vol III Development:

Chapter 1: Epistemology

page 8: Security

Trust, truth and honesty

The elements of trust, truth, and honesty form the foundation of security, which is one prerequisite for the experience of peace on Earth. We may rest in peace when we know that all threats to our wellbeing are taken care of. On the other hand, a state of insecurity not only causes us psychological trauma, but prevents (through debilitating loss) the accumulation of physical, intellectual and social capital and the wellbeing that comes with it.

We may speculate that the world has become a safer place since the end of the cold war, since the probability of mutual assured destruction seems to have decreased. On the other hand, the wide publicity given to smaller wars and to terrorism has brought security to the forefront as a global issue. This development has coincided with growing awareness that our impact on the physiology of the planet is dangerously excessive. Andrew Mack, IPCC

It is clear that we will not have complete security until we do away with warring factions. Since we the human instinct for survival is so strong that we will fight rather than starve, the clear route to security is to guarantee every person a place in the sun. This is natural justice. To implement such justice, we need systems that work for everybody, not just for the elite.

Devising such systems while preserving the integrity of the Earth is our greatest challenge. To meet this challenge we need at a globally acceptable vision of the whole environment of human life. Knowing the nature of our world helps us to work out what to do and what not to do. It is the aim of natural theology and the natural religion derived from it to articulate this vision of the world as a step toward security and peace.

One of the problems of wealth is that the elite are in a position to make their own reality which is not necessarily consistent with the reality of the Earth. Thus many people and corporations, probably acting in their own interests, are inclined to deny the impact of pollution, land clearing, the extinction of species and the introduction of exotic species on the health of the planet. It is important for human security that these false understandings of the world be corrected. Evidence based natural the0logy and natural religion have a part toplay in this task. Reality-based community - Wikipedia

(revised 8 August 2014)

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Further reading

Books

Click on the "Amazon" link below each book entry to see details of a book (and possibly buy it!)

Barnaby, Frank, How to Build a Nuclear Bomb and Other Weapons of Mass Destruction, NationBooks 2004 Book Description: 'Weapons of mass destruction (WMD) are the greatest threat to national security in the twenty-first century. How to Build a Nuclear Bomb explains what it takes for a rogue state or terrorist group to obtain and use them. But nuclear weapons and terrorism expert Frank Barnaby has not written a collection of scare stories. His purpose in How to Build a Nuclear Bomb is to counteract the "misinformation, often put out for propaganda purposes" and general ignorance on this most urgent of topics. Barnaby describes, in straightforward, non-sensational terms what is involved when a state or a terrorist group sets out to make a weapon of mass destruction, what they are capable of doing, and what is needed to produce one. By outlining the parameters of the problem, Barnaby is able to accurately gauge the threat that WMD pose, arguing that counterterrorist measures urgently need to be stepped up to meet the challenges of a new era of international terror.'  Amazon   back

Barnes, Peter, Capitalism 3.0: A Guide to Reclaiming the Commons, Berrett-Koehler Publishers 2006 Amazon Editorial Reviews Book Description 'In Capitalism 3.0, Peter Barnes redefines the debate about the costs and benefits of the operating system known as the free market. Despite clunky features, early versions of capitalism were somewhat successful. The current model, however, is packed with proprietary features that benefit a lucky few while threatening to crash the system for everyone else. Far from being "free," the market is accessible only to huge corporations that reap the benefits while passing the costs on to the consumer. Barnes maps out a better way. Drawn from his own career as a highly successful entrepreneur, the author's vision of capitalism includes alternatives to the current profit-driven corporate approach, new legal entities, and a more responsible use of markets and property rights. Capitalism 3.0 offers viable solutions to some of the country's most pressing economic, environmental, and social concerns.'  Amazon   back

Macy, Joanna Rogers, Despair and Personal Power in the Nuclear Age, New Society Publishers 1983 Introduction: 'This book is a guide to despair and empowerment work. The term refers to the psychological and spiritual work of dealing with our knowledge and feelings about the present planetary crisis in ways that release energy and vision for creative response. ... The work overcomes patterns of avoidance and psychic numbing; it builds compassion, community and commitment to act.' (xiii)  Amazon   back

