European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - February 26, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 10 columns the stars and stripes Flora Lewis Man s need for a grand design is destructive unravelling the cold War n Caus ing enormous concern and unease. The big headaches confronting Europe would have been settled Long ago if world War ii Hopes had been fulfilled for maintain ing at least Friendly East West relations if not an actual Alliance. There s no counting the number of lives lost and ruined because of the cold War in wars such As Korea. Vietnam. Cambodia. Afghanistan in repression in suspicion that led to persecution in the West As Well As the East. There s no counting the amount of re sources wasted on huge armies and devastating weapons. If Hopes arc fulfilled for an end to the global Power ideology conflict of the last four decades future generations will wonder what drove their forefathers to such madness. Did they really mean to no Clarize each other out of existence did each Side really imagine it had the ultimate answer to the Good society and could Only survive by doing in its rival communism is an ideology a system that claimed with scientific certainty that it knew How to resolve All social problems and that it had a monopoly on historic foresight. Capitalism was never More than a method for bringing together what it takes to produce labor tools manage ment with no pretence that constant adjustment of the social machinery would not be necessary. The dispute was t Between two creeds but Between the messianic and the practical View of making things work. Now Mikhail Gorbachev and his for eign minister. Eduard Shevardnadze Tell the world there is no difference in Basic values. In that Case what was the tight about in Ottawa. Shevardnadze did admit that our country look Loo much time grappling with the dilemma of truth versus happiness whether to prefer the anxiety of someone who knows the truth or the Tranquility of those who ignore and to prove the right Choice had been made at last he said candidly. Today our country is indeed but having recognized Universal human values and the dignity of the in having renounced Force As an instrument for solving any Domestic or foreign problems seeking friends not enemies he pronounced such a state Andrew j. Glass Pant Wake me yet p6ar" has to we shall become not Only a big and Strong country but a genuinely Comfort Able and civilized Home for women and men he said. Whether or not the soviet prediction comes closer to the target this time than when Stalin proclaimed the inevitable Victory of communism or when Khrushchev told the West we will Bury you Shevardnadze s forecast had a different tone. So the answer probably has to be that the cold War was unfortunately Nec Essary. There were absurd excesses of course in the Witch Hunts the secrecy the military extravagance of the Ameri can response. It is strange now to recall what panic what Lack of Confidence drove the democracies to feel they were in danger of being overwhelmed by communist ideas and not Only by red armies. There was an unacknowledged link be tween the victorian idea of inevitable Progress the Promise of the Industrial revolution and the marxist idea of inevitable collapse the demons of the Industrial revolution devouring them selves. It stoked fears that the ideologists had a better Crystal Ball or a master plan that might be irresistible and therefore had to be resisted at any Cost. President Kennedy pledged we would pay any Price to preserve our own vision. We May have paid More than required. But it is questionable that the understanding Awakening in the world that there will always be problems that utopias arc mythical would have been achieved without the demonstration that the cold War provoked. There is a More sceptical idea of Prog Ress now a realization that there will Al ways be Trade offs that bring pain As Well As Benefit. The key lesson is not that righteousness will Triumph both sides Wal Lowed in righteousness but that there is need for a certain humility in establishing Man s place. Perfect systems bring perfect disaster. Leaving room for error and admitting error in ways that encourage correction offer a belter Chance. That is the great strength of democracy which in t an ideology either but a Way of enabling people to Settle quarrels by argument in Stead of Force. There is still a yearning for a grand design a guaranteed formula to discern and deflect the tide of history. It is a romantic notion and while romantic ideals have their role As inspiration they Are the source of catastrophe when they arc imposed by dreamers who acquire might. If it took the cold War to destroy the illusion that the Grubby real world can be ignored it was Worth it. Now for getting on with everyday repairs which make All the difference. As usual fans big losers in baseball squabbles the Calendar says Winter has weeks to run. But As baseball reckons the Lime for Spring training is upon us. It s the season when veterans ease their Way into familiar routines rookies try to avoid the Cut and coaches search for the stars of the 1990s. Only this year it probably won t happen thai Way. The owners seeking to Cap escalating salaries have locked out the players from the training Camps. Players show no interest in yielding earlier gains. A strike looms for april. The real losers arc the fans. Owners have accumulated a $170 million Ami strike insurance fund. The players own Kitty exceeds $70 million. But it looks like the fans including those who have $2 in their pockets to watch the san Diego padres play a Cactus league game from the general admission seats at Puma. Ariz. Will be out of Luck. It s especially frustrating for padres fans because their team which won 89 games last year takes Spring training so close to Home. All 13 preseason contests on tap for the Ray Kroc baseball Complex at Yuma arc sold out. Normally the san deegans vault California s Rock strewn Laguna mountains Glide beside Green Fields of asparagus in the Lush Imperial Valley and Cross the rippling White Sands of the lower Sonoran desert arriving in Ari Zona in a cavalcade of campers vans and cars. Yuma swells this time of year. But it remains a Friendly town the kind of place where the kids can go Down to the Ballpark on their bikes to get autographs. This year Only non roster players arc working out. Go for it one of them says to us As he knocks a practice Home run Over a 6-foot-High wire mesh Fence. I throw it Back. But this Guy seems to think Joan Kroc earns enough Money to be above worrying about the Cost of lost baseballs. He hits another Homer. This time i keep it. It s a gift for Sam the 7-year-old son of my Host whose name is also Sam and who runs the Yuma daily Sun. Asked for figures Samuel j. Pepper estimates Yuma will lose about $8 million if As expected the padres Spring training season is wiped out a baseball vacuum is partly offset by the Yakut swallows. They normally play in downtown Tokyo to crowds that average 35,000. But they Cross the Pacific to train in Burna. Publisher Pepper notes that the swallows play a More strategic sort of game than do the Power Ori cited North american teams. In the courtyard of their Airport Motel they begin their exercises while inc win Ter Sun has barely cleared the nearby mexican Hills. Japanese players average $ 150,000 a year or less than a third of the current average salary in the major leagues. They have never struck or been locked out. You la have to use your judgment a padres coach tells a clutch of hopefuls in the Outfield. The Issue should they charge a Well struck Ball and risk the Chance of letting it skip by them for extra bases or should they play it on one hop for a damage containing single that appears to be Good advice As Well for a sport that s set attendance records for the last six years that s tripled inc value of its 26 franchises in the last decade and that s doubled its to revenues under a new Long term contract. But the Subtle Art of negotiation has never been one of the strengths of the supposed big leagues on either Side. A strike in which everybody loses seems inevitable. He York tunes news Vuk
