CAN THE WORLD CONGRESS FOR FREEDOM AND DEMOCRACY REALLY WORK? SUGGESTED QUESTIONS FOR THE EXPLORATORY MEETING (PARIS, DECEMBER1961)

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP80-01445R000100410001-2
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 19
• Document Creation Date: November 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 21, 1998
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: November 1, 1961
• Content Type: REPORT

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1 November 1961
CAN THE WORLD CONGRESS FOR FREEDOM
AND DEMOCRACY REALLY WORK?
Suggested Questions for the Exploratory Meeting
(Paris, December 1961)
Two documents have been submitted to the participants
of the Exploratory Meeting: A Vroposal for Organization of
a World Congress, and A Draft, Declaration. of Principles for
Freedom and Democracy. The present paper is an attempt
to anticipate and pose for detailed discussion some of the dif-
ficulties which would arise in developing the World Congress.
The effort is in part one of a Devil's Advocate, to challenge
the evidence adduced in support of the. basic statements, and
to discuss candidly the fears and misgivings which inevitably
arise in the face of such a bold undertaking. But it is also,
in part, an attempt to provide initial answers to the Doubting
Thomases. In short, it is an agenda "think-piece. "
This paper is divided into two sections, posing questions
on organization and on the "Public Philosophy, " ' i. e. the inter-
action of theory and practice contemplated for the Congress,
and attempting to provide some answers to these questions.
Organization
A. Is' it possible to achieve a.world organization of the
type proposed?
The proposal calls for a new type of organization, i.e.
private in. essence, but receptive to contributions of person.-
nel and funds from governments, without strings. It may be
questioned whether such private and quasi-official elements
would be compatible, either in law or in fact. Foundations
and other private institutions, might legitimately be hesitant
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or unwilling to support an entity in which the impact of
governments would tend to be strongly felt through their
ability to increase, decrease or withhold necessary finan-
ci.l assistance. Even if there were a formal renunciation
of control, there would remain the possibility of influence,
especially where matters of great national interest were at
stake. There would always remain the suspicion - certainly.
played upon by the Communists - that covert pressure was
being exerted on the Congress. In any case, the weight and
prestige of states, especially in the less developed and dif-
ferentiated nations, would be felt as potentially greater than
the sum of all participating private elements.
From the viewpoint of constituted government, it might
be questioned whether contributions to the World Congress,
locally or internationally, were not inconsistent with sover-
eignty or with the sound separation of public and private
spheres. There might be fears that a state was. being cre-
ated within a state, or that the national components of the
Congress might become in time formidable lobbies of fore-
ign policy - in the US, a potential violator of the Logan Act.
Nationalist or isolationist elements might dernounce the cos-
mopolitanism, the "one world" tendency of the institution.
To these and. other misgivings, there are no simple
answers. Perhaps. the most telling general reply would be
the proposition that in a mixed effort ties the only effective
means to counter the dualistic organization of the Commu-
nist challenge, the diplomacy and other forms of action of
the Soviet State, interwoven with the non-juridical subver-
sive actions of the Communist Party and its fronts. The
Free World has proceeded on the assumption that the mo-
tions of governmental instruments and. of spontaneous, plur-
alistic organizations of citizens will somehow be harmonious
and effective. The reality of the situation casts doubt on.
this assumption.
Our proposal is for the creation. of a. sort of quintes-
sence, an interpenetration of constituted, and free civic
organization on a world scale without resort to that basic
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element of Communist dynamics, the dictatorship of a
revolutionary elite. In the history of human Freedom, this
would, indeed, be a novum.
B. Would it in fact be possible to enlist all nations of
the Free World in the Congress?
We have noted in the Proposalthe possibility that neu-
tral or unaligned nations vfmuld decline to join an organization
which rejected the Communists. So long as the "three world"
concept, the international troika, is accepted as an unchange-
able reality, countries like India whose neutrality combines
emotional anti-imperialist residues with opportunistic motifs,
would probably hold back. Legally neutral nations, like Swit-
zerland and Sweden, whose traditions are deeply rooted, inter-
ests. clear, and sympathies unshakably on, the side of the Free
World, would probably tolerate, if nqt encourage, private as-
sociation-with the Congress.
