The day of the 20th July 1969 heralded an important milestone in the history of the civilisation. The Commander of the American astronomic mission to space, Neil Armstrong, became the first human being to set foot on the surface of the planet moon.
This was ten years after a spacecraft from the former Soviet Union, Lunar 2, became the first artificial object to land on the new habitat the moon. The epoch when the struggle for the domination of the space by the world powers gathered its momentum.
It was on the occasion of this day, that team of American astronauts led by Neil Armstrong,
descended from the spacecraft Apollo 11, to set foot on the surface of the wonders of the new habitat, with his earthmoving declaration, “that’s one step for man, one giant leap for mankind”. We pay tribute to these gracious men who belong to the pantheons of rare historical moments of human civilisation.
Alongside the national flag of the empire, which was hoisted high into the unknown horizons of the lunar space, these illustrious pioneers of the American nation, planted on the surface of the moon, the plague inscribed with the following fulfilling words, “here men from the planet earth set foot on the moon, July 1969, we came in peace for mankind”.
The epitaph is undoubtedly one of the most precious monumental marks on the edges of our planet moon, from our mother earth.
Later during an auspicious welcoming ceremony at the plenary session of the United Nations (UN) General Assembly, the UN Secretary General, U Thant, revered members of the astronomic mission with glorious decorations, as being the heroes of the human race, embracing them as having already taken their place in the selected roster of men, who down through the centuries have demonstrated the power of humankind’s vision, humankind’s purpose, and humankind’s determination.
He told the delegates of the United Nations Assembly of how watching the astronauts walking the paths of the moon, had helped humanity vicariously to satisfy the age-old longing to get away from it all. “How the flight to the moonwalk and return to earth, had brought to the nations of the world, a renewed realisation of what we, as members of the human race, can accomplish on this planet, with our resources and our technology, if we
are prepared to combine our efforts and work together for the benefit of mankind”.
He said, “it is particularly gratifying to me, that the plague which astronauts placed in the moon is inscribed ‘we came in peace for all mankind’, the words are few, but spell out the common identity of all the inhabitants on this planet, and our never-ending search for peace”.
Returning words of gratitude to the august house of the plenary session of the United Nations General Assembly, with profundity and great humility, Neil Armstrong addressed the delegates as distinguished representatives from the planet earth, and said:
“It is with great pride that we accept the honour of having the opportunity of seeing your warm smiling faces today, accepting on behalf of all the hundreds of dedicated scientists and NASA professionals involved in the Apollo program your gracious words.
I can tell that you share with us, the hope that we citizens of earth, who can solve the problems of leaving earth, can also solve the problems of staying on it”.
Today as we celebrate the anniversary of this rare historic day, we take glory of his profound words of wisdom when he said, that I can tell that you share with us, the hope that we citizens of earth, who can solve the problems of leaving earth, can also solve the problems of staying on it. This has become the tallest message for all the generations of humanity to come to achieve.
With massive technological advancements, the world establishment is afore with its mega initiatives, to establish a habitat for humanity on the lunar, inspired by the architectural designs of the Roman archipelago. The genius of generations of humankind are those to be the first to build such a temple, similar to the Roman pantheon on the moon.
The fundamental question is what is it that will make us bring peace for humankind on the planet moon, if we cannot do so on planet earth. What is it that can make humanity solve the problems of leaving the earth, if it cannot solve the problems of staying on it.
The true facts are that the ruling class, the world bourgeoisie, under the tutelage of the empire, that capitalism has failed to resolve the socio-economic challenges facing humanity. It will be a gigantic effort through ages for our revolutionary movement to take the leap into the next stage of human development.
The ruling class is panicking about the collapsing moral foundations of society on planet earth. Therefore, venturing into the pathways of the planet lunar, as a treasure store to heaven, where they can redeem themselves from their sins.
The oligarchy firmly believes that the movement from the planet earth to the new habitat of
the planet moon, will free man from his remaining chains, the chains of gravity which continue to tie him to planet earth, with the hope that it will open the gates to heaven.
But our revolutionary theory teaches us that this pilgrimage to the new habitat of the moon,
will be incomplete without them taking along the borrowed labour, of their kitchen girls and garden boys. But with its inherent character of greed and selflessness, it will never be that the new habitat becomes a destination of peace and prosperity, as they continue to give birth to the new gravediggers, the working class.
There is nothing better that the system of capitalism will bring to the planet moon which they cannot bring to the planet earth. The ultimate goal is to perish the wonders of the planet moon, as they have with our beautiful earth.
