[A] new generation, innocent of the divisions of the Cold War, this coming-of-age. ... If its members do not feel the urgency to escape the nuclear danger that some of its parents felt, neither has it developed the deep attachment to nuclear arms also often found among their parents, including most of the governing class. ... The call for abolition should therefore be, among other things, a call from an older generation to younger one.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the generational shift in attitudes towards nuclear arms and the need for younger generations to advocate for disarmament.
Jonathan Schell's quote discusses how a new generation, unlike their parents who lived through the Cold War, lacks both the fear of nuclear weapons and the attachment to them. He argues that it is the responsibility of the older generation to urge the youth to recognize the ongoing threat of nuclear arms and to inspire them to advocate for their abolition as part of their coming-of-age.
In practice
In a speech about global peace, one could quote Schell to illustrate the generational responsibility towards nuclear disarmament.
The use of a mere dozen nuclear weapons ... would be a human catastrophe without parallel. ... Because so few weapons can kill so many people, even far-reaching disarmament proposals would leave us implicated in plans for unprecedented slaughter of innocent people. The sole measure that can free us from this burden is abolition.
Politicians and lawmakers are willing to watch us take us a knee, watch us march, watch us picket and protest - and wait us out. They are willing and prepared to outlast us - and, in most cases, to do absolutely nothing about the problems we highlight and amplify.
Slumber not in the tents of your fathers. The world is advancing.
The further away we got from 9/11, the more I wanted to find some way to recover. I wanted to talk about the more anonymous corners of the city, because I think it's very important that not all of that anger was turned to revenge.
A caterpillar who seeks to know himself would never become a butterfly
History will have to recordThat the greatest tragedy of this period of social transitionWas not the vitriolic words and the violent actions of the bad peopleBut the appalling silence and indifference of the good.Our generation will have to repent notOnly for the words and actions of the children of darknessBut also for the fears and apathy of thechildren of light.
She did not believe that things could remain the same in different places, and since the portion of her life that lay behind her had been bad, no doubt that which remained to be lived would be better.
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