"Nothing succeeds like success"! The Congress should
extend a permanent welcome without excessive wooing. By
its emphasis on positive measures to develop the Free World
rather than negative measures to contain or roll back the
"world socialist system, " it should establish the advantages
of association.
C. Can the broad spectrum of democratic action be
held together in a single super-political organization?
We have indicated in our proposal that the Congress
should embrace all elements of the polity which accept
Democracy, and exclude only the anti-Democratic extremes.
It may be argued that such a comprehensive venue is un-
realistic. To put it in American terms, in what form of
alliance could the followers of Barry Goldwater and Hubert
Humphrey unite; in Italian.terms, Malagodi and Nenni? The
interests, of political parties lie in preparing for and win-
ning elections; at most times, these transcend national,
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and a fortiori, international interests.
The answer is that the World Congress, would bid.for
the participation of political parties on the same basis as that
of states, i. e. individuals and funds, contributed freely and
without claim to control. . The very existence of an interna-
tional body which defended only one interest, that of Freedom
and Democracy against tyranny of the right and the left, would
evoke disinterested devotion, a spirit deeply rooted, but rare-
ly provided with worthy objects of attachment.
D. Couldthe permanent staff of the Congress be re-
cruited from sufficiently high caliber personnel?
It might be'.argued that the type of individual who would
be required to staff such an organization would be found only
in national foreign services or in the United Nations, and
would not be readily available for a career as yet untested
and unplanned.
As we have indicated, the success of this endeavor would
depend on the ability of the Congress to combine universality of
principle with particularity of action. It would have to create a
new kind of international career service, a body of dedicated
men, patterned, one might say, on the exemplar of Dag Ham-
marskjold, who are citizens both of their native countries and
of the world. The permanent staff of the international execu-
tive Council would have to work out its own discipline, differ-
ing from that of the United Nations Staff in that it would operate
solely through ability to influence the opinions and actions of
others, and would have no executive arm. These would have
to be men of courage, imagination and patience, recognizing
the limitations of their career, but highly active within it.
The proper balance of idealism and realism would be hard to
strike. Special recruitment and training procedures would
have to be developed, but efforts already made in this direc-
tion suggest that this is feasible.
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We know that the power of the Communist apparat,
open and hidden, depends on unceasing indoctrination and
training and on steeling in action. There is no reason to
believe that we are incapable of making a c niparable effort
in this direction.
E. How will the Congress deal with highly controver-
sial issues?
If the Congress is, not to become a factory for pious
platitudes, it will have to address itself. squarely to burning,
explosive issues, such as apartheid, expropriation or na-
tionalization of property, and political self-determination.
These not only will be controversial within and between gov-
ernments.; they will tear civic fabrics, as well. To many of
these issues, there is no immediate solution. Criticism of
governments which are seeking an evolutionary, rather than
a revolutionary solution to such problems - for example, the
United States with regard to Negroes - might exacerbate the
forces working against orderly progress, and defeat rather
than advance the good cause. Even on non-explosive issues,
the intensity of internal dispute might be heightened if the
position taken by the Congress appeared to. constitute an ex-
ternal "intervention. It
There is no ready-made procedure at hand for the
Congress. It will have to cope with.dissent in its own body
as it arises. Ideally, it should be possible to achieve con-
sensus, but failing this, majority and minority reports
would appear to be the only means by which a. democratic
body could render its collective judgment. There might be
"walk-outs, " with corresponding pressure on the Congress
to seek compromise formulas, diluting its impact to theU.in-
_pipidity of a debating society. The Congress cannot afford
to become a. "super-Arden House, It producing an occasional.
splash in the press. and then falling into oblivion.
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Here, too, everything depends on the caliber of its
permanent staff members, and their ability to prepare sound
agendas, objective summaries of issues, and draft position
papers or resolutions for consideration by the plenary bodies.
By its close contact with all public and private entities signi-
ficantly concerned with matters of Freedom and Democracy,
the staff should perform the function of a catalyst. Without
fear or subjection to pressure, it should seek to bring to-
gether opposing parties, lobbies, interest groups and even
officials of State in constructive clash of views, and to cre-
ate its own methods of synthesizing their dialectic.
