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PARTISAN REVIEW
word. The threat of atomic war may seem remote to those who come
into the possession of such information, but the penalty for raising
questions or criticizing the integrity of their leaders will be immediate.
What I am saying is that an agreement on international inspection
can very easily become a trap unless all nations capable of waging
war are
democracies-political
democracies.
What does this mean with respect to Russia? At least two things.
First, a policy of watchful waiting by an international authority
committed to a policy of collective security-until the Russians them–
selves change their form of government into a democracy with a
legally recognized right of opposition. It is not necessary to intervene
in Russian internal affairs in the way in which Soviet Russia has been
intervening in the affairs of other nations. Perhaps things will change
after Stalin's death, perhaps not. Second, the democratic aspects of
our own culture must be strengthened. The reason is not, as is some–
times said, to induce the Russian people to abolish their dictatorship
by showing them that freedom and a high standard of living are
pos–
sible. For what the Russians think about other countries depends not
on what these countries do but on what the rigorously censored
Russian press and radio tell them. Nothing we can do can affect that.
The reason is, in addition to those discussed above, that such strength–
ening of our democracy
will
prevent the Russian quislings in this
country from exploiting our own weaknesses and conflicts.
If
the Western statesmen don't understand that the world cannot
remain half slave and half free, the Russians do, and they are engaged
in the most extensive propaganda effort since the Comintem was
founded to make the one world their world. The weaknesses and in–
justices of our democracy provide them with excellent material for
propaganda. And events themselves may constitute the best propa–
ganda for them. Another depression and its attendant chaos would
seriously threaten popular allegiance to democratic processes. Even
where widespread unemployment and insecurity exist, those who know
the truth about Russian life
will
prefer their difficult lot with the pos–
sibilities of improving it, to anything resembling the Russian way of
life. But the sad fact is that large numbers of workers do not know
the truth about the nature of Russian life. When difficult conditions
become desperate, still larger numbers will not want to know the truth.
Or they will swallow the assurances that the dictatorial features of
Russian culture are purely local in significance and have no essential
connection with the Bolshevist creed.
That is why I am hopeful that those who wish to preserve democ-
