Caring for the Future of Our Children

Human Wrongs Watch

Books and articles on peace by John Scales Avery*

15 March 2016

I would like to make some of the my books and articles on peace more easily available, and so I have made a collection of links to the ones that are on the Internet. Let me explain my motivation in writing. Our present situation is this:

**”The Blue Marble” is a famous photograph of the Earth taken on December 7, 1972, by the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft en route to the Moon at a distance of about 29,000 kilometres (18,000 mi). It shows Africa, Antarctica, and the Arabian Peninsula. | Photographer: NASA/Apollo 17 crew; taken by either Harrison Schmitt or Ron Evans | This work is in the public domain because it was published in the United States between 1923 and 1977 and without a copyright notice. | Wikimedia Commons

The future looks extremely dark because of human folly, especially the long-term future. The greatest threats are catastrophic climate change and thermonuclear war, but a large-scale global famine also has to be considered.

We give our children loving care, but it makes no sense do so and at the same time to neglect to do all that is within our power to ensure that they and their descendants will inherit an earth in which they can survive. We also have a responsibility to all the other living organisms with which we share the gift of life.

Inaction is not an option. We have to act with courage and dedication, even if the odds are against success, because the stakes are so high.

The mass media could mobilize us to action, but they have failed in their duty.

Our educational system could also wake us up and make us act, but it too has failed us. The battle to save the earth from human greed and folly has to be fought in the alternative media.

We need a new economic system, a new society, a new social contract, a new way of life. Here are the great tasks that history has given to our generation: We must achieve a steady-state economic system.

oath-1

Image from Johan Scales Avery books

We must restore democracy. We must decrease economic inequality. We must break the power of corporate greed. We must leave fossil fuels in the ground. We must stabilize and ultimately reduce the global population. We must eliminate the institution of war. And finally, we must develop a more mature ethical system to match our new technology.

Here is a link to a review of my new book, “The Need for a New Economic System“:

A Scientist Presses for Action on Many Fronts: A Review of The Need for a New Economic System by John Scales Avery

http://www.lulu.com/shop/john-scales-avery/the-need-for-a-new-economic-system/paperback/product-22556315.html
The book is based on a series of articles that were published in Countercurrents, Transcend Media Service Weekly Digest and Human Wrongs Watch.

I am very grateful to Editors Antonio C.S. Rosa, Binu Mathiew and Baher Kamal for publishing these articles, and to Institute Professor Noam Chomsky of MIT for motivating me to write them. Editor Baher Kamal encouraged to write a book based on the articles.

The book was published a few weeks ago by Irene Publishing, a small Swedish publisher run by the distinguished scholar and peace-researcher Jørgen Johansen and his wife.

It is not yet available on Amazon, but it can be obtained from http://www.lulu.com/spotlight/johansen_jorgen

Jørgen Johansen has also published three collections of my essays:

http://www.lulu.com/shop/john-s-avery/john-a-collected-essays-1/paperback/product-22555064.html
http://www.lulu.com/shop/john-scales-avery/john-a-collected-essays-2/paperback/product-22555150.html
http://www.lulu.com/shop/john-scales-avery/collected-essays-3/paperback/product-22512358.html
and a book entitled Space-Age Science and Stone-Age Politics, which I wrote in 2003 as a protest against the invasion of Iraq. The book was also translated into Urdu and the translation can be downloaded free of charge from the website of Maschal Books: http://mashalbooks.org/

Click to access khilaiscience.pdf

On the Danish Peace Academy website, there are the following links:

Click to access collected4.pdf

http://www.fredsakademiet.dk/library/science/index.htm
http://www.lulu.com/shop/john-scales-avery/space-age-science-and-stone-age-politics/paperback/product-22556352.html

Click to access videnskab.pdf

There is also a book of personal memories of the Middle East as it once was, before being so submerged in oil-motivated wars. In this book, I wanted to give a picture of the great hospitality which my family experienced in the Middle East and the beauty of the region’s culture.

Click to access Memories%20of%20Beirut%20and%20Tehran.pdf

Here are links to articles in two journals of the World Academy of Art and Science:

http://cadmusjournal.org/user/221
http://eruditio.worldacademy.org/author/john-scales-avery

I am grateful to the editors of these journals, Professors Ivo Slaus and Gary Jacobs, for engouraging me to write in them.

