Pacifism and the War
A Controversy. By D. S. Savage, George Woodcock,
Alex Comfort, George Orwell.
D.
s.
Savace:
A few brief comments on George Orwell's March-April
London
Letter.
It is fashionable nowadays to equate Fascism with Germany. We muat
fight Fascism, therefore we must fight Germany. Thus Mr. Orwell,
"the
greater part of the very young intelligentsia ... don't feel the horror of
Fascism that we who are somewhat older feel," also, "there is no real
answer to the charge that pacifism is objectively pro-Fascist."
Amwer:
Fascism is not a force confined to any one nation. We can just as soon
get
it here as anywhere else. The characteristic markings of Fascism are, cur·
tailment of individual and minority liberties; abolition of private life
and
private values and substitution of State life and public values (patriotism);
external imposition of discipline (militarism) ; prevalence of mass-values
and mass-mentality; falsification of intellectual activity under State pres–
sure. These are all tendencies of present-day Britain. The pacifist opposes
every one of these, and might therefore be called the
only genuine
oppo·
nent of Fascism.
Don't let us
be
misled by
names.
Fascism is quite capable of calling
itself Democracy or even Socialism. It's the reality under the name that
matters. War demands totalitarian organization of society.
Germany
organized herself on that basis prior to embarking on war. Britain now
finds herself compelled to take the same measures after involvement in
war. Germans call it National Socialism. We call
it
Democracy. The
result is the same.
Let us assume that Mr. Orwell means "objectively pro-German."
(If
so, his loose terminology is surely indicative of very loose thinking.) Who
is "objective"?-Mr. Orwell, a partisan of one particular side in the
struggle? According to this type of reasoning, a German or Japanese
pacifist would be "objectively pro-British." This is puerile. Mr. Orwell
is assuming that the pacifist shares his chauvinistic predilections. On the
contrary, we regard the war as a disaster to humanity. Who is to say that
a British victory will be less disastrous than a German one? The last
British victory was pretty meaningless.
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