The Lead
Human Survival Is Not Inevitable, But Neither Is Extinction
by Jason Ross (EIRNS) — Jun. 26, 2025
Today, June 26, 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the signing, in San Francisco, of the United Nations Charter. Will there be a 90th anniversary?
The preamble of the UN Charter states the purposes for the formation of the UN: “to save succeeding generations from the scourge of war, which twice in our lifetime has brought untold sorrow to mankind"; “to reaffirm faith in fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small"; “to establish conditions under which justice and respect for the obligations arising from treaties and other sources of international law can be maintained"; and “to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom.”
To achieve these ends, the United Nations agreed “to practice tolerance and live together in peace with one another as good neighbors … to unite our strength to maintain international peace and security … to ensure … that armed force shall not be used, save in the common interest, and to employ international machinery for the promotion of the economic and social advancement of all peoples.”
These commitments were made in the aftermath of two World Wars, which claimed tens of millions of lives and included the unnecessary use of mass-murderous nuclear weapons against targets in Japan.
In which countries, in which societies, are commitments like those that animated the drafting of the UN Charter active today?
Will we operate, as a global civilization, on the basis of law, developed through creative reason, or as barbarians, acting on the basis of (fleeting) power?
In the discussion of the nature of justice that unfolds in Plato’s Republic, where the sophist Thrasymachus tells Socrates that justice “is nothing other than the advantage for the stronger.” He thinks that moral values are socially constructed traditions, rather than principles discovered through reason. He cynically believes that might makes right.
This is the condition the world finds itself in today. Despite claims by Israel and the U.S. that their strikes against Iran and its nuclear facilities were made in self-defense, they, in fact, violate international law. By those two nations launching strikes on nuclear facilities monitored by the IAEA, the entire Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty is called into question. The EU and Anglo-American NATO loudly denounce Russia for “violating the territorial integrity” of Ukraine, but are silent, even supportive, when Iran is illegally attacked.
Where does this lead? Is it possible to violate natural law, in favor of asserting power in the service of one’s adopted goals? Could such a society survive?
To paraphrase and then quote Lyndon LaRouche, in his May 28, 1998 “The Substance of Morality”: A democracy in which beliefs are held (or at least espoused) out of fear, in which popular opinion becomes a basis for thought, in which “Truth is no longer the standard for policy-shaping practice. Such is the condition of a society which has lost the moral fitness to survive, the condition of a democracy which no longer either deserves to survive, or will survive….
“Where are the men and women fit to lead us out of this peril?” LaRouche concludes. “Where are those who will lead in the pathway toward safety, the pathway toward rule by the principles of truth and justice, not ‘popular opinion’?”
You will find some of “the men and women fit to lead us out of this peril” in the June 27 meeting of the International Peace Coalition, which will include Schiller Institute founder Helga Zepp-LaRouche, CIA veteran Graham Fuller, Israeli peace activist and former Knesset member Mossi Raz, and more.
Contents
Strategic War Danger
- Yermak Promises London Ukraine Has More 'Spider’s Web'-Like Surprises for Russia (↓)
- Iran Rejects U.S. Claim of Self-defense (↓)
- Iran Suspends Cooperation with IAEA (↓)
- Beijing Replies to NATO Call for Increased Spending To Counter China (↓)
- Pentagon Chief Slams Media Over Leaked Assessment on Iran Strikes (↓)
New World Paradigm
Collapsing Imperial System
- Trump Orders Israelis To Drop Corruption Case Against ‘Hero’ Netanyahu (↓)
- New York City Election Upset Has Wall Street ‘Alarmed’ and ‘Depressed’ (↓)
Harley Schlanger Update
Watch The Daily Update with Harley Schlanger, a short video update available every weekday morning from The LaRouche Organization.
