550
PARTISAN REVIEW
Europe knows this life; but knows it as a stage of the past that
isn't worth looking back on. Even if the new problems are so oppres–
sive that they can break a great many people, at least they are con–
temporary. And mental discipline and the obligation to be clear
are undoubtedly precious. The work of really fine Western scholars
and artists escapes notice. The only new names that are known are
those of "democr:ats"-a delicate circumlocution that means one
is
not dealing with a pagan. In short, the recompense for all pain is
the certainty that one belongs to the new and conquering world
as its propaganda would have one think.
Mystery shrouds the political moves determined on high, in
the distant Center. People speak about prominent figures in hushed
voices. In the vast expanses of Euro-Asia, whole nations can vanish
without leaving a trace. Armies number into millions. Terror be–
comes socially useful and effective. Philosophers rule the state–
obviously not philosophers in the traditional sense of the word, but
dialecticians. The conviction grows that the whole world will be
conquered. Great hordes of followers appear on all the continents.
Lies are born from seeds of truth. The philosophically uneducated,
bourgeois enemy is despised for his inherited inability to
think.
(Classes condemned by the laws of history perish because their minds
are paralyzed.) The boundaries of the Empire move steadily and
systematically westward. Unparalleled sums of money are spent on
scientific research. One prepares to rule all the people of the earth.
Is all this too little? Surely this is enough to fascinate the intellectual.
As he beholds these things, historical fatalism takes root in
him.
In a rare moment of sincerity he may confess cynically, "I bet on
this horse. He's good. He'll carry me far."
A delinquent has a hard time, however, when the moment
comes for him to swallow Murti-Bing in its
entirety.
He becomes
such a nervous wreck, that he may actually fall
ill.
He knows it
means a definite parting with his former self, his former ties and
habits.
If
he is a writer, he cannot hold a pencil in his hand. The
whole world seems dark and hopeless. Until now, he paid a minimal
tribute: in his articles and novels, he described the evils of capitalist
society. But after all, it isn't difficult to criticize capitalism; and
it can be done absolutely honestly. The charlatans of the stock
