In Defense of the Fast

(The following is the opinion of a minority of the CRIMSON's editorial board.)

THIS week's fast has effectively increased commitment within the Harvard community to work against the war. To call the fast a waste of energy is to engage in the self indulgent pettifoggery which has been so damaging to the anti-war movement since its inception. There is no totality of "anti-war energy" from which the fast has stolen a valuable "amount X." Harvard is notoriously only represent an increase in this pittance.

The 400 fasters have experienced to a small degree the sacrifices the Vietnamese are making in their war, and they have re-examined their own contributions toward ending that miserv. Many have resolved to redouble their efforts in the future.

But the fast has involved more than a personal commitment. The entire community has benefitted from the increased political activity. Fasters have canvassed every dining hall, and asked students to examine the methods they have chosen to oppose the war. In addition, they have distributed 3000 pamphlets which describe every anti-war organization in Cambridge and Boston. The purpose of the fast has been to build a political commitment out of a personal one.