Shulman, Seth, Undermining Science: Suprression and Distortion in the Bush Administration, University of California Press 2007 Amazon Book Description 'This vitally important exposé shows how the Bush administration has systematically misled Americans on a wide range of scientific issues affecting public health, foreign policy, and the environment by ignoring, suppressing, manipulating, or even distorting scientific research. It is the first book to focus exclusively on how this explosive issue has played out during the Presidency of George W. Bush and the first to comprehensively document his administration's abuses of science. In 2001, a group of eminent American scientists affiliated with the Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) contacted Seth Shulman, an experienced investigative journalist, to look into charges of serious mishandling of scientific information in the current administration. Shulman's investigation resulted in the groundbreaking report "Restoring Scientific Integrity in Policy Making," which served as the basis for a highly publicized UCS scientists' statement accusing the Bush administration of a misuse of science that was signed by dozens of Nobel laureates, National Medal of Science recipients, and members of the National Academy of Sciences. To date, more than 8,000 scientists across the country have signed the statement based upon Shulman's reporting. This book, drawing upon scores of interviews and including never-released information, goes beyond the UCS report to document the Bush administration's suppression and distortion of science, bringing this issue to a wider audience.'   Amazon   back

Weinberger, Sharon, Imaginary Weapons: A Journey through the Pentagon;s Scientific Underworld, Nation Books 2005 Amazon Editorial Review:Publishers Weekly 'The Pentagon's fascination with fringe science is old news, writes veteran defense reporter Weinberger in this incisive study, but the Bush administration has pushed it to new levels of wackiness. After reviewing our government's pursuit of antimatter weapons, psychics and telepathy, she focuses on a "nuclear hand grenade" that may cost billions and seems certain to fail. Before the War on Terror and the avalanche of government money for advanced new weapons, few paid attention to physicists who said they could harness the energy of unstable atomic nuclei, or "isomers," through a wildly expensive process involving atomic reactors. But in recent years, a group of fringe scientists aided by defense industry insiders has convinced the Pentagon that America's post-9/11 survival depends on developing an isomer bomb. While proponents compare it to the Manhattan Project, opponents point out that independent researchers have not been able to duplicate the results attained by isomer enthusiasts, and that many assumptions behind the bomb contradict the laws of physics. Though Congress canceled isomer bomb development in 2004, the Department of Energy found $5 million to continue the research.' Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.  Amazon   back

Wright, Peter, and Paul Greengrass, Spycatcher, Dell 1988 Amazon customer review: The Real MI5, June 14, 2002 'I'd been dying to read this book since I first heard Rosselson's song Ballad of a Spycatcher (basically the plot and best lines of Peter Wright's book). The book more than lived up to expectations. Although the style is sometimes dry and methodical, for the most part Wright takes the reader from the early "flying-by-the-seat-of-your-pants" stages of his work in counterintelligence as his branch of MI5 takes on a Soviet spy network 15 times its size, through the middle years when brilliant inventions and tactics are leaked to the Russians by an unknown, high-level source, through his heartbreaking autumn years when proving or disproving suspicions means long interrogations that can ruin the reputations of good men or let traitors slip away. Wright is a great guide through the arcane world of real MI5 work, and he has a splendidly British sense of humor that breaks the tension when needed. This book totally changed the way I thought of the British Secret Service.' A reader  Amazon   back

Links

Alexander Lebedev, Abramovich, Berezovsky and the real story of Russia's lost billions, 'The glitz of two squabbling multimillionaires grabs the headlines but distracts from the high price ordinary Russians have paid' back

Andrew Mack, The Human Security Report, Prof. Andrew Mack is director of the Human Security Center at the University of British Columbia in Canada, and former director of the Strategic Planning Unit in the Executive Office of UN Secretary General Kofi Annan from 1998 to 2001 'Improbable though it may seem, the UN is also a real success story. Over the past 15 years there has been real progress toward realizing the organization?s core mandate - spelled out in its 1945 charter - "to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war." The just-released Human Security Report, an independent study funded by five governments and published by the Oxford University Press, draws on a wide range of little-publicized scholarly research, plus its own specially commissioned studies, to present a portrait of global security sharply at odds with conventional wisdom (see: www.humansecurityreport.info). The report reveals that after five decades of inexorable increase, the number of armed conflicts started to fall worldwide in the early 1990s. By 2003, there were 40 percent fewer conflicts than in 1992. The deadliest conflicts - those with 1,000 or more battle deaths - fell by 80 percent. Cases of mass slaughter of civilians also dropped by 80 percent, while core human rights abuses have declined in five out of six regions of the developing world since the mid-1990s.' back

