LATIN AMERICAN REACTION TO PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S SPEECH
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S
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Publication Date:
March 27, 1961
Content Type:
SPEECH
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Attachment to Item x#368 2Z March 1961
LATIN AMERICAN REACTION TO PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S SPEECH
Latin American reaction to President Kennedy's 13 March speech proposing
a ten-year Alliance for Progress in the Western Hemisphere has been o~tstand-
ingly goad. On 29 March, former president Jose Figueres of Costa Rica issued,
in the name of fourteen Latin American political parties, a manifesto, called "the
Declaration of San Jose. " This manifesto stated: "the Latin American democratic
parties applaud the new US attitude toward Latin America, which is worthy of the
US revolution and ou_r own political struggles....It is a reaffirmation. The parties
signing this manifesto appeal to all Latin Americans to accept the friendly hand
proffered us in a befittingly constructive spirit. "
One of the striking aspects of the press reaction is that favorable, even
rhapsodic, reaction has come from papers usually highly critical of US policy in
F atin America. Same excerpts are given below, which, together with the "Declara?
tion of San Jose, "may be used as appropriate.
E1 Popular (leftist, anti-US and often Communist-line daily in Mexico Gity)
said: "Far the first time in history our neighbor government is really
interested in developing, with the Latin American nations, an efficient
plan of action. "
La Prensa (moderately liberal, one of the three largest dailies in Mexico
City} said: "What is extraordinary.. , . is that it (the Kennedy speech} clearly
states that it does not accept and rejects as friends or allies the priviledged
and the feudalrminded castes in Latin America. "
La Republica {leftist, liberal and occasionally anti-US daily of San Jose,
Costa Rica stated: "the speech.... confirms that the enthusiasm of the
most enlightened and informed personalities, press and institutions of Lati.n-
America for his election and first statements as President were neither pre~~
mature nor unfounded.... Latin America must rejoice that the people of the
United States have chosen a man of such wide vision and such profound socia:
feelings as John F. Kennedy to guide their destinies for these four years. "
EI Tiempa (liberal, largest andNtaetinfluential daily in Bogota, Colombia)
said: "We must first hail.. ,the lofty ideas and sincerity of his lmrpose, and,
something new in the language to which US statesmen has accustomed us: a
clear understanding of the nature and scope of Latin American problems. "
E1 Munda (leftist-liberal, nationalistic daily in Caracas , Venezuela}
commented: "Jahn F. Kennedy is determined to go down in history as the
creator of a hemispheric order that will, of itself, link the two Americas
solidly forever. "
Ultimas Noticias (leftist, frequently critical of US, daily of Caracas, Vene-
zuela wrote: "Kennedy has spoken with greater understanding of the reality
of Latin America than any previous U. S. Chief of State, including Fxa~:klin
D R~aasevelt. "
E1 ~Comercio {independent, moderately liberal daily of Quito, Ecuador) said:
" the new U. S. attitude} is revolutionary and realistic.. , . an historic step of
imponderable significance for the future. "
La Nacion (leftist daily of Guayaquil, Ecuador} wrote: "The Kennedy plan is a
move back to the true goad neighbor policies of Roosevelt. "
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Attach to Item X36$ (Continued) 27 March 1961
E1 Diario (independent, most influential daily in La Paz, Bolivia) said:
"Tt moat be recognized that the President is the best defender that Latin
America has today and we will have to have faith in him. "
Action {leftist, frequently an#3.~US daily in Montevideo) wrote.; "The Kennedy
plan.... is a great step forward in the improvemedt of continental relations; ~`
it is a gesture of pure, honest f riendship and as such we must recognize
and hail it. "
Ultimo Hora (leftist, frequently anti-US daily in Rio de Janiero, Brazil)
ran a banner headline: "Kennedy issues decalogue to free Latin America
from ?misery in ten years. "
La Prensa (largest paper in Buenos Aires, Argentina) called the speech
evidence of "American unity and responsibility to face this period in history.
