cover image Different Drum

Different Drum

M. Scott Peck. Simon & Schuster, $16.45 (336pp) ISBN 978-0-671-60192-8

An advocate of a supranational government agency to replace obsolete nation-states and transformation of the military into a national service corps, psychiatrist Peck, author of The Road Less Traveled, etc., argues that physical and spiritual salvation no longer can be separated. The only way to combat the public apathy and ""militant ignorance'' that allow the arms race to continue lies in grass-roots propagation of the community ideal, which the church and government have lost, argues the author. Individualism plus groupand self-acceptance, good communication and joint commitment are essential to building a true community whatever its membership and interests. Peck foresees a new era of integration favorable to a community movement that calls for universal application of the personal principles of tolerance and love. Renouncing both policies of appeasement and deterrence, he proposes a ``peace through weakness'' strategy that dares us to ``empty'' ourselves of outmoded ideas of security to the extent of facing the economic consequences of eliminating the arms race. Major ad/promo. (June 2)