Bhagavad Gita - Wikipedia, Bhagavad Gita - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The Bhagavad Gītā . . . , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic the Mahabharata . . . prince Arjuna taking place in the middle of the battlefield before the start of the Kurukshetra War with armies on both sides ready to battle.' back

Binymin Applebaum, Inside the Fed in 2006: A Coming Crisis and Banter, 'WASHINGTON — As the housing bubble entered its waning hours in 2006, top Federal Reserve officials marveled at the desperate antics of home builders seeking to lure buyers. . . . But the officials, meeting every six weeks to discuss the health of the nation’s economy, gave little credence to the possibility that the faltering housing market would weigh on the broader economy, according to transcripts that the Fed released Thursday. Instead they continued to tell one another throughout 2006 that the greatest danger was inflation — the possibility that the economy would grow too fast.' back

Book of Joshua - Wikipedia, Book of Joshua - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The Book of Joshua . . . is the sixth book in the Hebrew Bible and of the Old Testament. Its 24 chapters tell of the entry of the Israelites into Canaan, their conquest and division of the land under the leadership of Joshua, and of serving God in the land. Joshua forms part of the biblical history of the emergence of Israel which begins with the exodus of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, continues with their conquest of Canaan under their leader Joshua (the subject matter of the book of Joshua), and culminates in Judges with the settlement of the tribes in the land.' back

Common-cause and special-cause - Wikipedia, Common-cause and special-cause - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Common- and special-causes are the two distinct origins of variation in a process, as defined in the statistical thinking and methods of Walter A. Shewhart and W. Edwards Deming. Briefly, "common-cause" is the usual, historical, quantifiable variation in a system, while "special-causes" are unusual, not previously observed, non-quantifiable variation. back

Economic Security - Wikipedia, Economic Security - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Economic security or financial security is the condition of having stable income or other resources to support a standard of living now and in the foreseeable future. It includes: probable continued solvency predictability of the future cash flow of a person or other economic entity, such as a country employment security or job security Financial security more often refers to individual and family money management and savings. Economic security tends to include the broader effect of a society's production levels and monetary support for non-working citizens.' back

European Comission, Green Paper Towards a European Strategy for Security of Energy Supply, back

Factor of safety - Wikipedia, Factor of safety - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Factor of safety (FoS), also known as safety factor (SF), is a term describing the structural capacity of a system beyond the expected loads or actual loads. Essentially, how much stronger the system is than it usually needs to be for an intended load. Safety factors are often calculated using detailed analysis because comprehensive testing is impractical on many projects, such as bridges and buildings, but the structure's ability to carry load must be determined to a reasonable accuracy. Many systems are purposefully built much stronger than needed for normal usage to allow for emergency situations, unexpected loads, misuse, or degradation.' back

Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster - Wikipedia, Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster . . . is a series of equipment failures, nuclear meltdowns, and releases of radioactive materials at the Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant, following the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on 11 March 2011. It is the largest nuclear disaster since the Chernobyl disaster of 1986. On December 16, 2011 Japanese authorities declared the plant to be stable, although it would take decades to decontaminate the surrounding areas and to decommission the plant altogether.' back

Insurance - Wikipedia, Insurance - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'Insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the insurance; the insured, or policyholder, is the person or entity buying the insurance policy. The amount to be charged for a certain amount of insurance coverage is called the premium. Risk management, the practice of appraising and controlling risk, has evolved as a discrete field of study and practice.' back

IPCC, Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, 'The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been established by WMO [World Meteorological Organization. www.wmo.ch] and UNEP [United Nations Environment Program, www.unep.org] to assess scientific, technical and socio- economic information relevant for the understanding of climate change, its potential impacts and options for adaptation and mitigation. It is open to all Members of the UN and of WMO.' back

John Birmingham, A soldier's fatal burden, ' . . . while it is disturbing, shocking even, that every day and a half a soldier should decide to kill himself or herself, it is worse when they finally lay down their arms and take off that uniform. According to preliminary research by the US Department of Veterans Affairs, among those returning from America’s wars the suicide rate climbs steeply to a point where one former soldier dies by his own hand every 80 minutes.' back