In addit#oza to the "Declaration of San Jose, "mentioned above, statements
of other groups and individual leaders in the area may be noted,
President Frondizi of Argentina stated: "President Kennedy's new program
responds to the needs of Latin America. "
Victor Haedo, leader of the governing party and present president of Urug~ny'
National Council of Government, said: "Uruguay receives this speech and
its program of immediate action with faith and hope and will cooperate firrnl;
in the plan expounded by the President of the United States. "
Cesar Battle, Uruguay's minority party leader, stated, "without pre judice to
my complete agreement with President Kennedy's objectives, it is unfair not
to recognize that the US has always rendered great service to Latin America,
In Chile, the Undersecretar of Forei Affairs, Fernando Donoso, voiced
the official acknowledgement: "The allusions to the policy of President
Alessandri in connection with arms limitation made by the President of the
United States was very flattering to Chileans.. "
The Radical Par leadin o osition rou ,noted in an official statement
"the identity of the objectives of US policy with those of the Radical Party,
economic developmex~ty agxari,an reform, tax reform, 'extension and improve
meat of education, and a policy of fair prices for raw materials. "
President Lleras, of Colombia, said: "You, Mr. President, have a clear arF~)
profound conception of what the relationship must be between the countries
of this hemisphere. The cooperation you suggest has been the desire of
Latin America for many years. "
President Prado, of Peru, pledged Peru's cooperation in the "common
struggle against misery, injustice and despotism. "
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PHILOSOPHY OF MAN (5)
[Following is a translation of an article by Adam Schaff
in the Polish-language periodical Przeglad Kulturalny
(Cultural Review). Vol. X, No. 13 , Warsaw, 30 March
1961, page 7. Refer to JPRS: 8000 for parts 1 and 2, and
JPRS : 8087 for parts 3 and ~+. J
? en re rospec ve y appraising the past few years, one may state
ithout fear of error that moral responsibility constituted the problem
hick aroused the lion's share of interest in philosophy, nourished by
he broad circles of our intelligentsia, and of our young intelligentsia
in particular. This problem was also the chief culprit of the "explosion"
of existentialist influences in our philosophical spheres, whose climate
as theretofore traditionally shaped up by trends of common sense, and
indeed of positivism. For by a thousand threads, the problem of responsi-
ility is connected with those concerning the human individual's status
nd fate.
The problems of responsibility broke through to philosophy coming
rom life, from political practice. This was the source of their weight,
nd of their strength. They were nat imaginary, abstract ones. On the
ontrary, they breathed life, and expressed its conflicts and difficulties
hick craved philosophical interpretation and generalization. This was
ven more true when applied to a social sphere trapped in such conflicts,
nd living them the hard way. It is not by mere chance that the circles
onnected with neo-positivism, including their younger generations, did
of feel the need for "going existentialist," and that they continue be-
'ng cool, if not hostile to existentialism. But the Marxist intelligentsia,
nd its young generation in particular accepted existentialist problems as
'f they were a revelation. Unfortunately, this was often accompanied by
he acceptance of the existentialists' subjectivistic solutions. However,
ne must beware of the easy way out, of a total denial of the existence
~' such problems, that is. For, in this case, the problems stem from the
xperience of people who viewed the political difficulties of the past
ears at an angle of moral responsibility for their own acts, or for the
pproval granted those of third parties. These problems have to be ans-
ered, and answered in a serious manner, whatever their deflections,
hatever the erroneous solutions attempted. And, if for no other reason,
his has to be done in order to help those looking for solutions.
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Responsibility is a category connected with acts, and with action.
Furthermore, it appears as a social, or individual-psychical phenomenon
exclusively in situations where there had been some human action or de-
sistance therefrom. Various types of responsibility may be distinguished
in connection with particular modes of action or of desistance. We are
however interested in only one of them.
If someone, bound by an agreement to act performs his duties in
an indifferent manner, or fails to comply with the accepted standards, or
does not act at all - he is responsible far the harm resulting therefrom.
His responsibility may be financial or penal, and depends upon the nature
of the harm done. For instance, an architect of a ferry-built house is
liable to civil action unless further harm ensued, therefor his becomes a
penal responsibility. A driver who violated traffic laws is responsible
for the violation of administrative regulations, again if no act has been
committed, causing the responsibility to become penal. There may be penal
responsibility in store for a physician who neglected to perform some
intervention. The same applies to a railwayman who neglectfully failed
to shut a crossing, and thus brought an accident about,
This, however, is not what we have in mind when referring to moral
responsibility. Moral responsibility appears in cases which -- for any
reason whatevex -- are not subject to legal sanctions even though they
are frowned upon by society.
But, also in this connection, not all types of moral responsibility
are of interest to us.
For instance, someone refused to see a man who was clearly dis-
tressed and desperate. On the same day, that man committed suicide. The
society blames the man who refused to see him. The man himself feels re-
morse even though he is irreproachable under law.
This is a clear example of moral responsibility, however, it is
not of interest to us in this connection. In a similar manner, we are not
interested in other cases of moral responsibility, connected with acts or
with desistance therefrom, and which are not punishable by law, however
are undertaken by a man fully conscious of doing something reprovable be-
cause of his hopes for a reward, because of cowardice etc. This will be
simply a moral misdeed, and denouncing it creates no problem.
