We're Heading For Socialism,This Tabloid Editor Discovers
We're Heading For Socialism. This Tabloid Editor Discovers And He Doesn't Seem to Mind It, Either—Men Is Deed, But Marxism Is the Li vest Thing in the World. J?ARL MARX died in 1883. For many...
...Describing the plan, the editor says: "That would mean the end of the individualistic practise of medicine in the United States...
...It will do no harm and it may do some good," Joe responded...
...The performance was a charity event staged by the Consul for the benefit of the Woman Patriot Corporation, which wants to keep Einstein out of America on the ground that he is a radical...
...The slave owners followed the same course and for the same reason...
...We could turn to China and India for dessert...
...Well, I've heard a few Socialists agree that their phraseology should be toned down," said Joe...
...Tone down," said Joe, with fire in his eyes...
...HE proceedings at the Con* sulate leave me just a bit perplexed...
...Here, for example, are two New York newspapers that within the past week have given much editorial attention to Marxian philosophy...
...I am glad, though, that they're letting him enter the country...
...We are glad to know that the editor of the Daily News recalls enough of the idealism of his youth (when he was an active and prominent Socialist) to inform his enormous army of readers that "We're going to Socialism," and that "Socialism is oozing into our capitalist system...
...To be more accurate, I shouldn't say that he went into vaudeville, but that the American representative turned his Consulate into a vaudeville house to bring back to life that ancient wheeze, "Do you still beat your wife...
...But It Would then be a simple matter to repeat the operation with the CommunistsAnyone familiar with modem Industry knows that often the only profit to be found in a manufacturing enterprise lies in the sale of by-products...
...Those who profit by the robbery of workers use language to confuse and those who know workers are robbed are afraid to say a spade is a spade...
...I'll answer it...
...a sho' would become * would no lo«l radicals, deport fuse to admit t the merrier, ** deed, we might J lege and other I raising of Co* purposes...
...But there are millions of Communists swarming all over Europe...
...Besides, contact with American university professors is certain to produce some effect upon him...
...Those who follow Marx and proudly acknowledge him as their teacher, those who accept as their own the methods that Marx indicated, have a good laugh today at those Who sneer and say that following Marxism ia s sign of old fogeyism...
...We're going toward Socialitm...
...Ir...
...they follow' the line of thought, the method that he laid down as his aontributlon to the human race, and they are finding every day that Marx was eternally right...
...As harsh and repelling as all truth is to those who do not like the truth," Bill replied...
...Stalin steaks would solve the depression for us, as nothing else could solve it...
...It's tsking food out of the mouths of the hungry...
...Even brass check economists of the universities make that statement, but they well know that the Socialist view is something else...
...Joe asked, with a trace of anger...
...Joe Warms Up "Do you mean to say that I'm timid...
...If we tried to return to 100 per cent individualism now, a lot of us would be dead of starvation or poisoned food or hoodlum's gunfire a week or so later...
...There are wage slaves, exploiters of wage slaves, and struggles between workers and exploiters...
...We can' less we manap Mayflower...
...Germany would gladly let us have ten million...
...Hoover Republicans— May They Come...
...Let's cook the Communists, thereby curing them, feeding the unemployed, eliminstlng the over-supply of labor and setting the industrial machine working smoothly once more...
...There are a coo{ Z. Foster, whot dency on the C« a native-born At he comes from 1 stock as Calvin ( What's to M Foster...
...With the depression gone, peace and plenty would reign...
...They often referred to slavery as 'our peculiar institution.' Now, Joe, why did the preachers and planters act that way...
...One, the Herald-Tribune (for which Marx himself was for years a valued contributor) has a long editorial entitled "The Retreat from Marx," while the Daily News, most successful of all the tabloids, had editorials on two successive days entitled "In the name of Marx, Amen...
...But can't you overdo this...
...Communism Is a byproduct of the depression...
...To Aid Locked-out Mineral Water Men A conference has been called to aid the locked-out mineral water workers of New York...
