Obtaining the abolition of the death penalty worldwide in less than eight years - or at least having it abolished by law - involves enormous difficulties; organizational, legislative, judicial and political activities; actions undertaken by the general public and lobbies without precedent.

It presupposes a campaign, confrontations and battles which will, or could, produce results of immense practical and moral value. It would also see men and women, both powerful and modest, united and organized as a single force, who would otherwise be divided and uninvolved.

At the moment, the only possible way of supporting the above objective is by joining the Radical Party.

And when one becomes a member, one remains, and is left, completely free to associate, to behave, to act - or not to act - in the way one believes to be best.

One also becomes part of a "body of shareholders", which is like taking out life insurance for oneself and other people. Furthermore, it is a way of making more of one's own life, and that of other people; a way of endowing politics with new strength, new validity and restoring the nobility it now only possesses in theory; a way of giving a new significance to national and international institutions.It is as if mankind had become impotent; individuals had been deprived of responsibility; and important ideals were the cause of the present lack of morality. In our opulent society, and in those where poverty reigns (both of which are often the result of speculation), the sense of giving which society has always possessed in its most religious and difficult moments, seems to have disappeared.

Those countries, political ideals, humanitarian campaigns, and people who believe in a right to life and a life of rights and form valid associations to take action in this area, do not succeed in moving, in every sense of the word, in mobilizing, or in obtaining a commitment from the general public. There are a few exceptions, but these are becoming less and less.

Where money does exist, and is plentiful, it is virtually spent like water, with no sense of responsibility. The very idea of investing money destined for holidays or consumer goods that are totally unnecessary, in objectives that are literally vital, convinces no one, has no real strength.

In some societies, there is a saying that it is the head of a fish that starts to stink first. This is not true, or rather completely true. It is certainly a fact, however, that it is today's leaders who set a bad example, namely: the intellectuals, the power moguls, the elected representatives, the high priests of the "party-cracies" and the various political Movements. When it is a question of politics instead of power, they are inevitably distracted, self-sufficient and self-admiring, with a tendency to consume rather than generate. They are hardly ever the humble and responsible organizers of new initiatives, even if they themselves admit that these are necessary. In any case, they find taking action and embarking on projects difficult unless these can be realized immediately via the mass media, even if the results are more and more laughable.

They have no trust and, consequently, are not trusted.

The door to the realization of objectives which people acknowledge, at least verbally, as being necessary for the preservation of the civilized world, and the world tout court, is now barely open. The wisdom, the fairness and the modesty of certain projects only mobilize the few.

And very few people seem to understand, or remember, what expressions such as "to believe", "to help" and "to make use of one's life" can signify when applied to what we know, love, hope and want - or say we want.

The Radical Party is keeping the door open. We know that other doors cannot but exist, even if we haven't found them yet.

The Radical Party exists, there is no doubt about that. The thousands of new members (extremely valuable in themselves, but ridiculously few given the tasks ahead of us) and the hundreds of deputies and parliamentarians who have joined forces with us in the space of one year, are very real evidence of this, and give us reason to hope. But, more and more, we have to contend with a new and extreme form of alienation known as "political alienation". In fact, the politics of our "nationalistic" countries, and our "nationalistic politicians" (which is what we are) dictate modes of behaviour, methods of realizing commitments, and forms of mobilization, power - and impotence - that either ensnare us, or take us over.And which produce nothing, or even worse results.

Every type of internationalism is refused, not only in deed but also in theory. The right to practise it is also denied us.

All we have are authorized persons and people who draw up international or multinational agreements, executives and heads of departments who are subordinates with marginal powers who do not possess any real legal or democratic authority.

With these few notes, I am making an informal appeal to our readers, as the formal variety has worn somewhat thin.

In this difficult moment that we are all living, the real difficulty does not lie in the form of expression we choose but in identifying and overcoming the problems we have to face.

I began by giving an example of what we have modestly begun to do in conceiving and organizing our "Campaign for the Abolition of the Death Penalty before 2000".

Those who have followed us, read about our progress, helped - or even scorned - us, know that other examples can be cited that are equally valid: the struggle to eliminate, before it is too late, the source of a form of crime that is virtually all-powerful and which, terrifyingly enough, springs from an insane prohibitionist drugs policy; the organization, with almost scientific and "military" precision, of a coherent, nonviolent, Gandhian force which offers an alternative to the outmoded ways of upholding security with the conventional weapons used by the military, and in war; the presence of an organized democratic federalist force in the heart of those places where the mationalistic and racist fundamentalism of former totalitarian empires is being unleashed, empires which are exploding like shells that are about to wound and kill people everywhere with their shrapnel; the preparation of a political instrument that could neutralize the ecological and population "bombs" that are on the point of explodin

g without any solution having yet been found...

For this reason, we continue to ask each and every one of you to be prudent, and generous-hearted, enough to join the Radical Party before we use up all the resources we have been able to gather and invest in this tentative project, concerning which we have always kept you informed. Not in order that we may simply continue to exist, but that we may guarantee that the second Session of our Congress will take place, and a new ruling class assume responsibility.

We must hope, therefore, that you will not put off joining until tomorrow when you know that you should do it today, for the world today.