We are interested in the situation of a special type which lay at
the foundation of the moral indignation felt by entire social o oups
over the years 1955-157, and which continues harassing people. GJe are
referring to the matter of moral responsibility far political action un-
dertaken in circumstances of conflict. The problem whether one must de-
nounce a clear moral transgression, consciously committed, was not im-
portant to these people then, nor is it now. What both was and continues
being important was the question of how to act when there is a conflict
betcaeen, say, organizational discipline that orders something done, and
the recoil experienced by a man who deems such action contrary to his
conscience. A great problem, this, and that is why it should be openly
discussed, with things being called what they are.
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And so, we have to examine a certain special category of situa -
tiona of moral conflict. This conflict-nature embodies the crux of the
problem, and this is what our own 1956-1957 "moralizers" failed to see or
understand; Following in the footsteps of existentialism, they overlooked
what was truly interesting and creative in the existentialist concept.
Personally, I think we are greatly indebted to the existentialist
theory for bringing to light the meaning of conflict situations in life.
This discovery of their own, the existentialists used in order to ,justify
their thesis that the individual is alone, isolated, "doomed to choice"
etC.
The entire subjectivistic ballast of existentialism is tacked, pre-
cisely, onto the conflict situations. However, the manner in which the
existentialists used such discovery does not diminish its importance. pn
the contrary, it should be watched even closer, so that, when the un-
necessary impurities have been removed, the real problems may be brought
to light.
A situation is one of moral conflict when human action, aimed at
objectives positively evaluated under the accepted system of values leads
to results the same system of values appraises as negative. The man in-
volved simultaneously feels moral incentives that urge him to act, and
others, that stay his hand. This is haw moral conflict is born.
It is connected with the complex nature of the situation, with the
interwoven desires and interests that cannot be satisfied at one and the
same time since they are conflicting interests. Such life situations are
most interesting; from the theoretical point of view and, unfortunately,
they are frequent. T said "unfortunately" because these situations are
extremely difficult owing to irreconcilable conflicts embedded in them.
They often break a man's heart, and, in extreme cases, bring his life to
a violent end.
There are plenty of examples both from strictly private human life,
and from lives connected with public affairs. These examples extend to
all situations in which a man wants to do well and, in so doing from one
point of view, ineluctably causes evil from another. drestes and Antigone
are the symbolic victims of such situations, in which tragic heroes are
elementally born.
As we have said, also these matters will be passed under silence.
For we are exclusively interested in a certain sector of conflict situa-
tions, namely in that of situations connected with our political life of
the past few years. Moreover, to discuss these topics in their entirety,
a treatise, not an essay would have been necessary. However, I would like
to draw attention to one matter of a general nature that will help us in
further deliverations.
Throwing light upon conflict situations constitutes a blow dealt
moralizing. It affects both the official, religious moralizing which be-
lieves that it has solved all the problems through blessing us with the
Decalogue and through teaching us that one should not steal or slay but
should love one's brethren and do a few additional praiseworthy things --
and the crypts-religious moralizing which conveys to us essentially the
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same purport >- absolute orders and prohibitions -- in secular garb. One
should clearly realize tYzat wherever absolute moral precepta are preached,
they are -- whatever their form -- religious in their essence. The only
difference is that the overtly religious position is at least consistent:
The norms are heteronomous, imposed by a superior being, and hence eternal
and unchangeable, absolute. If one states that such norms are absolute
din the sense of their being eternal and irrefutable) because they flow
from a categorical imperative, from human nature etc. he, in fact, states
what religion does, namely that they are heteronomous. For only in ap-
pearance are they connected with the world of men; human nature, innate
imperative etc. etc. are of an unknown or, at any rate, extra-human ori-
gin, they appeal to a mystical "spirit," "human nature" etc. They have
nothing in common with the exclusively real human world -- that of human
society, as ex definitions they are not its creation. Here, the absence
of a Creator is a c~.ear and awkward inconsistency,
Moralizing of this description is reduced to bankruptcy when con-
fronted with situations of conflict. The panacea of moral precepts shows
itself to be helpless when the objective collision occurs between the modes
of such precepts being applied. The problem but starts where moralizing
considers its work to have been completed through the utterance of sacra-
mental do's and don't's. Tt so happens that compliance with an order has
the simultaneous breach of the very same order for its correlate. The
problem does not consist of obeying moral orders and prohibitions but of
selecting some alternative application of either of these under circum -
stances in which every choice is wrong. Therefore, one must choose what
is better, what causes lesser evil. But how to choose? What norms to
apply? And here moralizing, both religious and secular, remains silent.