II. The Public Philosophy
The problems raised in this section might be called
ideological, but there may be some doubt whether the word
"ideology" should figure prominently in the vocabulary of
the Congress. Although it is widely accepted as a neutral
term, being used by both the democratic and anti-democratic
worlds, it does have a certain falseness of ring. On the one
hand it tends to evoke the image of ("ideologues" of the 18th
century, with their accent on abstract theory. On the other
hand it has modern activist connotations that are closer to
Fascist and Communist totalitarianism than to classical
Democracy. The word "ideology" has been avoided in the
Proposal and the Declaration, with preference to "theory"
or "doctrine, " where these are in question, and such terms
as Walter Lrippmann's "Public Philosophy" where the amal-
gamation of thought and action is under discussion.
A. By what right does the Declaration claim that we
possess Truth?
Modern science and historicism have generated the
concept of the relativity of truth. Propaganda and counter-
propaganda excesses have spread deep skepticism among
the people, and the technique of the Big Lie, reinforced by
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"brainwashing" and other forms of "thought control, " has
further sapped the integrity of belief. Stereotyping of polit-
ical concepts and their reduction to shibboleths and "Fourth
of July oratory" have made it almost impossible to vest them
anew with living conviction.
We have stated that the test of our truth is in its fruits.
There can be no Orwellian "newspeak" in the lexicon of the
Congress. War cannot be transmuted into peace, degrada-
tion into dignity, slavery into freedom, by mere words. The
application of the intellect to all the tasks undertaken by the
Congress must be rigorously critical, and the language of
persuasion must be honest. The utterances of the Congress
must revive the eloquent rhetoric of the past in a modern
medium of sincerity and directness, suited to a world audi-
ence of simple and. sophisticated.
Mere affirmation is not enough. It will not do to say
that our Democracy is. true Democracy because our Freedom
is true Freedom.. We must establish absolute categories of
Judgment which can be applied to every concrete instance.
racy?
B. Is Man's dignity assured by Freedom and Democ-
If Man is the "measure of all things, " or, as Confu-
cius "said, the `measure of Man, "why does he destroy his
own. dignity? Might it not better be said that "things alre
the measure of Man. " Political Freedom, centered, as it
must be, in the right to choose responsible leaders, tends
to become an abstraction when the vital interests of a so-
ciety are measured in material terms. The right of free
vote can be won by, or conferred upon, a society in which
most men are poor, but their dignity is not assured thereby.
Rather the effect is to enhance their degradation.
We have sought to meet this problem squarely in af-
firming that education is pre-requisite to the attainment of
true Freedom. A literate, and, as the Communists say, a
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"conscious" electorate alone can. exercise civic functions in
the spirit of respect for the worth of the individual and re-
solve the dialectic of his personal conflict with the interests
of the collective, the community and the state.
Education opens the gates to material progress, and
permits the orderly construction of the fabric of economic
well-being, without which, as the Greeks discovered, Man
is not free but enslaved. The task of the World Congress
and of its Commissions would be to study the inequalities
which exist everywhere between men's status and their po-
tential for education, and to expose the forces working de-
liberately or unintentionally to perpetuate these dispropor-
tions.
In answer to all critics, Democracy is the sine qua
non, though it is not by itself the guarantor of human dignity.
C. Can the Free World provide an answer to the Com-
munist claims of inevitable progress?
We have noted in the Declaration that confidence in the
doctrine of progress has seriously declined, especially in
Western Europe and America where it arose and flourished.
The universality of conflict, threatening a Third World War,
has destroyed the prevailing optimism of 18th and 19th cen-
tury believers in the "perfectibility of man. " It is difficult
to project ourselves back into the spirit of an age which
could speak of the "best of all possible worlds, " of a natural
harmony between public and private interest, of an unlimited
horizon of human benefit.
And at the same time that the West has suffered a
massive erosion of hope, Communism has reaffirmed it,
and has provided an impulse, however irrational under its
pseudo-science, which has put us everywhere on the defen-
sive.
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There can be only one answer, our own deeper re-
affirmation. Certainly in the political fief it is the Free
World which is creative and responsive to change. The
whole de-colonization process attests this. It has been ac-
companied by many efforts to find new relationships - con-
stitutional, economic, and cultural - between peoples. of
different races and nationalities.. Western. Europe for 15
years has. shown ingenuity in devising new forms, and methods
for a rapidly changing world. It is the Free World which has.
created the Colombo Plan, the Alliance for Progress, and
the Decade of Development.
