Shelters of War because it's got a floor to it.
Marvellous! So I got interested - well, not interested, I got horrified - at what the government has got lined up for me.
The more I read, the more I realised that we ought to be doing something about it.
Bob: What first set me off thinking about atomic weapons was when America dropped the on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It wasn't until quite a long time after, but it occurred to me, why couldn't they. nave dropped lust one on a mountain top, or in a lake, as a demonstration first?
Then, if that didn't work. to actually use it. Just to save their conscience a little bit, rather than killing 200,000 pcople outright without a chance, Now we know that it was political; it was a military tactic designed to stop Russia going into Japan as they'd agreed to do.
But when a nation can do that, or rather, when a President can do that, it's very, very frightening.
Chris: What sort of things have you been doing to get people at the plant interested Arthur: A friend of ours, Harry Brooks, has been making up his own posters, by cutting out the juicy bits from the pamphlets and CND broadsheets and putting them on the notice board.
Quite a few read those, and they are good for starting a discussion. What is funny that some people will walk by and say it's all rubbish, they'll sneak back later for a Socialist Challenge lot, because you used to be a soldier.!
But what has that got to do with it? They seem to suggest that I'm a coward, that I won't delend my own country.
I'll fight them beaches and on the hilltop, but war there's no chance to fight but an ordinary person like how much worse off would I be if the Russians did control this country?
I'd basically go to work and do my job and do what I'm told on the - which is exactly what I do now. But if we haven't got any nuclear weapons, Russia won't - Just a very need to knock them out, so me. match it.
AS can bankrupt Russia.
country then, Can we Arthur: 1 used but l've changed my minc Il's got ference, campaigning for in and forces about it.
they bothered who puts up.
stand a chance like we've always been.
direct action in the end CND power on the continent, year, and Russia will probably percentage of America's Gross National Product it's only half of Russia's, and there is a good chance they Chris: Coming back to this how do you se the campaign actually winning?
trust a Labour government to do it? Practically, what do you see as the way we will achieve disarmament?
think that demonstrations did no good to make a difWIEL oUT people to think wet nd we elect the MPs done don't believe in nuclear disarmament m no voting for them, and I'm not Ultimately, it doesn't matter how many of us get into the street, if we've no-one speaking for us in Pariament we don't We're just cannon fodder Bob: I think it'li come down to copies.
Challenge, Chris: What do you mean, exactly? I think we've seen from the past. and demonstrations against nuclear the Scale waters n, engas water-cannon, CS gas it 18 a and so on to win that sort of direct action confrontation.
Bob: What I had in mind, is the sort of sit-down, chain yourself to the railings kind of protest.
copy prison if necessary. 1 know that you don't agree...
Chris: Don't get me wrong Bob, it's not that I'm persona ly afraid of getting arrested, but question of whether it would do any good.
I think there is very little evidence that a few thousand activists in jail would necessari ly make any difference If you want a model of the JULIAN ATKINSON each copy under 10 Order Socialist sort of campaign I think we are trying to build, you have to look at the anti-war movement in America, which reached into every layer ot society brought millions into the streets in huge, peaceful demonstra tions, or the Australian campaign against uranium mining Once the Leave it in the Ground campaign got the sup port of the miners, the uranium stayed in the ground. Simple as that.
middle of the 1970s we were dubbed as com-
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I'd certainly be willing to go to A Socialist Challenge Pamphlet POP Box 80, London N1 2XP