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pamphlet suppox:ting the war. The situation has altered considerably now.
There is a growing demand for social revolution in England, hut this does
not take the form of a demand for surrender to Hitler. It takes the form
of pressure on Churchill and the labour members of the Cabinet to remove
the 'men of Munich' and to socialize industry.
There is a form of political purism which I cannot entirely under–
stand. It is much as
if
Christians were to say "We cannot support the war
unless angels armed with swords swoop down from the sky and destroy
the Nazis.'' One might feel humble in the presence of such an exalted
attitude of mind, hut in the recesses of one's own heart one would not feel
the necessary faith and purity to see how entirely reasonable it was to a
careful reader of the scriptures.
Reading your editorials I feel the presence of a somewhat similar
attitude of mind. The argument in your most recent one (July-August,
1940) is, as you state repeatedly, that the war is lost, the British and
French are defeated. America will also he defeated unless Roosevelt is
removed and there is a socialist America very soon. It is fatal to support
Roosevelt in any attempt he may make to resist Hitler. At the same time,
you yourself do not hold out the slightest hope of America becoming
socialist. The implication is that the world is going to he punished,
and
very severely, because it will not follow the policy of PARTISAN REVIEW.
I admire the generosity of mind which has already presented the
British Empire to Hitler before he himself has t·aken it, and which prom·
ises him the Americas, unless the democratic powers adopt the correct
attitude
ip
an argument. At the same time, it seems to me that there may
he something wrong in the conclusions you draw from your premises. You
say, quite rightly, in my opinion, that Fascism represents a more advanced
stage of organization of capitalism than democracy. Accordingly, you
compare the superiority of Hitler's war machine with that of Napoleon.
You forget though, that Napoleon did not win. England heat Napoleon.
Perhaps we may not heat Hitler, hut in that case, may not the ratio of
America to the whole of Europe he very much that of England to the
Continent in 1815? Also, did England have to become Napoleonic in
order to heat Napoleon? Or did it have any kind of sweeping Revolution?
Personally, I would never have drawn these historic parallels, hut
since they have been drawn, they should he examined. I do not think there
is any basis for your excessive fatalism. Your own attitude really is simply
this: that unless things happen exactly as you want them, you very much
hope that something much worse will happen (for I assume that your
attitude towards defeated democracy is really wishful thinking}. What
about Spain? I suppose you will say that the Stalinists spoilt that. Again,
may he you are right. The pattern was not to your liking. But the pattern
will never
he
to the liking of any of us. So we have to choose the lesser
evil, and stumble from the had to the slightly better or the slightly worse.
Or else we had better join the hopeless angels.
Yours, etc.,
STEPHEN SPENDER.