Bath teach: ?Thou shalt not kill," but both fail to foresee a situation
in which compliance with this prohibition with regard to one person has
for its consequence its breach -- even though one's part be indirect --
with regard to another person, and possibly to many other people. For in-
stance, when, obeying the absolute prohibition, one will not kill a traitor
and will thus send one's fel~.ow-under ground fighters to their death. That
is the problem. It is easy to preach absolute norms. But it is difficult
to solve the real conflicts of life. And moralizing that lets one down
precisely when reality begins is not worth much. Slender is the value of
moralizing, calculated exclusively to "convert" thieves, bandits etc., and
absolutely useless in cases of honest men why want to be told how to live
with dignity when the situation compels them -- against their will and
intentions -- to do something evil. Therefore, the sacred moralizing zeal
which at a certain period gat hold of some among our "ideologists" clearly
led them astray, and obscured the actual, essential issues. If all one
can do in a complex life situation is to repeat that morality comes before
politics, one gives oneself a certificate of mental poverty: De facto,
one fails to say anything that might help the action, Far the problem
does not begin before the moment when one wishes to decide what is moral,
and haw to choose in an alternative conflict situation. We will now give
all our attention to precisely this problem;
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Let us start by a concrete example. Of course, I select an ex-
ample that, far from being indifferent, has actually pervaded a determined
social group fox a number of years. I think this is the only way, i.e.
by taking the proverbial bull squarely by the horns, that one may gain
actual results, and open a dialogue that brings people closer to Marxism.
Thus: What is the moral conflict in a situation in which, on the one
hand, one is by organizational discipline bound to do a certain thing or
things while, on the other hand, one feels one's own recoil, or even is
convinced that such act, his duty, is wrong.
Organizational discipline is not a formal, outward matter. It is
discipline flawing from the community of aims and endeavors of a certain
group of people one has joined out of one's own free will, endorsing its
program. Inside such group, organizational discipline is a condition and
warranty of the success of the battle joined by the group, since a po-
litical organization is a militant association. Thus, the discipline is
one's own discipline, and one accepted it on joining the group which po -
litically continues to be one's own group, one's own organization. Evi-
dently, this is a conditio sine qua non: Otherwise, all the matter con-
stitutes a misunderstanding and there is no canflict -- one tai11 simply
obey the orders of such discipline ewe do not consider here the cases of
moral cheating which consists in making other people believe this or that
by means of one's formal adherence to a group for purposes of some per-
sonal advantage}. If however one actually belongs to a group, the matter
of discipline is of utmost importance to one since it decides the success
in the battle one has joined in. One knows a militant group is like an
army: Should every soldier consider himself to be the commander, entitled
to issue orders, the army would perish, devoured by anarchy, its battle
lost in advance. Therefore, to oppose organizational discipline is to
weaken the group's prowess. Does one have sufficient reasons therefor?
Do not one's hesitations, not shared by so many honest and sensible peo-
ple flow from a subjective error, from want of discernment and experience?
Therefore, shouldn't one march in the same ranks in spite of hesitations
and repulse, putting unity above everything else? For one is morally re -
spansible for such unity being maintainer.
But, an the other hand, one is gnawed by fear lest the action be
wrong that is expected of one, or that one is expected to approve. And
Sarong precisely from the point of view of purposes dear to one, and which
had made one join the group. Let us say such action may compromise the
aims of the group in the eyes of the masses, or split its forces, or de-
prave its ranks etc. One thinks about it as a member of the group, and
from the point of view of the group's interests. One feels morally respor~
Bible for such, by na means unlikely, consequences. If one feels hesitant
only, this means one is unsure of one's position to the very end, as other-
wise one would have decidedly apposed such action.
However, what to do, what should one do when amidst an acute moral
canflict? Tf the organizational discipline prevails over conscience, it
means that, continuing to awn up to moral responsibility for the unity of
the fighting ranks, one simultaneously throws dawn the responsibility for
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the consequences of the concrete action. If one takes the apposite course,
then as the price to be paid for the consistency of action with regard to
the case involved, one must sacrifice the purpose, moral as well, and per -
haps vastly more important. Here, the conflict is objective, the choice
-- hard.
All this, of course, has nothing in common with the stand taken by
our "moralizers". Whoever simply preached: "Morality comes before poli-
tics," saw no moral. conflict involved since he assumed politics to be
chemically pure of morality, and so there was no moral problem to be con-
sidered, connected with organizational discipline. But this way of think-
ing a~.d speaking is accessible only to a man alien to the group, to a man
to whom neither the group nor its discipline are his own.. This could have
been a temporary stand, it could have been a consequence of a political
upheaval but that is the way it was.
