Dear Editor
DEAR EDITOR FEUER AND WOLFE Lewis S. Feuer, in his article, "A Historic Opportunity" (NL, January 26), wants to end the cold war. He has a lot of company—men of good will, politicians (liberal or...
...The only chance for winning the cold war without an armed conflict is to rally the masses of the whole non-Communist world around the democracies, isolate the Communist dictators and thus hasten the development of a revolution by their subj ects...
...Let us remember that there is one thing the man from the appliance store, anxious to make a fast sale, doesn't point out: You can buy more appliances in the long run if you do not go into debt and thus do avoid the carrying charges...
...I am not certain when he thinks we should pay...
...That is probably so, but they are the only policies that offer hope of rallying the masses of the world behind the Western democracies and of undermining the position of the Communist dictators...
...It is this problem that Wolfe does not touch on, and therefore his article may be subject to the criticism that it leaves us with no goal—either to end the cold war or win it...
...Not one of them has dared defend him in print, and if there have been such verbal utterances they have not been reported in the Soviet press...
...Let the spenders continue to have the say and we will soon be pouring 20 or 25 of the annual budget down the drain...
...The resolution of the writers' meeting, depriving Pasternak of his membership in the Writers' Union and of the title of Soviet writer, was said to have been passed unanimously, and no writer protested against this...
...BRYANT HARRELL...
...Since 1918 we have witnessed in the Soviet Union development of a bureaucracy, or a new ruling class, exercising a totalitarian dictatorship over its own people, and extending its sway over Eastern Europe—with obviuos intention—of dominating Europe, if not the whole world...
...The root of the cold war is not, as Feuer would have us believe, that the "Russians wanted to hasten the collapse of European economy immediately after the Second World War...
...Does Professor Feuer wish to imply that because the Soviet Union in 1917 was in its "infancy," Lenin and his Bolsheviks were also "infants"—introduced into a world about which they had no preconceived ideas...
...The first is an offer for complete disarmament with effective controls and the use of the enormous sums thus saved for the economic improvement of underdeveloped countries...
...For in essence, what he seems to be saying is that had the West in general and the United States in particular treated the Soviet Union more kindly the first twenty years of her existence, she would have evolved more to our favor...
...To those who are devoted to freedom and democracy not only for themselves but for people everywhere the problem is not to end the cold war but to win it without an armed conflict...
...The objection may be raised that only a government with socialist tendencies would pursue the policies outlined above...
...but on the assumption that he is correct, at least with reference to the events of 1918 and 1919, the conclusion he draws—that we could at this time influence the Communist dictators to change for the better by granting them concessions—is, to say the least, completely unwarranted...
...But how can the cold war be won, that is how can democracy be established in the Communist countries without an armed conflict...
...It would appear that we are posterity...
...This, I submit, is the crux of the issue and Feuer never comes to terms with it...
...Aid to fight the German army and to alleviate famine...
...Feuer and other people of good will who want an end to the cold war take into consideration, implicitly or explicitly, only one of the two basic factors that should determine our foreign policy—the danger of a nuclear war...
...We cannot escape the charge of hypocrisy if we claim to fight for democracy and at the same time are friendly to non-Communist dictators...
...Shall we grant any or all of these demands in order to influence Nikita Khrushchev and Mao Tse-tung in the hope that they will change their ways...
...Nice as my fellow countryman may be, I dislike the idea that ten cents (less handling costs) of every dollar I pay in taxes goes into my neighbors's pocket without having helped me or my government one bit...
...it is the fact of the totalitarian dictatorship, with a ruling group determined to extend its power...
...Otherwise there is the danger that they will fall prey to the siren voices of those who advocate an end to the cold war by mutual concessions...
...Chicago ALBERT GOLDMAN Although I disagree with nearly everything my friend and colleague, Professor Lewis Feuer, says in his article, "A Historic Opportunity" (NL, January 26), I do not wish to enter into a general polemic with him: Most of his fallacies are effectively refuted in the adjoining article by Bertram D. Wolfe ("The Deadly Enemy We Face...
...At best it can be said that the best-known Soviet writers have kept silent...
...They ignore the other basic factor—the danger to democracy and freedom represented by the Communist totalitarians...
...He suggests that Lenin's and his followers' fanatical obsession with their ideology—a fanaticism without which they probably would never have come to power—would have been modified by friendly assistance from the West...
