Beno Sternlicht says "I firmly believe that since World War II we have seen very few leaders. We are missing a Marshall Plan, Gandhi's philosophy, Kennedy's Peace Corps and Martin Luther King's preaching."
Employ education to fight terrorists
Beno Sternlicht
For The Business Review
I would like to share with you some food for thought.
I immigrated to the United States in the late 1940s. I am a survivor of the Holocaust. My mother was killed in the Warsaw Ghetto. When I came to the United States my total assets were $10 and a long winter coat.
My early impressions of the United States were highly negative. I had a serious problem seeing the tremendous waste of food and reflected on the poverty that I saw in India, where I spent my early childhood.
In 1954 I received my Ph.D., from Columbia University and with three of my friends we decided to visit various parts of this vast country. The trip represented both a vacation and an opportunity for me to visit several companies which gave me employment offers. This trip transformed my attitude toward the United States. The beauty, diversity of cultures, the freedom of expression and religion, the educational and employment opportunities made a highly positive impact on me. I got to love this country and decided to return to General Electric and settle in the Capital Region.
This year our youngest son Aaron graduated from Albany Academy and before starting at the University of Vermont he persuaded me to take him on a trip of northern Europe. This was to be his graduation present. I could easily afford the expense and for several reasons, including getting to know him better, and nostalgia, I concurred with his request. Thus on Aug. 4, we started our trip, flying first to Stockholm. In the 18 days that followed, we visited Sweden, Denmark, Holland and Belgium. I must admit that in no way was this an in-depth visit of each of the four countries.
The trip was very relaxing and gave me plenty of time to reflect on a variety of topics. We spent our time meeting local people, visiting historic sights, enjoying the national food and the beauty of each country, reflecting on my attitude half a century ago and thinking of where our children will be 50 years hence. We are definitely living in a very different world today than I did 50 years ago. "Security" has permeated our existence and we do not see any easy solution to our very serious dilemma.
All the countries that we visited have serious problems with the influx of poor emigrants, mostly from Northern Africa practicing Islam. They receive all the social benefits from the respective country. Very few of them work. They are prolific in producing children and increasing the crime rate. Reflecting on this, it is clear that the world is changing and that our priorities today are very different then than they were a half century ago.
I concluded that the methods that we are using to combat terrorism are both very expensive and ineffective. The Western world must find different solutions to combat terrorism. The only answer that I see is education, education, education of both the "haves," and the "have nots." The books of hate that the fanatic fundamentalists have introduced in elementary schools must be revised and the young children must receive liberal education. The mosques must be places of worship for which they were intended and not fortresses with weapons of destruction.
So what are we missing? I firmly believe that since World War II we have seen very few leaders. We are missing a Marshall Plan, Gandhi's philosophy, Kennedy's Peace Corps and Martin Luther King's preaching.
We probably need a crisis far more devastating than 9/11 so that some leader will emerge, one that would provide hope and education to the citizens of the Third World nations so that they become more constructive and productive. They should devote their energy to producing products rather than to terrorism and destruction. Employment and education should replace crime.
Michael Moore in his books and movie does not provide any solution. He is counter-productive. He bashes President Bush but does not provide any constructive solution to our dilemma. Likewise, the United Nations is a useless forum and it does not have an inspiring leader.
Just imagine if we took all the world's petroleum and used all these funds for education and training of the "have-nots," or if we took the security budgets of all the developed nations and allocated these funds to education and training of the "have-nots," or if we created an International Peace Corps. Wouldn't that be a more effective way to wage war against terrorism and insure our security? For any of this we need an inspiring leader. Let us hope that one emerges soon.
BENO STERNLICHT, Ph.D., is president of Benjosh Management Corp. and is co-founder of Mechanical Technology Inc. of Albany. He was an energy adviser in the Carter and Reagan administrations. He was chairman of the NASA Committee on Space Power and Propulsion from 1972 to 1975.
© 2004 American City Business Journals Inc.