However, I am referring to a different situation, namely to one
in which a man, connected with a group, belonging to it not formally alone
but in fact as well lives through a genuine moral conflict: He must
choose under conditions in which remaining true to one value is contingent
upon losing another one. So what should a man do who lives through such
conflict and who is thus confronted with the problem of choice and or
moral responsibility connected therewith? What should the factors be, de-
ciding his choice? Can he be helped, and how?
As a rule, when deciding one's choice in such situations, one ap-
plies a loss-and-profit balance sheet, and decides upon the more advan-
tageous conditions. The point is to have a suitable system or set of
values, and a working yardstick for purposes of comparison. In this case,
one has bath. But nobody will supply general prescriptions because:
First, situations change, and one can only refer to them in a concrete
manner and, second, the concrete nature of a situation also depends upon
the z~ray a particular person feels about it, and so upon a subjective fac-
tor. Therefore, one may not make categorical and absolute statements
concerning such matters. One must take the whole of the concrete condi-
tions into consideration.
In final analysis, tYae decision -- as in any case of choice -- is
made by the particular individual. Nobody can do it in his stead. However,
the individual can be helped when told the arguments for and against, and
explained why the adviser would have acted in such situation one way and
not the other.
This does not free anyone of the need far choosing or of moral re-
sponsibility far the choice made. However, it constitutes genuine help,
and this throws some more light upon the existentialist interpretation of
man's "aloneness." In a certain sense, the individual is, no doubt, alone:
He must choose, and nobody may take his place either in this or with re-
gard to the act of responsibility. This brings hard experiences about, of-
ten breakdowns and, sometimes, when the individual is unable to cope with
his own inner conflict -- even disaster. But the "aloneness" and "being
doomed to choose" as understood by the existentialists have little in com-
mon with what happens in real life. Tf only because -- as we have said
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already -- the individual always remains within a circle of personal sets
of values and of patterns that are social by their very nature; because in
eonsu~.tin~; his conscience at the moment of choice, he is subject to argu-
mentation, also social by its nature. Thus, in this sense, the individual
is not left to himself, alone.
However, going back to our subject, i.e. to the matter of choice
and of responsibility for such choice, the individual lives through a con-
flict against the background of a clash between the duty to act (following
his feeling of discipline) and the resistance to be offered such actions
(following his subjective feeling to the effect that such action is wrong)
-- one may only sum up by saying no more than that: There are no general,
universally recognized solutions to the problem. The "moralizing" solution
which preaches that morality is always to be given precedence over politics
consists in a deep misunderstanding of the essence of such conflict, in
which. the feeling of moral responsibility is present in both clashing
sides. Furthermore, such solution may only be advocated by people who are
not solidary with the fighting group, who placed themselves outside it.
When however one considers people who are living through such inner con-
flict inside the group, without leaving the organization, in their un-
changed capacity as actual, and not formal, members, then ane can only
advise them concretely to consider each conflict on the merits of the par-
ticular role played by the fighting groupts unity and of its solidary de-
sire to attain its aims. This piece of advice contains the presumption,
moral as well, that in cases of doubt the interest of the group unity takes
precedence, and so personal repulse must lee stifled in favor of a sui
generis reason of State. But this is only a presumption, and not the
definitive solution to the case. The decision belongs to the individual,
and to him alone. If after a careful and penetrating analysis of the en-
tire situation, taking into consideration all the arguments in favor of
discipline and of precedence of collective reason one becomes subjectively
certain that the action is wrong and harmful, and apt to jeopardize the
fundamental aims of the group -- moral responsibility orders him to break
with the group with regard to such concrete case, and to act in harmony
~~~th one's own conscience. Here, the individual is, in fact, "Doomed to
choose," and the past period's experiences show that neither public opin-
ion nor that of the group free ane of moral responsibility (even though it
be universally known that an individual acted in a certain way not for
the sake of his personal advantage but because he believed this was ne-
cessary far that of group solidarity).
To illustrate my paint, I would like to use a concrete example,
particularly convincing for a reader within my field of vision, and which
at the same time can show the problem with particular clarity -- an ex-
ample of a creative scientist, artist etc,
The conflict that may here arise, and that actually often used to
arise, is one between discipline and search far truth. Very frequently,
this case is passed under silence as if it were sometriing embarrassing.
This is wrong. The matter is perfectly human; standing on Marxist ground,
one can best show that it would have been superhuman indeed had such
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situations failed to arise. They can only be ruled out an the grounds of
the cult of an infallible individual, and this, incidentally, is deeply
at odds with Marxism which, in the wards of its own creator advocated
specific methadica~. scepticism: De omnibus dubitandLUn-est. Among other
things, the newness of the situation consists in the fact that the policy
of such cult had been denounced through disclosing its harmful results
and its natLlre, alien to Marxism, The penetration by these ideas of the
soul of intelligentsia, and of our awn intelligentsia in. particular was
the deeper, the deeper had been in the past the violations of the abso-
lately right idea of predominance of scientific or artistic truth over any
other. Therefore, one neither can nor should pass the matter under silence.