...The significant article, however, is that in the popular tabloid...
...A CommunM my motto, with1 * Hey wood Br00» Tender Morsel NOW, I*»t» things loo would be an •» chop off the w» Republicans aw Every Pot «*Wmuoh that Jjinee it has i'/Wr...
...They're hungry in Russia, too, and they like white meat over there...
...I also wonder what would have happened had Dr...
...All he did was to make a study of history, economics and sociology (and incidentally, put the study of history upon a sound scientific basis for the first time), and to lsy down certain methods of thought and action...
...This Tabloid Editor Discovers And He Doesn't Seem to Mind It, Either—Men Is Deed, But Marxism Is the Li vest Thing in the World...
...Bill Explains Fundamentals "Perhaps," Bill replifd...
...And so that is that, as the principal tabloid sheet sees it...
...Do you follow me...
...red meat is good enough for them...
...Would Dr...
...You're an impediment," said Bill, as he darted around lbs corner...
...I think he would be better to eat than even Heywood Broun...
...I think I see the drift of your reasoning," said Joe, "but go ahead and rub it in...
...f to be done 'attire-born I thists (snd Mm) is to * *i cook the I I tkey would < ar the hun¦ ettatpad in « km hunger « Ut radical i afore, after ' Urge them f*y.too,bs « «, to be fed •¦ nn-hsrs who #• ware fbl' h hs hsneflts ' that ws ! J*8 •**in,!t Wtm or re'1 The more In'City Coli tetkma to the ' for food' ' «*, pot, i. iPtryl iI I | "^earrrlng .*•¦•»» to ,Ho<)v«r ¦*» elephant fricassee for the Roosevelt Democrats...
...France could pay her war debts with French Communists for the great American melting pot...
...ALBERT EINSTEIN, Ger" man scientist, went into vaudeville at the American Consulate in Berlin...
...The result is that you cannot get a respectable hearing and you wonder why Socialists do not make more progress...
...A Rehash The article is merely a rehash of the common misconceptions of the "failure" of Socialism, as evidenced by developments in Soviet Russia, things that every sound Marxian Socialist long ago foretold—because Marxists understand historical forces...
...The conference which has been endorsed by the Labor Committee of the Socialist Party, will be held Sunday at 2:80 p. m. st the Bellamy Club, 904 Prospect Ave., the Bronx...
...He is unable to think in terms of the phrases he uses...
...Would it be safe to have a lot of German immigrants shooting, "Hell...
...It's the phrase-monger thnt irritates liberal and respectable people...
...It is one thing to say that there are wage slaves...
...Are there wage slaves, exploiters, and class struggles...
...Is there anything the matter with it...
...I'm not interested in pleasing liberals and respectables...
...Let's stop being destructive...
...Quite a number of those preachers who voted to use the word 'impediment' instead of the word 'slaves' did not like slavery, but they did not have the courage to openly oppose it...
...Wilbur is President of Leland Stanford University, Hoover's Secretary of the Interior, and altogether a blown in the bottle reactionary) are compelled, whether they want to or ng», to go to the Socialist arsenal for weapons to meet a crisis...
...Wt ought to know u>A«r« we're going, though...
...The editor says the biggest joke is on those disciples of Msrx who "figured it out that Socialism could come to a country only through armed revolution, followed by a proletarian dictatorship which must stamp out all relics, including all human relics, of the capitalist system...
...I said go ahead and instead of answering your own question you lecture me about thinking," said Joe with impatience...
...The only term to describe the scheme is Socialism...
...All right...
...it tended to obscure, and wherever this course is followed it is an aid to a ruling class...
...The present editors of the HeraldTribune show they have strayed far from the understanding of fundamentals that was possessed by Horace Greeley, founder and first editor of their paper who was glad to employ Marx on his staff...
...We begin by leaving our own fundamentals and very soon we are found running after liberals, putting on a respectable front, looking for support in every quarter, but the one quarter where we should look for it—the work places of the robbed millions of the working class...
