War Is The Issue!
SEVERAL
MONTHS AGO
the League for Cultural Freedom and Socialism
addressed its founding statement "to all artists and writers concerned about
the present drift of the United States to reaction and war."
"Cultural circles, formerly progressive," we wrote then, "are now
capitulating to the spirit of fascism while ostensibly combatting its letter.
. . . To the war drive of the fascist powers, they reply with a war drive of
their own.... Inspired by Stalinist and social-reformist propaganda, they
advocate a new war for 'democracy.' Yet this war must give birth to
military dictatorship and to forms of intellectual repression far more
violent than those evoked by the last war."
Since this was written, the Stalinist regime has joined hands with
Hitler, and Poland has been partitioned between Nazi Germany and Stalin–
ist Russia. The thunder of the second world war is now shaking Europe.
These great historical events have shattered old alignments ver here and
are creating new groupings. Less than a week before the Berlin-Moscow
pact was announced, for example, four hundred American writers, artists,
educators and intellectuals signed their names to a statement ·of faith in
the Soviet Union as a bulwark of "democracy." Clearly worried by the
formation of the LCFS and similar groups, the four hundred sharply
rebuked all critics of Stalinism as friends of fascism. This document has
now become a historical curiosity.
But this is no time for crying, "We told you so!" The actual outbreak
of war in Europe has reduced even the Stalin-Hitler pact to a second-rate
question. The great question now is: what is the attitude of American intel–
lectuals, regardless of past illusions, towards American participation in
the war? War has become
the
issue.
It took almost three years to swing the United States into the last war.
Already the Roosevelt administration has served notice that it will attempt
to do in months what the Wilson administration took years to achieve.
Already it is deyoting its chief energies not to domestic reform hut to
foreign policy. So far as it lies in the power of the New Deal, American
blood and treasure will he lavishly expended to help France and England
crush once more their ancient imperialist rival.
We loathe and abominate fascism as the chief enemy of all culture,
all real democracy, all social progress. But the last war showed only too
clearly that we can have no faith in imperialist crusades to bring freedom
to any people. Our entry into the war, under the slogan of "Stop Hitler!"
would actually result in the immediate introduction of totalitarianism over
here. Only the German people can free themselves of the fascist yoke. The
American masses can best help them by fighting
at lwme
to keep their own
liberties.
125