President Sukarno of Indonesia:Spee

President Sukarno of Indonesia:
Speech at the Opening of the Bandung Conference, April 18, 1955
This twentieth century has been a period of terrific dynamism. Perhaps the last
fifty years have seen more developments and more material progress than the previous five
hundred years. Man has learned to control many of the scourges, which once threatened
him. He has learned to consume distance. He has learned to project his voice and his picture
across oceans and continents. He has learned how to make the desert bloom and
the plants of the earth increase their bounty. He has learned how to release the
immense forces locked in the smallest particles of matter.
But has man's political skill marched hand-in-hand with his technical and
scientific skill? The answer is No! The political skill of man has been far outstripped
by technical skill, The result of this is fear. And man gasps for safety and morality.
Perhaps now more than at any other moment in the history of the world,
society, government and statesmanship needs to be based upon the highest code
of morality and ethics. And in political terms, what is the highest code of morality?
It is the subordination of everything to the well being of mankind. But today we are
faced with a situation where the well being of mankind is not always the primary
consideration. Many who are in places of high power think, rather, of controlling
the world.
Yes, we are living in a world of fear. The life of man today is corroded and
made bitter by fear. Fear of future, fear of hydrogen bomb, fear of ideologies.
Perhaps this fear is a greater danger than the danger itself, because it is fear, which
drives men to act foolishly, to act thoughtlessly, to act dangerously.
All of us, I am certain, are united by more important things than those,
which superficially divide us. We are united, for instance, by a common
detestation of colonialism in whatever form it appears. We are united by a
common detestation of racialism. And we are united by a common determination
to preserve and stabilize peace in the world.
We are often told, "Colonialism is dead." Let us not be deceived or even soothed
by that. I say to you, colonialism is not yet dead. How can we say it is dead, so long
as vast areas of Asia and Africa are unfree.
And, I beg of you do not think of colonialism only in the classic form, which
we of Indonesia, and our brothers in different parts of Asia and Africa, knew.
Colonialism has also its modern dress, in the form of economic control, intellectual
control, and actual physical control by a small but alien community within a nation.
It is a skillful and determined enemy, and it appears in many guises. It does not give
up its loot easily. Wherever, whenever and however it appears, colonialism is an
evil thing, and one which must be eradicated from the earth . . . .