262
PARTISAN REVIEW
hit by cars! People in Russia today are too sophisticated to nurture
such illusions!
If all of a sudden the Soviet leaders were to adopt Solzhenitsyn's
course , this would be the shortest way to
physical
revolution. But the
only realistic road, or, the only theoretically PEACEFUL one,
leading to Soviet Russia's renewal , is conceivable on the basis of
socialist ideals and principles . They are not so false as they look to
Solzhenitsyn and to others who share his opinions; and, they have
not lost their attraction for broad areas of Soviet society. A religious
faith in Marxism and the infallibility of Lenin's model (')f socialism is
something else ;
this
faith has, indeed, been abandoned by all. But it
is time to analyze the current situation in the Soviet Union.
Objective Obstacles to Democratization
Long ago , while still in the Soviet Union , I occasionally asked
myse lf: Why , when everything is in an obviously poor state, does
someone at the top not even try to change and improve things? I
realized that the principal , almost insuperable , difficulty consists in
making the
very first"
move ." After this, further moves, programs,
and objectives are much simpler. I realized that the position of
hypothetical Soviet Dubceks is infinitely more complicated than that
of their Eastern European colleagues, and that their road is beset with
heavy obstacles and fraught with grave dangers.
Above all, there is the fear of the people, of popular reaction.
This fear is rooted in the leaderS' awareness that in the evept of any
liberalization what they know about the chaos of the country will
become common knowledge . The same writers and journalists who
today fear revolution (from which they expect no personal benefits)
will willy-nilly pave the road to it , if censorship is relaxed. They will
be drawn into professional competition. Who likes to lag behind
when it comes to writing trenchant articles , making outrageous
disclosures , bringing terrifying facts to light , expressing pungent
thoughts and making new demands? And even average citizens,
among whom there are plenty of educated people , will hardly remain
silent, since for them democratic freedoms are not the end , but
merely a means to free themselves from the oppressive "authori-
