WRITERS IN EXILE
501
Germans call "Eklektische Bettelsuppe, " the eclectic beggar's
soup-in which shreds of Marxist phraseology are mixed with
ideas of imperi a l glory, with antiyellow racism, with anti–
Semilism, and, with xenophobic ideas in general. What this
proves is that a certain minimal level of contact is needed, is
necessary after all, and that the idea of producing this " socialist
man" or " Soviet man" did not succeed, at least not in the degree
to
which Zinoviev argues it has.
However, we must keep in mind that what has kept a certain
degree of viability in this obscure ideology are those ingredients
that have nothing to do with Marxism in any recognizable sense,
even those that stand in opposition to the traditional Marxist
tenets. On the other hand, despite the fact that this ideology in
its Communist form is dead for all practical purposes, it is still
indispensable
precisely only
as an instrument of legitimacy for
the power of the Party. And if, for instance, this ideology were
given up or abandoned entirely in favor of, say, a great Russian
nationalist ideology-as some,
but only some,
segments of the
dissident movement in Russia would have it-this would amount ·
to removing the very basis on which the Party's claims to domina–
tion rest. A coup with this sort of ideological transformation
as its goal would probably mark the end of the empire as we
know it.
On the other hand, the ideological ruin of Communism in
countries dominated by this empire does not make for significant
options to the rulers . In the formally independent countries–
Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, those forcibly incorporated
into the Soviet empire but formall y sovereign-the situation is
pretty simple, I would say. In Poland, both national values
and democratic ideals are pretty strong, and Communism
appears, especially in the last months, simply as a gown without
any ideological adornment. Even so, it is true that in all these
countries there are social layers that have vested interests in the
indefinite continuation of this oppressive regime, and these layers
m<!-y be numerous . Nevertheless, nobody can doubt that in a
condition of true sovereignty for all these countries, Communism
wouldn ' t survive even one week.
I am not in a position to say what the potential is of effec–
tively instigating nationalist ideologies in the Soviet Union
itself. Boris Shragin and other Russian friends are much better
qualified to make comments on that. But the ideological void