From the Learning Development Institute website you can download a book entitled Crisis 21: Civilization’s Crisis During the 21st Century. At the risk of being superficial, the book attempts to look at all of the interlinked problems that are facing us today.

Click to access Crisis21-Avery.pdf

Finally, here are links to some articles that are available on the Internet:

Against the institution of war

Against the Institution of War

We need your voice today

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery190313.htm

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery090413.htm

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery250313.htm

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery010413.htm

Values for the future

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery280412.htm

Reformed teaching of history

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery020812.htm

Targeting ciivilians

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery010912.htm

Blood for oil

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery030912.htm

Back to child labor and slavery?

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery250312.htm

Human rights

https://www.wagingpeace.org/author/john-avery/

http://global-human-rights.blogspot.dk/2014/07/the-court-of-world-opinion-by-john.html

Using material goods for social competition

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery230113.htm

Making a game of killing

Making a Game of Killing

Construction versus destruction

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery190912.htm

The Nuremberg Princoples and individual responsibility

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery300712.htm

Benefits of equality

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery200512.htm

Adverse effects of globalization

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery080512.htm

Optimum population in the future

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery130113.htm

Reciprocity and karma

http://www.countercurrents.org/karma280113.htm

Limits to growth and fractional reserve banking

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery200212.htm

Attacks on Iran, past and present

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery290112.htm

Limits to growth and climate change

Limits to Growth and Climate Change

The future of international law

The Future of International Law

One step backward taken

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery030512.htm

Facing a set of linked problems

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery230712.htm

The Titanic as an allegory

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery160412.htm

Nobody had the slightest idea of what it would be like

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery310812.htm

Israel, Iran and the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery210715.htm

Dangers of nuclear power generation

http://www.countercurrents.org/nuclearpower.pdf

Iran: automatic escalation to World War III?

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery240912.htm

Perpetual war against terrorism?

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery070912.htm

Poverty and war

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery040412.htm

Collective punishment and the blockade of Gaza

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery221112.htm

Economic predictions for 2013

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery050113.htm

Destroying the world for profit

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery160812.htm

The protection racket

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery210812.htm

Sanctions as collective punishment

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery200113.htm

The Mayan apocalypse and Gell-Mann’s curve

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery271212.htm

Restoring democracy in the United States

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery101112.htm

Just staying alive

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery120313.htm

Do the people have a right to know what their governments are doing?

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery190812.htm

A threatened global catastrophe

http://newparadigm.schillerinstitute.com/media/john-scales-avery-a-threatened-global-catastrophe/

Cancer threat from radioactive leaks at Hanford, USA

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery230213.htm

A golden age?

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery280513.htm

The training of soldiers

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery181012.htm

Tribalism and agreed-upon lies

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article33879.htm

The Armed Forces Special Powers Act in Northeast India

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery270313.htm

Kill or be killed (or both)

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery071112.htm

Thou shalt not kill

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery140512.htm

Science changes the character of war

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery011013.htm

Ethics for the future

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery230913.htm

“Humanitarian” missile strikes against Syria?

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery090913.htm

Syria, democracy and international law

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery070913.htm

Nobel Peace Prize winner and war criminal?

Nobel Peace Prize Winner And War Criminal?

Some peace education initiatives in Denmark

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery260813.htm

Protecting whistleblowers

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery300713.htm

A government with many secrets is not a democracy

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery150713.htm

The social responsibility of scientists

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery090713.htm

The task before us

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery010713.htm

Secrecy versus democracy

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery280613.htm

The arrogance of power

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery100613.htm

Racism, colonialism and exceptionalism

http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article36494.htm

The case for economic reform

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery291013.htm

An attack on Iran could escalate into a global nuclear war

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery061113.htm

The humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons

A Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons in February 2014

Mandela and Gandhi

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery081213.htm

Some examples of genocide

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery131213.htm

Nuclear warfare as genocide

Nuclear Warfare as Genocide

Are we being driven like cattle?

Are We Being Driven Like Cattle?

Does the American Jewish Community really want a general war in the Middle East?

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery130513.htm

The fragility of our complex civilization

The Fragility of Our Complex Civilization

An accident waiting to happen

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery020214.htm

Atoms for peace?