What has the Communist world contributed? Abusive
debates over the cx ip-se of Stalin and bullying attacks on long
discredited domestic. leaders and hapless junior partners of
the Bloc. The new C 'SU Program. can suggest nothing but
the "election" of more new people to ?arty organs and the
future transfer of functions to public organizations, with
the party still remaining in. control.
We have sketched in the Declaration a concept of the
"nature of the era, " dynamic in.essence and optimistic in
tone. There is abundant evidence that the Free World is
reaching out for such a concept, and will grasp it if it is
presented in credible terms. Leaders. and led, intellectuals
and simple workers, daily express in a thousand ways the
craving for positive beliefs and programs of action. Only
the deadly sin of Sloth, acedia, or in modern terminology,
defeatism, can deliver the world of Freedom over to the
Devil of inaction.
D. . Can the theme of "Revolution" be woven into the
program of the Congress?
We. hear much talk of the "revolution of rising expec-
tations, " the "technological revolution, " the "revolution
against outworn dogmas and shibboleths. " But. are these
new slogans any better than the old, and do they convey an
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effective will to counter the all-too-real drive of Commu-
nism toward World Revolution? The" i-fight of Revolution"
which John Locke bequeathed to the Anglo?-Saxon world is
almost forgotten. The United States presents the well-
known paradox of the Dgughters of the American Revolution
standing for uncreative conservatism. The Jacobin tradi-
tion in France has bogged down in sterile anti-clericalism
and socio-economic conflicts of interest. The phenomenon
of the "revolution devouring its children" gives way to the
grandchildren. disavowing and even shaming their ancestry.
This paradox arises also in Communism, where the
New Class emerges as a force of conservatism. It is, as
the Communists say, "not accidental" that Stalin, replete
with power in his later years, banished from orthodox dia-
lectic, the "v-zriv, " the "leap" - or as we might say, the
"quantum jump." - which resulted when the accumulation of
quantitative change reached the critical point and generated
a "qualitative change. " Nor is Khrushchev in the least
interested in. ""revolution" within his empire, only in those
external revolutions making ruins of the empire of others,
which he hopes to take over !
We must be very clear in our minds when we speak
about the "revolution" in the world of Freedom, that what
we are talking about is in fact a heightened tempo of "evolu-
tion, " a new historic phase in which, as Rostow says, the
powerful force of "compound interest" in the advanced
stages of economic growth is further compounded and ren-
dered explosive by "national liberf.tion. " We may claim
heritage to the great revolutionary traditions of Europe
and America, but we should not bemuse ourselves or the
"emerging nations" with mere sloganistic invocations of
the Founding Fathers.. Our proclamations, like their
Declaration of Independence, should be addressed against
tyranny wherever it exists., but our acts, like theirs, must
be anchored in order, as well as harnessed to change.
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E. Can a world of a hundred nations achieve unity in
Freedom?
Nationalism is rampant. It is difficult to present in a
hopeful light the prospects for unity, peace, concord in a
world where considerations of power, prestige, wealth, and
territory are the measures of "national interest. " Mature
and stable countries have been unbalanced by the loss of em-
pire and the confused promptings of historic grandeur. New,
precarious nations are bursting forth in strident self-assertion.
"Les vertus se perdent dans l"interet, comme les fleuves se
perdent dans la mer. " La Rochefoucauld was speaking of the
individual, but his pessimism seems even more pertinent in
a world order of atomistic nations. The distinction between
morality and power bedevils statesmen and thinkers, and, to
millions of ordinary men, it is lost altogether.
Here, too, the Communists have taken the initiative.
They have proclaimed the existence of a "world system, "
Sinationalist in form, socialist in content;" this is to become
a universal "commonwealth' of genuinely free peoples"- the
new formula of the XX[I CPSU Congress - in which national
frontiers will eventually be absorbed in a higher unity. The
events of October have exposed the cynicism of the Russian
leaders and their discord with their Chinese rivals, but they
have not basically weakened the fabric of International Com-
munism as a movement, nor the appeal to the faithful of its
formula for encompassing many nations in a revolutionary
world unity.
