S comment that the
results of the recent H-bomb tests were almost
unbelievable" When Admiral Strauss, chair
man of the Atomic Energy Commission says
that the March shot was "a stupendous blast
in the megaton range" most people get the.
point They understand, If it is possible really
to understand such a thing, that Admiral
Strauss was saying that the explosion was
equivalent to the setting off of millions of tons
of INT.
Most people, awaiting an opportunity to
see the edited film of our first hydrogen test
explosion, will be considerably interested They
have read that this 1852 test presumably small
time stuff, obliterated Pacific island and
ripped gaping mile-wide hole in the ocean
floor. Perhaps, with this intelligence they will
be bit puzzled, however, by the statement
that the film iS~being shown to inform them as
to the defense measures necessary to protect
our communities" if an enemy should start
dropping H-bombs on u.s. CALIFORNIA; Repre-
sentative Holifield, presumably well informed
since he is member of the Joint Committee
on Atomic Energy, has not relieved this puzzle
ment. He says that civil defense against atomic.
hydrogen weapon attack is "delusion." Mil
lions of human beings he adds, "are rushing
at supersonic speed toward the abyss of atomic
hydrogen destruction" and the only hope, as
Mr. Holi1eld sees'it lies in arousing the instinct
OF self-Survival in all men so that nation will
dare use these weapons.
But the millions on both sides of the Iron
Curtain to whom Mr.. Hofield appeals are con-
cerned with matters which, if much less ave-
some, are also more pressing.
How are the bills to be paid? Buy a new
car, or run the old one for another year? Why
aren't the children doing better in school?
What will today bring at the Office? These, and
hundreds of similar things, are the problems
which are real to most of U.S. They are real
because we can comprehend them and, perhaps,
do something about them But what is it, actu-
ally, that John Smith or Jane Doe can do about
a weapon whose power must be measured in
megatons, weapon capable of destroying the
worlds greatest city in single blast, weapon
that can snuff out the lives of millions of peo-
pie in the interval between one breath and
another? aaa
One thing that most people cannot do and
will not do is to spend the rest Of their lives
creeping to bed fearfully at night and creeping
out fearfuly in the morning. There is limit
to the amount of fear and frightfulness which
can register on the human, mind. And 1t is well
that this is so for otherwise we should very
probably destroy ourselves.