As the deadliest pandemic of the COVID-19 ravages the world, and bringing agony to human life, killing sons and daughters of our mother earth, destroying their livelihoods and economies, we make a call to the world superpowers, to follow the example, and
transform our planet earth, into a magnificent arena, striving for peace for the future of mankind.
The disastrous pandemic knows no origin of man, knows no colour, no class, no gender, it marauds all and has become a threat to the whole of human race. Humanity can only triumph over the disastrous pandemic, when the rich nations, are willing to share their resources, with the overwhelming majority, of the poor of the world population.
It is in this regard, that we impress on the President of the United States of America, Joe Biden, to take inspiration from the pioneers of that remarkable astronomic mission, to make the world strive for peace, for all mankind. By doing so, he will be a testimony of the promise of his age, that it his lifetime, humanity can make peace with itself.
It is for the same reason, that we make a call to the President of the United States, to embrace the cal from the heroes of human civilisation, and take their example as a guiding torch, to end the economic blockade against the Republic of Cuba. The peaceful hearts and minds of the people of the heroic nation of the Caribbean, represent the bulwark of the
ideal of world of peace, that we seek to build.
We call on the US Administration to stop sponsoring regime change insurgency against the democratically elected government of Cuba. The President of the United States of America, has the responsibility to ensure that his Administration, respects the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Republic of Cuba, in terms of the provisions of international law.
The decades long efforts by the different American Administrations, to undermine the unity of the Cuban revolution, is nothing else but an aggressive ideological warfare against the socialist government of Cuba. Socialism represents the aspirations of the majority of the people of Cuba, and the kind of peaceful world that they desire.
The struggle for the liberation of the people of Palestine against the racist apartheid regime of Israel is a necessity. The freedom of the people of Palestine is the freedom of the entire human race.
We, the peace-loving people of the world, condemn the racist apartheid Israel regime, and demand an the immediate end of the colonial occupation and blockade against the sovereign state of Palestine. We demand for the immediate release of all the political
prisoners, and the end of all atrocities against the peaceful people of Palestine.
The foundational stone for the resolution of the Israel Palestinian question, is premised on the negotiated two state solution, for the peace and stability in the region. The US administration is the key for the realisation of the dream come true, freedom and dignity of the Palestinian people.
One of the cornerstones for the achievement of international peace and stability is the
freedom of the people of the SAHARAWI. The truth is that the freedom of the people of Africa, and the world will remain incomplete without the freedom of the people of the Republic of SAHARAWI.
For years the heroic people of the Sahel state have been subjugated to the horrors of oppression, and exploitation by the government of Morocco. We therefore demand for an end of the illegal occupation, and the release of all political prisoners, to pave way for the peaceful transition for democracy, for the peaceful people of the beautiful African nation state.
For peace to prevail and endow the world into a new epoch of prosperity, we urge the government of the United States to end the economic blockade against the Bolivarian Socialist Republic of Venezuela. The American empire has no any other interest on the
land of Simon Bolivar, than to exploit its abundant natural resources.
For centuries the people of Venezuela has led heroic struggle to free themselves against the American neo colonial interests. No one has the absolute right to undermine the democratic will of the majority of the people of Venezuela.
We call on the American administration to be true to the best interest of the people of the Caribbean and Latin American region. We call on the empire to halt its subversive activities of superimposing its interests, at the expense of the people of Brazil, Nicaragua, Bolivia, Honduras, Argentina, Haiti, Jamaica and many others.
We urge the administration of the American government to bring to an end the illegal economic sanctions against the people of Zimbabwe. The socio-economic challenges facing the people is posing a serious thread to the stability of the Southern African region.
What the people of Zimbabwe are yearning for, is nothing else but simply economic
freedom in their lifetime. They want the ownership of their land and the economy, which for years have been in the hands of the British and the Afrikaner colonial masters.
We make a call to the great economies of the world, to the super-rich, to the few who have appropriated for themselves the entire wealth of our planet earth, to share the fortunes of their accumulation with the poor, in order to make our planet earth a better place for all of humanity, before their eminent migration, to the planet moon.
We use the opportunity of this great day in the history of the universe, to make a call to the
President of the United States of America, to take inspiration from the great pioneers of Apollo 11, in order to bring peace and prosperity to the nations of the world. He has the opportunity to use the power of his powerful office, to make what all other leaders of his great nation could not achieve.
President Joe Biden has the responsibility to foster peace and stability for the entire human race. If the desire for humanity is to bring peace to the planet moon, there can indeed, be peace to planet earth.
***
Ambassador Phatse Justice Piitso is a member of the ANC and SACP. He wrote this article in 20 July 2021 in his personal capacity.