Juergen Baetz, Associated Press, Insurance cost vs. nuclear power risk, 'BERLIN -- From the United States to Japan, it's illegal to drive a car without sufficient insurance, yet governments around the world choose to run more than 440 nuclear power plants with hardly any coverage whatsoever.' back

Reality-based community - Wikipedia, Reality-based community - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The source of the term is a quotation in an October 17, 2004, New York Times Magazine article by writer Ron Suskind, quoting an unnamed aide to George W. Bush: The aide said that guys like me were "in what we call the reality-based community," which he defined as people who "believe that solutions emerge from your judicious study of discernible reality." ... "That's not the way the world really works anymore," he continued. "We're an empire now, and when we act, we create our own reality. And while you're studying that reality—judiciously, as you will—we'll act again, creating other new realities, which you can study too, and that's how things will sort out. We're history's actors…and you, all of you, will be left to just study what we do.' back

Space Shuttle Challenger disaster - Wikipedia, Space Shuttle Challenger disaster - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The Space Shuttle Challenger disaster occurred in the United States, over the Atlantic Ocean, off the coast of central Florida, at 11:39 a.m. EST (16:39 UTC) on January 28, 1986. The Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated 73 seconds into its flight after an O-ring seal in its right solid rocket booster (SRB) failed at liftoff. The seal failure caused a breach in the SRB joint it filled, allowing a flare to reach the outside and impinge upon the adjacent attachment hardware and external fuel tank. The SRB breach flare led to the separation of the right-hand SRB and the structural failure of the external tank. Aerodynamic forces promptly broke up the orbiter. The shuttle was destroyed and all seven crew members were killed.' back

The British Library, THE BRITISH LIBRARY - The world's knowledge, 'The British Library is one of the world's great knowledge institutions. It holds over 150 million items from every age of global civilisation, from historical documents to the latest information for business and research. This website describes our collections and our wide range of services. You can search our catalogues and you can order copies of some documents online. You can also view some of the cultural treasures on show in our galleries in London, which are open to all, free of charge, seven days a week.' back

The United Nations Development Fund for Women, UNIFEM - A Portal on Women, Peace and Security, 'This portal provides background information and timely updates on the impact of armed conflict on women and women’s role in peace-building. It will systematically gather information and analysis both to inform decision-makers and to provoke greater response to women’s experience of war and peace making. It is one of UNIFEM’s contributions to the implementation of Security Council resolution 1325 on Women, Peace and Security, passed unanimously in October of 2000. This groundbreaking resolution explicitly noted the “need to consolidate data on the impact of armed conflict on women and girls.”' back

United Nations, A More Secure World: Our Shared Responsibility, 'Report of the Secretary-General's High-level Panel on Threats, Challenges and Change' Foreword: 'Particularly important is the Report's insistence that today's threats to our security are all interconnected. We can no longer afford to see problems such as terrorism, or civil wars or extreme poverty, in isolation. ... Development and security are inextricably linked. ... We ned to pay much closer attention to biological security. ... ' back

United States Senate, Wall Street and the Financial Crisis: Anatomy of a Financial Collapse, 'In the fall of 2008, America suffered a devastating economic collapse. Once valuable securities lost most or all of their value, debt markets froze, stock markets plunged, and storied inancial firms went under. Millions of Americans lost their jobs; millions of families lost their homes; and good businesses shut down. These events cast the United States into an economic recession so deep that the country has yet to fully recover. This Report is the product of a two-year, bipartisan investigation by the U.S. Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations into the origins of the 2008 financial crisis. The goals of this investigation were to construct a public record of the facts in order to deepen the understanding of what happened; identify some of the root causes of the crisis; and provide a factual foundation for the ongoing effort to fortify the country against the recurrence of a similar crisis in the future.' back

US Government, NSC 68: United States Objectives and Programs for National Security (April 14, 1950), TERMS OF REFERENCE The following report is submitted in response to the President's directive of January 31 which reads: That the President direct the Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense to undertake a reexamination of our objectives in peace and war and of the effect of these objectives on our strategic plans, in the light of the probable fission bomb capability and possible thermonuclear bomb capability of the Soviet Union. back

Vietnam War - Wikipedia, Vietnam War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, 'The Vietnam War (Vietnamese: Chiến tranh Việt Nam, although in Vietnam this period of American involvement is known as the American War, Vietnamese: Chiến tranh Mỹ), also known as the Second Indochina War, was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955[ to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975.' back