This is even more trLlE due to the fact that there neither is a con-
flict between politics and search for truth, nor can there be, if politics
is conducted from a Marxist position. A conflict is both possible and
does happen many a time between the truth and the bad, erroneous politics
and the arganizatianal discipline expressing it. But erroneous politics
is not the same as politics in general. And the correct Marxist politics
is ex definitione bound to truth and to the struggle for truth because it
is bound to the striving for the progress of mankind. Therefore this is
the way the creative individual must consider the problem of the politics-
truth conflict, when his research does not leave room for doubt that he
did find the truth. This is precisely what moral responsibility orders
him to do, even when such truth has yet to be universally recognized. For
what would have happened to progress and to new ideas in science and in
the arts if universally accepted ideas alone had 'teen entitled to recog-
nition? History of science and of culture tells us that we would have
bogged down in a progress-destroying stalemate and dogmatism.
The beautiful, philosophically profound drama "The Life of Galileo"
by Brecht closes an a shattering soliloquy by its hero. The old scien-
tist, morally tormented by his own cowardice refuses to shake his dis-
ciple's hand. And the disciple is ready to change his negative opinion
of his Master who, after all, in spite of persecution and of all its dan-
gers, succeeded in completing his scientifically revolutionary Discorsi,
and in concealing them from the Inquisition. Galileo is more severe in
his own appraisal, and his final words contain the quintessence of what we
have just been saying. Therefore, we will use his words to close our own
cogitations, far it would have been hard to find a more sublime and beau-
tiful expression of their principal idea:
"Even a wool-merchant must be concerned about the possibility of
being free to deal in Drool in addition to trying to buy it low and to sell
it high. It seems to me that science's rights in this connection demand
exceptional valor. Science deals in knowledge which is acquired through
doubt. In supplying everyone with knowledge of everything, science strives
to have everyone start doubting...My own opportunity as a scientist has
been quite exceptional. In my time, astronomy reached the market piece.
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Under these, quite exceptional circumstances, the consistency of just
one man standing alone could have shaken the ~ror1d...I betrayed my pro-
fession. ~dhoever sets as I have done cannot be tolerated in the ranks
of science
t (To be Continued).
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Figures on U. S.
and U. S. S. R . Armed Farces
United States armed forces were reduced from 12, 124, 000 in World War
II to 1, 445, 910 in 1948. For many years, the USSR concealed the size of its
armed farces, but in January, 1960, Khrushchev disclosed that Soviet forces
in 1948 had numbered 2, 874, 000 -- roughly twice the U. S, figure for that year.
In his speech, Khrushchev indicated that this was the post-war law-point for the
Soviet forces, saying that from that time an increase was necessary to meet
the growing forces of NATO) and other alliances. But the U. S. forces in June
1950 (before the United States became involved in the Korean war) numbered
1, 459, 000, an increase over 1948 of only 13, 090. The Korean War, launched by
a Communist attack, '~ sent the U. S. farces total to 3, 685, 000, but in 1955
this was back down to 2, 935, 079, and in 195$ the fatal 'vwas 2, 598, 870.
Khrushchev's speech showed that the Soviet total for 1955 was 5, 763, 000 -- again
roughly twice the U. S. total for that year, although the USSR had not sent any
farces to Korea, He proudly announced that Soviet forces had been reduced
to a 1960 figure of 3, 623, 000, an d that it was planned "to reduce our armed
farcea by another 1, 200, 000, "bringing it to " 2, 423, 000. " But U. S. forces had
already been reduced to 2, 4$9, 000 for 1960. Khrushchev's figures probably
did not include internal troops, border troops, and so forth, numbering around
350, 000 which have no Arnexican counter-part, aside from a tiny Coast Guard
of about 30, 000. (Not a single railroad bridge or tunnel in the United States
is under armed guard. There are no fences, towers, ditches, plowed strips,
watchdogs, etc. , between the U. S. and Canada - in fact, in some areas it is
hard to tell when one has crossed the frontier. )
~ The fact that the North and not the South Koreans as Moscow then claimed
were the aggressors was plainly shown by the initial successes of the North
Koreans. Like the Hazis on 22 June 1941, they were obviously the side which
had its farces poised on the border, ready to spring.
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MGSCOWiS PLANS F?R THE FUTURE OF WESTERN EUROPE
First the "Democratic People's Revt>lution, "then "Sovietiaatian". The
new party textbook reveals the recipe.
