European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - July 13, 1986, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 the stars and stripes sunday july 13,1986 columns James Reston Reagan must take peace offers More seriously first it was prime minister Margaret Thatcher of Britain and now it ii presi Dent Francois Mitterrand of France who is trying to convince president Reagan that he should take Mikhail Gorbachev s peace offers More seriously. They Are not asking Reagan to believe what Gorbachev says but merely to test his sincerity in a series of meetings at Geneva this month at the United nations in september and finally at a Summit meeting after the congressional elections and before the end of the year. It May not be possible to know what is in the soviet Leader s mind they argue or even to know whether his latest re Marks have the support of his colleagues in the politburo. But provided Reagan i Clear about his own arms control poli cies what they ask can be wrong about going that last mile As Reagan has repeatedly promised to do. That Gorbachev has changed his tune is fairly obvious. You can hardly pick up a newspaper these Days without noting the change in his rhetoric and even occasionally some modifications of his arms control policies. He is still trying to Divide the United states from its allies this time by Sug Gesting that the soviet Union is Goingback to its old russian tradition As a european nation. It s an interesting switch which Thatcher Mitterrand and Chancellor Helmut Kohl of West Ger Many think is Worth exploring. At a dinner for Mitterrand in Moscow last week Gorbachev supported Charles de Gaulle s vision speaking of a Europe from the Atlantic to the urals ridding itself of the explosive Burden of Arma it is necessary he said to get rid of the political thinking that views Europe As a theater of operations Europe must set an example of coexistence among Sovereign different but peaceful coun tries countries aware of their interdependence and building their relations Anthony Lewis Washington would like to know what this Means. Taken at face value it would mean the abolition of Moscow s claim to dominate the politics of its Eastern euro Pean allies and Trust them to exercise their Sovereign rights As they pleased. Surely this is not what Gorbachev meant. But it would be interesting to ask him whether he was willing to Grant the Eastern europeans the Independence he was recommending that the Western european demand from the United states. Nevertheless he also seemed to be try ing to impress Mitterrand with his con Cern even for human rights. The soviet Union he said is prepared for International cooperation on humanitarian problems and these he added Are not Mere this will be news to Andrei d. Sakha Rov now exiled in Gorky and also to the jews who cannot emigrate from the soviet Union. It certainly does not persuade Thatcher or Mitterrand that the Dawn of Liberty has arrived behind the Iron cur Tain but they Are not dismissing it As meaningless propaganda but instead Are welcoming it As an Opportunity for fur ther discussion. Even Reagan s associates agree that unlike some of his arms negotiators the president genuinely wants an arms agreement. He is coming into his last two years with the largest Federal debt in the history of the Republic. The United states is now the largest debtor nation in the world with an alarming Trade deficit dramatized by the astonishing fact that the nation is now importing More Agri cultural products than it is exporting. Accordingly he is leaving a legacy on the Home front that cannot be reversed or even excused in the time he has , some of his associates Are urging him at least to demonstrate that As he has often said he will go anywhere and talk about anything that might put an arms Compromise on his historical re Cord. So far however he has insisted that both his arms policies and his negotiating tactics have been right that he has achieved peace through strength that Liberty is his policy at Home and Only Tell you my own Faith. The spirit of Liberty is the spirit which is not too lure Ocny i ins Pukuc i numb Ana or s e spec s no o or abroad and that he is willing to be that it is right the spirit of Liberty is the judged on the tightness of that record spirit which seeks to understand the in a Celebration of i am an amen minds of other men and women the can Day in Central Park on May 21, spirit of Liberty is the spirit which weight 1944, judge Learned hand took a differ their interests alongside its own without ent View or the spirit of " i cannot define it he Sai despite problems Britain has 9t lost its swing Rich poor North South Public private the contrasts Are Stark in Britain today. It is an extraordinarily divided society. Wealth pouring into Central London fuels a real estate Boom to rival anything in new York or Boston. Estate agents talk of family houses nothing special going for the Pound equivalent of $1 million and up. The shops have never seemed so full of luxuries. But in the North of England Only 150 Miles from London the unemployed loiter in Bleak streets. The european economic Community rates Merseyside the area including Liverpool in the Northwest As one of the poorest parts of the Community rivalling Sicily Sardinia and Calabria. Prime minister Margaret Thatcher s minister of employment lord Young said the other Day. This coun try has never had As Good a time As it has today. We be never had it so Good for the 87 percent of us who Are yes since Thatcher took office in 1979, real in comes have gone up More than 6 percent. Inflation is Down to about 3 percent a year. Many have never had it so Good. But there Are the 13 percent mentioned by lord Young. Unemployment used to be the absolute no of British politics. Twenty years ago the possible figure of one million unemployed was mentioned As a Symbol of unacceptability. Today there Are 3.4 million out of work. Counting 500,000 More who Are in official train ing programs for the unemployed the figure approaches four million. Moreover much of the unemployment is Long term. Thousands of people in their 20s have not been Able to find work since they left school at 16. Even University graduates the children of the Middle class have gone without real jobs for years in Large numbers. Joblessness reflects the fact that Britain is in a pro Cess of de industrialization. In the last 10 years manufacturing output dropped by 4.3 percent in the coun try. By comparison it Rose 61 percent in Japan 42 percent in the United states 22 percent in Italy. Another phenomenon just As significant in its Way is the decline in the National health service universities state schools All Are hard pressed for funds. Britain is becoming an exemplar of what . Gal Braith called private opulence and Public British universities Are dependent on government funding. In the last five years allowing for inflation their Money has been Cut 20 percent. They have reduced the number of students by 20,000 and made academic salaries among the meanest in the land. Still some universities May have to close. Britain is on the Way to becoming the worst educated country in the first world. And that at a time when productive growth depends More and More on education. The decline in Public institutions has led Middle class people increasingly to seek private substitutes. Most belong to private health plans. Friends of mine who used to Send their children to state schools no longer do. One remarked sadly on the Shab Biness of the state school right next to his son s luxurious private school in South London. Visitors to London Are not Likely to be aware of such changes. The City remains wonderfully attractive the museums exciting the Parks sparkling. Even with the falloff in american Trade Heaters offer a her him Choice of plays a Superb Royal Shakespeare company troilus and Cressida set in the Boer War experiments even in the commercial theater. But the changes Are beginning to Tell on the charac Ter of the society. Neal Atcherson a columnist on the observer wrote recently that London is travelling backwards through time toward a relationship Between wealth and labor that is almost pre capitalist. What does this mean among other things the return of servants. Not living in like upstairs Down stairs there in t room for that. But commuter serv ants it Means a huge service and Craft population Mak ing clothes and cutlery furniture and designer rugs for the Rich mending their electronics and guarding their Homes. It Means a capital City not unlike the pattern of 18th-Century Paris where almost All employment de Pended on the needs of the court and the thousands of privileged Royal functionaries around that May be too apocalyptic. But Britain is certainly becoming a More divided society. People feel that and they do not like it. Lord Young May Tell them that they have never had it so Good. But you will not find Many britons these Day who Are Content about where their country is going. C a wort Toni i the opinions up fwd in do column and Ruora on a Fife Pup rap a it Dux of Lex a Hora my in in no by to b come did m no mint ing do Venn o to. Sun i Smow or to until sum Gow mint