...Hut you're always inviting it," Bill replied...
...BUI Recalls Some History "You remind me of the northern Methodists who learned that a southern bishop owned slaves," said Joe...
...Very little...
...Of course, after a while, economic conditions might grow bad again, and radicalism and unemployment again flourish...
...Marx did not draw up blue-prints of a future paradise, or write a prophesy, nor did he found a religion all equipped with a set of rigid dogmas...
...Einstein have been barred from accepting the invitation to help America by collaborating with our scientists st a new institution at Princeton University...
...Let's Chop 01 Their Heads tthere is am *¦ also agitatej been made dear could not get he a Communist, do about native...
...I wonder what would have happened if Dr...
...The person who merely repeats phrases, who docs not understand their content and the rich philosophy they embody, will be a phrase-monger and nothing else...
...Joe flipped the ashes from his cigarette with an air of disgust...
...P. II...
...In fact, I m Puritan ( ft i i about this i* urt him, unl aurrect the i nvious from n k, Einstein, j tHf enough c a Flag and i kivc a sugr ami I hope ii * it in the i tottered...
...These are basic facts of the whole capitalist system and the moment we begin to tone down what is basic the whole superstructure of our reasoning and action will be affected...
...Einstein attested to this when he recalled that in the days of ancient Rome, that country was once saved by the cackling of the sacred geese...
...Not at a Single Blow Socialists who know their Marxism never expected to go to bed in Capitalism and wake up in Socialism...
...I would never think of it," said Bill with mock earnestness...
...I'm merely discussing facts...
...We say that there is a conflict of interest between capitalists and wage workers, which is something different...
...I dont believe in coddling the unemployed...
...it is quite another thing to know tho history of the wage-working class, how it enme to work for wages, why wage-work is essentially exploitation, how that exploitation takes place in industry, and the severity of the exploitation in each industry...
...The conference did not urge him to get rid of his slaves...
...Our statement of the class antagonism is given a twist by the brass checkers for the same reason that others would have us 'tone down' our revolutionary philosophy...
...but if so they unwittingly agree to obscure our views and concede something to the bourgeois class and to the timid near-Socialist whose spine has the strength of a string of jelly...
...I make excellent I ger marchers • Washington...
...I'm sure, once he spends a little time here and observes how, In this richest country in the world, millions of people are going hungry—well, I'm sure that there's enough of tbe humanitarian In him to turn him in the direction of radicalism and eatabillty...
...Marx is dead nearly fifty years .but, Marxism is the livest force in the world today...
...I'm list'ng...
...In other words, this that you call 'toning down' did not help to clarify...
...How often have we heard the old bromide that there isn't any conflict of interests between Capital and Labor...
...Einstein gave way to an outburst of feeling that put an end to the scene...
...For many years it has been considered quite smart to profess to be amused at his luxuriant whiskers and to make fun of the people who preach the "Gospel according to St...
...e Taking Food From the Hungry IT'S a pity that Dr...
...Let's stop being like Communists...
...The cause was a good one...
...Yet, our attitude to* that this countrj for both the An William Z. Fortt gestion on this I that Congress wi san:e spirit whkl I think the htt with Foster and Communists and Socialists, for ti chop off their I* rest of them...
...Do we want more Hoover Republicans in this country...
...You get an impression and proceed to shoot without thinking...
...Socialists know that the first step is to create the psychology that will make it inevitable that the Socialist way will be the only way followed when people seek a way out of a miserable mess...
...Are you a Communist or anarchist...
...the main point involved is that Socialists have so leavened American thinking by ceaseless propaganda and education that the moment a serious problem arises even the most conservative elements in the country (and Dr...
...Einstein Isnt * a Communist...
...Kin stein |in«i-irs were it it are we to A Communists...
...I'm interested in reaching the working class, you boob...
...Russia would be glad to exchange a million superfluous red peasants for a million superfluous Hoover Republicans...
