122 nations voted to ban the bomb two weeks ago. The nuclear powers and their client states, as one might expect, boycotted the negotiations. True, even if all countries had agreed to the treaty, it would nevertheless still be difficult to implement. But imagining is the first step.
In that spirit, we should re-read Arundhati Roy's lament for her country, India, when it first tested its bomb in 1998: "The End of Imagination." Her words remain highly relevant: "The nuclear bomb is the most anti-democratic, anti-national, anti-human, outright evil thing that man has ever made. If you are religious, then remember that this bomb is Man's challenge to God. It's worded quite simply: We have the power to destroy everything that You have created. If you're not religious, then look at it this way. This world of ours is four billion, six hundred million years old. It could end in an afternoon."
We should thank and follow the lead of those 122 countries.
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