People in the West like to cite a few ancient phrases from Lenin
when it is a question of exposing the Kremlin~s intention to bring about
world revolution. In the following article, Wolfgang IJeonhard shows
that this is unnecessary: mare clearly tlxan Lenin ever did, the present
Soviet leaders leave pz?3blicized thcix intentions in the new ,arty manual,
Fc.aid.amerrals cf Maxxzsm-I.reninira:~n. Vast year this tex~:k;ook reached
in tY,ae Sov~let Lrion a ;fublicai:ion figure of roughly o:ie million copies;
meanwhile it hag also been published -- f;;rst East German edition,
500, 000 copies -- in the other countries of the Eastern Bloc. How
dcc~~s the Kremlin intend to achieve a Communist revc~lvtiorz in the
W ez;tern countries? How dace it envisane the post-?rpvo3.u*.':cnary
det-elaprrlent? Here are the answers, given by Moscow's leaders
them selvn s.
In the era of Stalin and even in the first years after Stalin~s death, Moscow
gave aniy hints of its conception of how the future victory of communism would
take shape in the western industrial countries. Now the new official party manual
not only describes the exp~:cted revo~,uti~,n in Western Europe and the U. S. A. ,
but also sets forth what will happen in tiRle stern Europe after the victory of
x e volution.
In the Soviet view, the present western system of "state-monopoly capital-
ism" is characterized by a whole series of political and social contradictions,
These find their expression in the following six political and social movements:
1. The struggle of the workers for their social and political rights
and fox the "nationalization of monopoly capital property. "
2. The etru.ggle of the peasants "against feudal landlord suppression, "
as we11 as against "repression and exploitation by the capitalist
monopolies. "
3. The "humanistic movement of the intelligentsia" against "the decline
of civilization" and the "flooding of western countries with the worse
products of American literature. "
4, The struggle against the limitation of democratic freedoms and for
the defense of democracy.
5. The struggle against the danger of war.
6. The struggle for the protection of national sovereignty.
These manifestations, the Soviets believe, will become stronger and
stronger, and will increasingly merge together. Alongside the workers, peasants
and intellectuals, certain business circles (in the textbook, "the clear-minded
representatives of the bourgeoisie") join in, so that in the end "the majority of
the nation" in the capitalist countries is included.- The Soviet textbook sees in the
creation of such a united "anti-monopoly and anti-imperialist Front" the point of
departure for further evolution toward communism.
Guidelines for Overthxow
The Moscow textbook teaches further that, at a certain definite moment,
these popular movements will be transformed into revolution. A "revolutionary
situation" arises ~- according to the Soviet textbook -- when "the policy of the
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ruling circles has gone bankrupt and entered a cul de sac, when discontent grows
among the masses, and confusion reigns at 'top levels=. "Economic factors such
as unemployment= .inflation, and over-production may lead to this, as well as
political factors -- for example, an unrestrained political reaatian, increasing
threat of war, a resurrection of Fascism, or "the danger that the country in
question will be drawn into the catastrophe of an atomic war. " Only a '"revolu-
tionary situation" creates the possibility that the popular manifestations can be
"merged together into a democratic revolution. " In another place, reference
is made to the "democratic people's revolution."~3?n..whie'lr~,~~he? brs,~de,s~ strata of
the people take part. "Whether and to what extent such revolutions will be
realized by force or by peaceful means depends, according to the Soviet text-
books, an the conditions and power relationships in the particular country at the
particular time. In any case, they would bring about the fall of the existing
government axtl the formation of a "coalition of democratic forces. "
"The overthrow of the dictatorship of the capitalist monopolies by a demo-
cratic revolution will lead to the 'elimination of the agents of the big monopolies
from power and to the transfer of power to the hands of the people; in other
words, it will lead to a coalition of democratic farces, to which the working
classes, all levels of the peasantry, the middle levels of the urban population and
the democratic intelligentsia can belong. This means that the main farces of
reaction will be isolated and, in the very first, democratic stage, overthrown. "
The term "agents of the big imperialist monopolies, "means, of course,
all significant forces and persons opposed to the development desired by
Moscow. On the other hand by "coalition of democratic forces, "the Soviet
textbook rne.ans the CP officials and all persons who are ready to work with
the Moscow-directed CPs in such a government.
Interestingly,.-it is stressed that the new people's power is supposed --
wherever possible -- to use the parliament as "its form of organization and its
weapon-in the struggle against the rule of the monopolies. " In this way the new
power -- as is stated with amazing frankness -.- will acquire "immediately the
necessary authority, which will ease the ensuing socialist transformation." In
these circumstances any resistance against socialist overthrow becomes illegal,
not only de facto bu$ also de~yre and is directed against the will of the people,
which finds its expression m the parliament. " In any event, at the same time
the "revolutionary people's movement outside parliament" will have to be
strengthened, in order "to achieve the social transformations by parliamentary
means. "
So much, the?_n, for the description of the-math to the establishment of the
"coalition of democratic forces" -- that is, pro-Soviet governments. In the
T'undamentals of Marxism-Leninism, however, it is also reported -- again with
astonishing openness -what these new governments are to do next.