We have suggested in the Proposal that the Congress
cannot, at least at the outset, espouse existing federalist
causes. It can, however, address itself promptly to the
study of them, and to the encouragement of a rational effort
to move forward into the age where regional groupings, far
broader than existing territorial sovereignties, will inevitably
take shape.
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F. Can the Congress restore the initiative of the Free
World in the cause of Peace?
Recent events have clearly demonstrated the hypocrisy
of the Communists' claim to be the champions of Peace, and
the Janus-face of their "peaceful coexistence" which is nothing
more than the "highest form of class struggle. " But is the
championship thereby restored to the Free World? In his
noble speech to the United Nations, President Kennedy has,
for the first time, committed the United States to the cause
of "general and complete disarmament." The fruits of this
initiative, however, are not immediately apparent, nor could
they reasonably be expected to become so. Stubborn cgnflicts
of interest, wild surges of national excitation and frustration
make any visions of the "lion lying down, with the lamb" more
than ever illusory. Hiate, greed, cruelty, "nature red in tooth
and claw, " are still of the essence of relations among peoples,
governments, tribes, clans and even families. The power to
destroy grows with the power to create. The arms race fol-
lows its deadly syndrome.
What can the Congress do in the face of these bitter
facts?
It is not proposed that the Congress become a super-
agency of World Peace. This is the collective task of the
United Nations, and of its hundred component members. The
task of the Congress is to plant the sign manual of Freedom
and Democracy on the world. But this means working for
Peace, which means working for arms control and disarma-
ment. We propose therefore, that the Commission. for Peace
be an articulate and fearless advocate of all who pursue these
endeavors.
G. Can Democracy become universal?
Past and current practice do not indicate that demo-
cratic political systems are universally admirable. The
history of political theory suggests that men have found
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authoritarian and restricted systems to possess advantpges
of order, discipline and stability, whereas Democracy often
deteriorates into demagogy, mob rule or civil strife - "stasis. "
These tendencies may even be accentuated in modern times
with. the spread of mass media of communication, readily sub-
verted to totalitarian purposes. Bonapartism in the nineteenth
century and Fascism in the twentieth - not to mention Commu-
nism - have displayed repeated instances of mass endorsement
of tyranny, 99% "plebiscites" for triumphant conquerors or
charismatic Fuehrers and their Parties. Even where elec-
tions were technically "free, " they often have been rigged and
manipulated. In fact, it might be argued that only the Anglo-
Saxon countries have displayed anything like a consistent
ability to "make Democracy live. " Among the newly "emerg-
ing nations, " the pattern of leadership which is most success-
ful often springs from the dedication .of a military elite, brought
into power in the wake of liberation from colonialism, or simply
a drive to overcome corruption, or to fill a political vacuum.
The concept of a."guided.democracy" is not necessarily a mere
facade for personal tyranny, but may correspond to the needs of
political evolution in an intermediate stage.
The Congress must take full account of the various stages
of development in Democracy. It must, so to speak, generate
its own political theory, founded not in doctrinaire abstraction
but in an analysis of living forms. It must encourage as, well
as admonish. But it must not compromise on the "spirit of the
laws."
H. Is Economic Democracy possible?
The rise of Communism as a. "world system" has re-
sulted in large measure from the persuasiveness of the argu-
ment, first set forth by Karl Marx, that bourgeois capitalism
is the "exploitation of man by man. " It is widely recognized -
even among Communists - that the specific abuses which Marx
noted, for the most part in the early Industrial Revolution of
England, have largely been remedied. during the following
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century. Yet the "class struggle" is a potent battle cry,
especially when married to the "anti-imperialist struggle. "
The real reason that the Communist indictment car-
ries such rallying power lies in the negative fact that the
Free World in its economic theory has failed to perfect a
convincing analysis of its own practice. "Exploitation" in
the crude, sweatshop sense, has largely been eliminated in
the advanced economies, yet millions of European workers
- edging into something like middle class status - still
register a protest vote. Against what they are protesting
is by no means clear, even to themselves; often it seems
they are merely expressing the frustration of non-participa-
tion in .certain vital management decisions, the ultimate ef-
fects of which are felt to be more political than economic.
We may believe that the vast amount of economic re-
search and analysis now being conducted in the United States
and the European community contains the answers to the in-
dictment of Communists, and to its echo among confused
masses and leaders - in the underdeveloped countries.
