THE REST OF THE STORY
BY THE MAN WHO LIVED IT - DAVID WOOLLCOMBE
INTRODUCTION
“I
am probably the last person who should be telling the story of Peace Child
because I cannot possibly be objective about it. Also, having tried and failed
to ensure that “…the ability of future
generations to meet their needs is NOT compromised…,” it’s impossible for
me to be relaxed about the consequences of that failure – of which all our
efforts in Peace Child were a part. The
1980 version of Peace Child
was set in the 2020's and dreamed of a world at Peace, with poverty and nuclear
weapons a distant memory and the environment on the mend. Instead the 2020's
have given us Trump and Covid, Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, genocide in Gaza
and a suicidal lack of interest in saving the biosphere that supports all life.
Dylan Thomas famously told us not to go gentle into that last good night but to
– “Rage, Rage! – against the dying of the
light!” It should be the rising
generation doing the raging, and I write
this History to remind them of the courage and the vision of those young people,
their parents generation, who raged
against the insanity of the Cold War; who were the early pioneers of
Sustainability – who carved a place for young people’s voices to be heard in
the corridors of both political and corporate power. I write it to remind them
of their generation’s challenge which is nothing less than to save life on
earth. Tearing up Green Deals, joining right-wing parties, and burying
themselves in a cacophony of digital distractions – is never going to achieve
this! Remembering the outrageous
aspirations of the early Peace Children – their energy, their confidence – just
might. So, with those reservations, here is my memory of the Peace Child story.