Hiroshima Spirits, Nagasaki Voices:

[dweller]

Learning from the First Ground Zeroes

by Walter W. Enloe and David B. Willis

“The flash of light. The flash of light was like nothing I had ever seen before. Or since.” - Survivor of Hiroshima, July
2005

August 6 and August 9 are the 60th anniversaries of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the first and so far only nuclear
catastrophes ever visited upon humankind. As with other anniversaries it is now time for reflection, in the cases of
Hiroshima and Nagasaki especially so, as these two bombings and their aftermath, though with enormously
devastating possible consequences for the entire world, seem to be fading from our collective memory, will, and
consciousness.

On the one hand, the past century has seen a great deal of human introspection and understanding. Our biological,
social, and human sciences- from genetics to developmental psychology and from narrative to cross cultural studies-
have allowed us to construct an understanding of ourselves, from the inner particles of a molecule to the outer edges
of our universe.

We can alter genetic material to constitute new life structures, and we can construct communicative forms from
novels to films to musical scores that can be reconstituted, sent around the world at lightning speed, and valued by
others. Through an image of Earth as seen from the moon to planetary satellites, global communication, and
economic interdependencies, and through organizations like the United Nations and our Universal Declaration of
Human Rights, we have a greater sense of the interconnectedness of the world’s people and places.

On the other hand, this past century has been a time of unprecedented death and misery, a century of human
destruction and environmental degradation unparalleled in scope in human history. Through two world wars, and
continuing ethnic, religious, and sociopolitical conflicts, a hundred million noncombatants, including millions and
millions of children, have been murdered in the last hundred years. Add to these innocent dead the millions of
combatants who died or were grievously wounded in body or soul.

And what of the hundreds of millions who died of poverty and preventable disease years before their natural passing
time? Many thousands die yearly from violence in our own local cities and neighborhoods and we are increasingly
distancing ourselves from each other. In our own backyards and streets as we build various walls of separation
through fear and intolerance. We must acknowledge that the Earth has been a global killing field.

http://www.commondreams.org/views05/0804-25.htm
dp