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PARTISAN REVIEW
"compression of pure form"; and so form soon came to dominate
content.
The great longing of the "alienated" intellectual
is
to belong
to the masses. It is such a powerful longing that, in trying to appease
it, a great many of them who once looked to Germany or Italy for
inspiration have now become converted to the New Faith. Actually,
the rightist totalitarian program was exceptionally poor. The only
gratification it offered came from collective
warmth:
crowds, red
faces, shouting, marches, arms outstretched in salute. It was dif–
ficult, however, to find rational satisfactions. Neither racist doctrines
nor hatred of other nations, nor the glorification of one's own na–
tional traditions could efface the feeling that the entire program
was improvised to deal with problems of the moment. But Murti–
Bing is different. It lays scientific foundations. At the same time,
it scraps all vestiges of the past: post-Kantian philosophy, fallen
into disrepute because of its remoteness from reality;
art
designed
for those who, having no religion, dare not admit that to seek the
"absolute" through a juxtaposition of colors and sounds is cowardly
and inconclusive thinking; and the semi-magic, semi-religious men–
tality of the peasants. All these are replaced by a
single
system, a
single language of ideas. The truck driver and elevator operator
employed by a publishing firm read the same Marxist classics as
its director or staff writers. A day laborer and an historian can
reach an understanding on this basis of common reading. Obviously,
the difference that may exist between them in mental level is no
smaller than that which separated a theologian from a village
blacksmith in the Middle Ages. But fundamental principles are
universal; the great spiritual schism has been obliterated. Dia–
lectical materialism has united everyone; and philosophy (that is,
dialectics) once more determines the patterns of life. It is beginning
to be regarded with a respect that one has only for a force on which
one's food, happiness and safety depend. The intellectual has once
more become
useful.
He, who once devoted himself to his thinking
and writing in his free moments away from a paying job in a bank
or post office, has now found his rightful place on earth. He has
been restored
to
society. Whereas, the businessmen, aristocrats and
tradespeople who once considered
him
a harmless blunderer have
now been dispossessed. They are indeed delighted to find work