...Marxists And those who call themselves Marxists do not read and interpret every word he wrote as the Talmudist finds hidden meanings in the Mischna and Gemorrah...
...You alrtady sense the fact, Joe, that the preachers were toning down their language because they did not want to squarely face what they knew to be the truth...
...They never expected to fight a pitched battle at Armageddon, the winning of which would toss the world into Socialism...
...No longer would conditions exist to drive men to extreme policies like Communism...
...So 'toning down' was also a mask for timid souls...
...it recommended that he get rid of his 'impediment.' Then slave owners also toned down their references to slavery...
...Forsaking consideration of love nests and torso murders for the moment, the editor takes up Marxism in a serious way...
...I'm sure hell wsnt to be different And I hope that in ths future our State Department will do nothing to discourage visiting notables from being Communists...
...Kill Flees From Joe's Wrath "That's true," Bill replied...
...What have this Marx and his theories to offer people struggling with the tragic issue of 19327 It seems, however, that those who call themselves Marxisst are not quite so stupid, after all...
...Were this policy pursued, it would not be long before there would not be a Communist left in the nation...
...Einstein said, "No, I am a Hoover Republican...
...They talk about wage slaves, exploiters, and the class struggle and drive educated and liberal people away...
...Bill inquired...
...Or, had he said, "No, I am an AI Smith Democrat" Or, "No, I merely believe in corrupt, machine government" I would really like to have these questions answered...
...The American Consul gave a modern version of this wheeze...
...Joe Would Tone Down Socialism To Satisfy Respectables and Bill Gives Answer Followed by Flight By Autolycus "COCIALISTS often irritate me," said Joe to Bill as they left the union hall...
...And curiously enough, the editor actually seems to understand what it is all about r and to talk about such serious matters with more understanding than the editor of the Herald-Tribune, who normally would be expected to be more informed on serious matters...
...I am also opposed to broiling Heywood Broun for the benefit of unemployed newspaper men, tender though he be...
...I am compelled to do the thinking that you refuse to do...
...asked Joe...
...Oh, I suppose you can make out a case," Joe replied, "but it all sounds so harsh and repelling...
...Einstein had said "yes...
...In a short time, there would not be an unfed man in Europe or America...
...Hut why not tone down such phrases...
...When the American Consul asked, "Are you a Communist or anarchist...
...he asked Dr...
...every time they see Andrew Mellon's limousine psss...
...Something f| Beat Your Wife...
...Joe, you irritate me," Bill shot back...
...Would we admit foreigners who see eye to eye with Ogden Mills...
...Einstein...
...marchers, too, < I would sugge*" the hunger mm selves on Fosto'i decapitated and to the next band descend upon Wi I think if thl lowed for...
...r\R...
...Let's do something constructive...
...Socialist party branches and other Socialist organisations are asked to send delegates...
...William t ir the Bresi01 it ticket, is li mi...
...Now you're saying something," said Joe...
...When Marx died ocean steamships still car lied auxiliary sails, the electric light was dimly glowing in a few laboratories, the railroads were being slowly pushed across mountain and plain, and the great organizations of capital were far off in the future...
...What did this Marx know of what was coming...
...We're not especially condemning this development It seems reasonable to believe a young doctor fresh from medical school, highly trained, well equipped, and saved by thl < scheme from worry about collections, could give patients better treatment than could the good old general practitioner of song, story and movie fame, who I invariably got up In the middle of the night hitched up his buggy and drove twenty-two miles through a snowstorm to bring a future Goveronr Into the world...
...Indvildualism la Dead "And individualism (which hasn't existed in full flower in the United States since the cowboy rode the range, hie own law and master) is bound to shrink still further as our cities grow bigger and all of us grow more and more prone to step on one another's toes...
...The News is moved to take Marxism under consideration because of the report of the Wilbur committee recommending a system of socialised medicine...
...We could have them for the asking...
Vol. 14 • December 1932 • No. 24