The problem is how to synthesize this analysis and derive
statements which can influence the formation of new eco-
nomic institutions and procedures.
We have indicated in the Proposal and the Declaration
a number of the basic problems. Among the heads of the
Devil's Advocate's indictment we might set forth the follow-
ing:
"The rich get richer, the poor get poorer. "
"Affluence corrupts, absolute affluence corrupts
absolutely. "
Imperialism and colonialism have in fact been "ex-
ploitation, 'r and the removal of their grosser abuses does
not obliterate their taint. There must be some measure of
general restitution. As the Foreign Minister of Nigeria
said recently, if all the wealth which has been removed
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from.Africa were returned to the countries from which it
was taken, they, too, could be affluent. (UNESCO Confer-
ence, Boston, October 1961).
"Power without property" has not eliminated "exploita-
tion" but has merely shifted it from a paternalistic to a tech-
nocratic ruling class, and has de-personalized without miti-
gating the harshness of competition. The "conscience" which
apologists of the modern giant corporations call for and seem
to hear is but a "still, small voice, "
In sum, what the Congress must reckon with is the
great confusion existing between. Free World economic theory
and practice, the ambivalent attitude toward planning, the
persistence of myths of "private enterprise" derived from
the age of "rugged individualism, " the dialectic between in-
centive and the enervating effects of prosperity, between, in-
flation and "sound" fiscal practice, restrictive concepts of
cartels in tension with the expansive forces of the new eco-
nomic communities, and above all uncertainty as_ to the goals
and aims of the "welfare state. " All this tangle calls for a
massive effort of clarification.
1. How can.the strong be persuaded to succor the weak?
We have tried to state in the Declaration the case for
placing the development of backward nations on a basis of
prudent investment. We have also pointed out that in part
this would be overdue restitution. But will the ''affluent
societies, " caught in the Circean charms of gadgetry and
abundant leisure, respond to these progressive motions?
Many enlightened individuals and groups - most recently
among them COMISCO - have called for the contribution by
the advanced. countries of at least one percent of their Gross
National Product to the general program of economic aid -
President Kennedy has felicitously labelled it the Decade of
Development. Surely this is a minimum, and in fact, some
countries can claim that they are already contributing on
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such a scale. The Congress should untiringly press to double
and treble this amount. But there are voices of interest or of
sheer negation which protest against even the most modest
deduction from the sum of goods and services domestically
available. At worst, they may grudgingly grant some, "hush
money" to the importunate. At best they may heed the argu-
ment that economic aid programs are necessary to contain
Communism, but this leads them to the dilemma, faced dur-
ing the '50s whether to concentrate on those who join or pro-
fess to join them in this aim, or on those whose need is
greatest and potential most apparent, even though they in-11
sist upon "non-alignment.
The combination of inertia and short-sightedness is
stubborn in men. It will only yield to the most convincing
demonstration, presented primarily in terms of self-interest.
There is a major-task for the Congress to show what will hap-
pen to the sources of essential raw material and to the mar-
kets of the advanced economies, if there is no positive effort
of development. Economic interdependence is a fact, but its
full implications are lost on many. To cite but two examples,
how many Americans are aware what readjustments will be
necessary to our mighty economy if sources of iron ore out-
side our own boundaries are not assured for the future? Or
what would happen to our petroleumized economy if, over a
prolonged period, major supplies of foreign oil were cut off?
Similar hard realities confront Europe if its dissolving em-
pires and colonial systems fail to reconstitute themselves as
harmonious, interdependent economic communities.
These realities are, of course, not absent from the
calculations and plans of Western leaders. What is absent
in all too many cases, is the willingness to pay the necessary
price now in order to cope with them in the future.
J. Can the "population explosion" be checked in time
to realize the "fullness of the Earth?"
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We have proceeded in the Declaration from the propo-
sitionthat the earth can nurture and sustain far more people
than now inhabit it. Over a period of time, this proposition
is certainly true, but not necessarily in the short run. Steps
must be taken now to match the life-prolonging achievements
of public health with a prudent curtailment of manes fertility.
