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PARTISAN REVIEW
the anti-American, Yankee-go-away slogans, and by the automat–
ic backing of every Third World initiative, no matter how re–
pressive. Those on the left, chiming in with the attacks against
American imperialism elicited by our response to communist
expansion in Latin America and by the remembrance of
things Vietnamese, add their own gripes and slogans, which the
French assimilate in their own fashion, though most of them con–
tinue to be as uninterested and uninformed about America as
ever. But the left has a choice: they either try to convert a few
people to their peace initiatives by scaring them with impending
annihilation, or they leave for Germany.
There, the bomb scare is exacerbated by realistic fears, as
well as by some of the unfortunate slogans President Reagan and a
number of his advisors uttered when he first took office. Questions
about the placement of the Pershing IIs no doubt triggered the
debates, which, as we know, have fueled a large peace movement.
But the relationship to East Germany with its hopes for reunifi–
cation, the financing of peace rallies by the latter (however clan–
destine), as well as the fear of the Soviet SS20s which are in place
and whose removal "cannot be negotiated," are the underlying
motivations leading some Germans to believe that they would
rather be
rot
than
tot.
Since most of the individuals are young,
they are unaware of the fact that this slogan originated in the
1930s, against the fascists. Instead of being aimed at the Nazis,
however, the slogan is used against America, which has become
the dangerous enemy-planning "imperialist expansion."
This term, of course, was valid as long as American multi–
nationals controlled many Third World economies, but needs
to
be reexamined in view of the seizure of many of their installa-
tions, the influx of Arab money, and the influx of European and
~
Japanese enterprises. Just as their French peers, German intellec-
tuals of the left place themselves between the two superpowers;
but instead of considering themselves a third force, they abdicate.
Arguing that negotiations have gotten nowhere, the more extreme
ones, like their American counterparts, advocate unilateral dis–
armament, and say "the Russians cannot be budged in any case,
so we must fight the evil in our own countries." Bolstering such
statements with remembrances of fascism, well-meaning people
became quite zealous at the meetings I attended. In fact, ever since
I left Vienna, as a child in 1938, I had not experienced this typeo£
fanaticism.
It
scared me, as I had not been scared since then, ex-
