TRIALS OF THE MIND
9
pollution. By expelling Pharmakos- the scapegoat, the sin-bearer–
the community cleansed itself symbolically of evil. Tragedy, art–
that is a later growth. In the Soviet Union the tragic is still in its
embryonic phase; the State is barren, and to cure itself it practices
exorcisms and conjures up spirits. Pharmakos-Trotsky is cast out into
the wilderness, while the people and the government unite in a death–
celebration.
In what sense can we speak of the treason of the intellectuals?
Marxism has taught us that the intellectuals are a special grouping
within the middle class, as much infected with its unrest and ambition
as with its fright and phantasies. This definition implies that when
the working class is apparently beaten, the intellectuals veer back
to their old positions, each time of course under cover of a new
set of rationalizations. The events of recent years have fully confirmed
this definition; only, in this period it is Stalinism which provides both
the rationalizations and a portion of the profits. There is, therefore,
nothing very astonishing in what has happened.
One must keep in mind, however, that within the social division
of labor the intellectuals are assigned the sphere of technical and
spiritual culture: hence culture is their only real property. They are
the guardians of values, on the one hand their cultivators and on the
other their exploiters. They watch over the hidden manna even as they
consume it. And while it might be naive to expect them to cleave to
revolutionary ideas at a time when the proletariat is in rout, it should
be pointed out that in their own mad flight they are trampling on the
very values they depend on for permanent sustenance.
It does not require a revolutionary to be repelled by lies. It
is not necessary to be a Marxist to be opposed to the perversion of
historical facts. Never has the lie been so omnipotent, so blatant, as
it is today; but the intellectuals, instead of pitting themselves against
the power of the lie, are intent on selecting that version of it which
appears respectable. The defence of culture has become their official
program, but unofficially they acquiesce in the mutilation of all the
elements that are the most vital source of culture. In this period one
cannot accept degrading techniques and procedures in politics without
degrading one's own intellectual discipline, without impairing its
worth.
To the man of intellect, pride is a primary necessity. But this
pride is being subverted by the strategy of the lesser evil in which so
many have gotten entangled. The strategy of the lesser evil is the
mind's education in opportunism. It creates the conditions for the