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery100214.htm

Truth versus power

Truth versus Power

Lessons from World War I

http://cadmusjournal.org/node/408

Adam Smith’s invisible hand is at our throats

Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand Is at Our Throats

Unfulfilled responsibilities of the media

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery070414.htm

Europe needs to be independent

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery090414.htm

The long-term future

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery190414.htm

Geological extinction events and runaway climate change

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery270414.htm

Preventing a human-initiated 6th geological extinction event

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery020514.htm

Our duty to future generations

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery110514.htm

The illegality of NATO

The Illegality of NATO

The urgent need for renewable energy

Click to access ej-i5-need-for-renewable-energy-javery-reprint.pdf

An Arctic nuclear weapons free zone; Scandinavia as a first step

Click to access 110317AfriNordenstpa-1.pdf

Saving threatened species

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery090614.htm

The devil’s dynamo

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery170614.htm

The court of world public opinion

The Court of World Opinion

Climate change: will a disaster wake us up?

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery190714.htm

Book review: “Hiroshima, August 6, 1945”

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery090814.htm

The Marshall Islands sue all nuclear nations

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery110814.htm

Science, religion and war

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery140814.htm

Killing civilians

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery260814.htm

60 years in the peace movement

Click to access John_auto.pdf

Climate change means lifestyle change

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery080914.htm

The agony of Iraq

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery230914.htm

The United Nations Climate Summit

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery280914.htm

Interrelated threats to humans and to the biosphere

Interrelated Threats to Humans and to the Biosphere

Birgitta Jonsdottir, democracy, and freedom of information

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery221114.htm

Birgitta Jonsdottir, Democrazia e Libertà d’Informazione

Institutional and cultural inertia

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery040115.htm

http://eruditio.worldacademy.org/issue-6/article/institutional-and-cultural-inertia

Politeness in multi-ethnic societies

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery090115.htm

Some contributions of Islamic culture

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery280115.htm

Quick action is needed to save the long-term future

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery110215.htm

Remember your humanity

Remember Your Humanity

Gandhi as an economist

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery030315.htm

Secrecy and democracy are incompatible

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery240315.htm

Europe must not be pushed into a nuclear war with Russia

Europe Must Not Be Forced Into a Nuclear War with Russia

The future of international law

The Future of International Law

Millay’s “Epitaph for the Race of Man”

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery260415.htm

Book review: “The Path to Zero”

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery220515.htm

Albert Einstein, scientist and pacifist

https://www.wagingpeace.org/tag/albert-einstein/

Exponential growth

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery130615.htm

New hope for avoiding catastrophic climate change

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery210615.htm

Militarism’s hostages

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery240615.htm

Will the real issues be discussed in 2016?

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery030715.htm

Debt slavery

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery070715.htm

Greed is driving us toward disaster

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery170715.htm

A nuclear weapons convention by majority vote at the UN

A Nuclear Weapons Convention by Majority Vote at the UN

The Need for a New Economic System: Part 9 (see the end of the article for the other parts)

The Need for a New Economic System – PART IX: a New Society, a New Social Contract, a New Way Life

Book review: “Before it is Too Late”

Book Review: Aurelio Peccei and Daisako Ikeda, “Before It Is Too Late”

Paris: The urgent need for a sense of proportion

Paris: A Sense of Proportions Is Urgently Needed

Paris: We need system change

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery141215.htm

The United States drifts towards political irresponsibility

The United States Drifts Towards Political Irresponsibilty

Culture, education and human solidarity

Culture, Education and Human Solidarity

Pharming

http://prn.fm/john-scales-avery-pharming/

Who is my neighbor?

http://www.countercurrents.org/avery030316.htm

The world as it is, and the world as it could be

http://www.countercurrents.org/world.pdf

—

*John Scales Avery, Ph.D., who was part of a group that shared the 1995 Nobel Peace Prize for their work in organizing the Pugwash Conferences on Science and World Affairs, is a member of the TRANSCEND Network and Associate Professor Emeritus at the H.C. Ørsted Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

He is chairman of both the Danish National Pugwash Group and the Danish Peace Academy and received his training in theoretical physics and theoretical chemistry at M.I.T., the University of Chicago and the University of London.

He is the author of numerous books and articles both on scientific topics and on broader social questions. His most recent book is Civilization’s Crisis in the 21st Century http://www.learndev.org/dl/Crisis21-Avery.pdf.