The direct sponsorship of movements to propagate
knowledge of contraception and the desirability of planned
parenthood would probably be disruptive of the fabric of the
Congress. Such a task belongs to governments which face
the need, and to private organizations which are not ham-
pered by religious or ethical inhibitions.
What the Congress can do is to build up the image of
Freedom based on the worth of the individual which can only
be attained through a proper balancing of aspirations and
means. It must remind or teach men that the act of com-
mitting a life to this planet is a social responsibility, not
to be lightly undertaken.
K. Has the Free World the moral strength to meet
the challenge of Communism?
This is our deepest concern. We behold in the United
States a model of economic productivity which Europe is
fast equaling and may soon outstrip. We see in America a
stable polity which has evolved from the constitution.created
by its Founding Fathers, surviving the cruelest Civil War of
modern history, in unity and general civic harmony that only
the countries of the British Commonwealth can match.
But there is a deep malaise, indeed malady. Our great
productive capacity is under-used, and its cyclical fluctua-
tions are like an undulant fever. The desire to follow the
middle-of-the-road seems to foster complacency and favor
the courses of conservatism. At the same time, as though
by a fatal reaction, the "American Way of Life" becomes
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mired in excesses; "Freedom of Choice" and the "Good Life"
are identified with.billboard advertising. The four F's
(Freedoms) give way to the four T's television, tranquiliz-
ers, tailfins, and togetherness I The freeing of sex from
taboo has, been accompanied by a wave of legal pornography
flooding the newsstands and by controversy over censorship.
A cascade of early marriages has occurred, animated by
the virtuous intent of launching substantial families but lead-
ing into the frustrations which are the price of emotional im-
maturity and concluding all too often in divorce or worse.
Leisure has become a problem rather than a blessing. The
universalizing of entertainment,. available without cost and
even without motion, has created an "opium for the people,
far more insidious than that which Communism saw in. re-
ligion. The capacity for active attention is eroded by "chew-
ing gum for the eyes. " Artificial excitement strives against
pervasive boredom. Crime, juvenile delinquency, gambling,
the flourishing of underworld empires on the fringe of legiti-
mate business, all these side effects of affluence and permis-
siveness, have led thoughtful men to query whether a society
such as ours can survive. Not all of the American model is
followed abroad, but much of it is, and the result is sorry.
This is the case of the Devil's. Advocate, and its plaus-
ibility cannot be denied. But against this harsh indictment
there is the evidence of moral health. For every abuse of
economic power, there is the certainty of exposure at the
hand of a free press, and a remedy in the laws and admin-
istration, of which the investigations of Congressional Com-
mittees are a final guarantee. None are more critical of
the American way of life than the Americans. Sooner or
later, all evils are pilloried, some trivial, as. the absurd-
ities of packaging, others more serious, as the trafficking
in matters of health. Vulgarity, the demoralizing licen-
tiousness of Hollywood, the tasteless excesses of styling,
are subjected to criticism and to salutary corrective com-
petition. The Old World, itself not immune to the same
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malady, helps by the depth of its tradition to redress the
balance of the New in taste, style, culture.
Through its dedicated opposition to all the forces which
work against the dignity of man the Congress could become
an arbiter in matters of public morality. It could lead the
crusade for a society of excellence.
Conclusion Practical Problems confronting the Congress.
We have suggested in the Proposal that the success of
the Congress would depend on its ability to promote concrete
and practical measures in support of Freedom and Democracy.
It lies beyond the scope of these preliminary papers to outline
the tasks to be carried out; this would be the work of the per-
manent Commissions, working with and through the national
sections of the Congress. The function, as we have suggested,
would be catalytic, to set in motion and intensify the effective-
ness of private and public agencies. Only time and experience
would determine to what extent the Commissions. would actual-
ly conduct substantive research through their own staffs, as.
opposed to stimulating the work of others. There is clear
need for a vast labor of coordination. Every week through-
out the world there are national and international meetings
of scholars, technicians, experts, citizens.' groups, many
of which receive public notice, while others seem to be speak-
ing only to themselves. Simply to maintain contact with this
shifting array of associations and to be aware of what they
are trying to do, is an overwhelming task. To distill from
them an essence of general value, to blend one idea with
another, to give publicity and encouragement to constructive
thoughts and proposals, in short, to create a universal lobby
for Freedom and Democracy, - that is the challenge to the
Congress.
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