...Ten per cent of the proposed budget goes for debt service...
...If the spenders had not had their way over the years, we could, assuming the estimate of revenue is correct, spend $7.7 billion more for defense and still balance the budget...
...Especially must we help democratic countries, particularly India, even if Nehru's moral code permits him to be neutral between freedom and slavery...
...This trend of thought follows from a curious analogy—curious, coming from a Professor of Philosophy—which states that a country "is much like a person...
...Aside from the fact that Bertram Wolfe relates the futile results from specific periods of assistance from the West, Professor Feuer implies that the Communist power groups don't really believe what they say and write about non-Communist societies, that their perpetual voicing of Marxist- Leninist shibboleths is a conscious effort to exploit a good thing merely to attract followers...
...That is, the defense appropriation could be increased by 19 per cent...
...Berkeley, Calif...
...A very questionable thesis...
...Three basic policies would surely attain the objective of gaining the ardent sympathy of the common people everywhere...
...What are the demands of the Communist dictators now...
...GLEB STRUVE Professor Feuer's essay, "A Historic Opportunity," reads as if it were out of a popular tabloid or women's magazine dealing with juvenile delinquency...
...And we can only show this by eliminating the social evils in our own country and helping freedom movements all over the world...
...Generous aid given on the basis of brotherhood and internationalism, with only one condition: that the masses of the people benefit by it...
...It is this factor which Bertram D. Wolfe correctly stresses in his article (in THE NEW LEADER of the same date), a very effective reply to Feuer...
...Since the Communists are actually afraid of total disarmament, because they fear uprisings of the subject nations and their own people, they can hardly accept real disarmament, and their "peace" propaganda would soon be recognized as nothing but hypocrisy...
...7.7 billion (or more) goes for no useful purpose next year and on and on every year...
...Independently of the government, an international organization should be created to give moral and material support to freedom fighters everywhere...
...Back in the days when the country first began to go into debt in earnest, some used to cry what a shame it was for us to leave posterity this burden...
...He has a lot of company—men of good will, politicians (liberal or otherwise) and most of our people, who rightly fear a nuclear war...
...Reinhold Niebuhr leaves little doubt that he considers Eisenhower's budget inadequate, and he calls for the nation to pay the price for survival...
...I should merely like to correct Professor Feuer on one point...
...Berlin, Formosa, Korea, control of the Middle East...
...It is small comfort that the major portion of our country's debt is held by Americans...
...Feuer cites a few instances in the history of the Soviet Union when the Western democracies, had they acted correctly in a spirit of conciliation, could have influenced the Communists to take the road of democracy...
...And where has Professor Feuer seen Soviet writers "rise" in defense of Pasternak...
...What were the requests of the Communists in 1918 and 1919...
...New York City SIDNEY WAXLER 'SPENDERS' It seems to me that the "spenders" referred to by Reinhold Niebuhr ("Lunik and Ike's Budget," NL, January 26) get us nowhere...
...In other words, is a Communist in power still a Communist or really a politician from the West in disguise...
...Effective propaganda on behalf of such a proposal would convince the masses that although we are enemies of the Communist dictators, we are willing to solve all problems peacefully...
...He writes: "Boris Pasternak has been denounced by scurrilous Party hacks, but Soviet writers can now rise to defend him...
...Let democracy replace the dictatorship and the cold war disappears...
...Secondly, we must offer large-scale economic aid to countries needing it, but not on the basis of their agreement to fight with us in case of a war...
...If we accept Wolfe's intransigent attitude—and we should—we must also furnish the people with the goal of winning the cold war...
...While it is true that no one has suggested that Pasternak be executed, exile and deprivation of Soviet citizenship hare been suggested in several speeches and articles...
...This is not a oneshot affair...
...Perhaps it is unrealistic to expect a nation of chronic debtors to look askance at an ever growing national debt...
...Let us pay as we go, for if we do not pay this year (higher taxes), we will pay and pay again beginning next year (higher debt service...
...What a tremendous effect would be created by an offer to use all of the profits derived from the exploitation of Middle East oil to build schools, hospitals and housing for the Arab people...
...Williamsburg, Va...
...no one now suggests exile or execution for him...
...Thirdly, we must show that we claim to be champions of democracy and freedom not simply because we are involved in a cold war, but because we really believe in those principles...
Vol. 42 • February 1959 • No. 7