The division of large landed estates is described in a relatively
brief way; the description of the taking over of industry by the state is
given in more detail. At first, only the big trusts and corporations will
be nationalized. Nevertheless, in "the lands of highly developed
capitalism" this will lead, even in the first stage of revolution, to "the
establishment of a strong state sector in the national economy, to which
60 to 80 percent of the industrial plants belong. " Thus a stable founda-
tion for the transition to socialism" will be established right at the start."
The smaller property owners will at first be spared. "In the countries of
developed capitalism, the interests of the small stockholders will doubtless be
respected in the nationalization of the big capitalist industrial enterprises. This
holds also for those who receive small annuities, insurance benefits, and the
like. " The textbook also promises not to expropriate the businessmen in those
drastic ways used after the revolution in Russia. Rather, cooperation will be
sought "with the part of the bourgeoisie which is ready to accept the socialist
transformation. "
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But how doe s this Ioblc in practice ? Mixed companies with state and private
participation are to be formed. The transformation can also be eased by the
following means: ~~ the capitalists can, over a certain period, be paid definite
amounts for the property handed over. " Finally, their moral position will be
alleviated as follows: "the state uses their experience and knowledge" and
assigns "therm to appropriate positions in the plants." But this will happen only
if "the bourgeoisie loyally supports the new order. " C)therwise, "the baurgeo_isfe
will draw dawn upon itself repressive measures from the state. "
True to the "Soviet example, "the agriculture of the countries of western
Europe is supposed in the future to be collectivized. At the same time the
textbook asks that consideration be given to leaving in existence "mechanized
farms and large capitalist agricultural enterprises." A future collectivization in
the highly developed countries will "contribute much that is new to the forms
and methods of cooperative amalgamation. "
The further industrial development in the fut~.tre communist countries of
vvestexn Europe will also be easier, because they will not need "to completely
develop all branches of industry themselves,"? but instead will be able to limit
themselves to those branches of industry "for which they possess favorable
natural and economic conditions, and which are more suited to their national
tradition and their experience in production. " In all countries "which under
capitalism have already reached a high stage of industrial development, "it is
no longer a question of developing industry; instead "the economic relationships
created and the disproportions inherited from the past overcome. "
These formulations say nothing other than that the countries in western
Euro a cC ::yin under Communist c~ntr~l w~?r,a k~.,a ,.,..,a__....L ..
to that of ::~:~e Soviet Union.
A Complete Timetable
Thus there is in fact a Soviet timetable for western Europe. Hitherto much
reference has been made in the West to quotations from Lenin from the years
1918 and 1919 in demonstrating the dangerous aims of Soviet communism. These
methods never seem to me very convincing, because the Lenin quatatic~ris stem
from a completely different period, and also for the most part have not hsen used
in Soviet publications far years. Today these materials are certainly nc, longer
necessary; the new Moscow '.t?extbook Fundamentals of Marxism-I.,enif~zsm has
revealed the goals of the Kremlin much more clearly than any previous publication.
The timetable is clear: opposition movements in the West are to be exploiter'
and amalgamated according to Moscow's wishes. In the "revolutionary situation"
which is thereby created, the "anti-monopolistic geople's revolut._en" will.
Aso Moscow hopes) become a reality which will replace existing governrr,ents
with a "coalition of democratic forces. " The authority of parliament will be used
to facilitate social changes. X111 further measures will then be carried out on the
Soviet model, although in a somewhat more cautious way. Finally, the future
economic structure in the countries of ~eatern Europe will be reorganized and
made to fit in with the system existing in the Soviet Union. All this is supposed
to be achieved without war, without the force of arms--by "peaceful" pathways,
by political methods.
To all those who still regard the Soviet Union and its international aims as
primarily a military problem, the new textbook Fundamentals of Marxism-Leninism
ie urgently recommended,.. Moscow's longrange goals fox Western Lurape are
clearly formulated there--i~n a book which has already been distributed in over a
million copies. It depends on us to find the right answer. The purely military
answer can never suffice. ~t is much more a question of strengthening, in the
western countries, that sea-wall-on which alone the world revolutionary wave of
communism can bxeak, the sea-wall which is built up with community resolution
and with a community organizati an which, is completely serious about freedom,
justice, and the value of man.
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