‘Apocalypse’ --Past and Future

The “Apocalypse Past” and “Apocalypse Future” columns by Charles Krauthammer and Richard Goodwin (Editorial Pages, March 31) both contain the common thread of our psychological numbing to the situation we live in, a world becoming increasingly hazardous--Libya, Nicaragua, Iran-Iraq, the continued testing and development of nuclear weapons.

We are not aware of the danger because the crisis has not occurred. Yet when the crisis does come about, it will be too late, for man has now developed the weapons that can destroy all life.

Scientists tell us life on this planet started about 4 billion years ago. As an engineer involved in space exploration, I observed that March 16 marked the 60th anniversary of the first liquid-fueled rocket flight--a distance of 184 feet. In that relatively short span of 60 years, man has created thousands of rockets capable of spanning continents and creating a nuclear winter with the potential to destroy all life. In the blink of a cosmic eye, man will destroy that thread of life that has existed for 4 billion years if we continue to believe violence will win our conflicts.

War is obsolete as a means of resolving conflict. We can and must learn to live together. I hope we will take Goodwin’s message to heart. You and I must take the first step.

JACK WEIL

Woodland Hills