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WHAT IS OUR DESTINY? by Norman Thomas

WHAT IS OUR DESTINY?

By

Pub Date: April 7th, 1944
Publisher: Doubleday, Doran

The pacifist and idealist with some realistic facts about this war and after that are hard to answer, and a sobering, supra-national view of the causes and conduct of this world conflict. He sees war and the unfinished economic revolution as inextricably interrelated, and unemployment the chief factor in the drive to militarism. He states specifically that the President put his ambition to defeat Hitler ahead of the platform pledge to stay out of war, and created conditions -- such as Lend -Lease -- which led inevitably to war. He restates the incontrovertible results of any war and forecasts the postwar chaos. He does not believe in a punitive peace; nor in maintaining peace by policing or psychiatry or a world federation. He does suggest an end to imperialism, removal of tariff barriers, a common currency, an equality of opportunity between nations, higher wage standards within nations, self determination and self-government under regional federation. He closes with some unpalatable home truths about racial discrimination, totalitarian practices, diplomatic duplicity -- and the hope that they can be eliminated and a true democratic social system be inaugrated. Not simply visionary, but persuasive crusading, backgrounded in distressingly convincing evidence, by a man devoted to peace.