WRITERS IN EXILE
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the spiritual continuum of the spirit of their nation and to create a
spiritual movement of at least fantastic importance .
Having criticized those American philosophers in the fifties and
sixties who advocated the end of ideology, and who introduced the
most unhappy marriage of no ideology and spiritless pragmatism, I
would say that this experience you are bringing to us here in Amer–
ica and to the West generally is of historical importance. But what I
have heard here is a kind of historical determinism: it will be one
generation, two generations, one hundred million deaths, five hun–
dred million deaths. We don't have to do anything! But then why do
we have dissidents? I don't know , my dear friend , whether you real–
ize that this is Marxist philosophy. The basic dehumanization in
Marxism is that it is not human beings and their drive to remain hu–
man beings that makes history, but classes that make history. Natu–
ral historical development makes history.
There is a very great danger. Though you live in the West, my
friends , you don't see that the West is trying, in its pragmatism, in
its narrow-minded, spiritless materialism, not to do anything! Now
you come and say, "Don't do anything; history will do it. History will
free you . Another generation of gangsters will come into the Polit–
buro, and everything will be all right!"
On a recent lecture tour in Germany I encountered unbelievable
anti-Americanism, a peace movement that is basically an appease–
ment movement. Some of the people have noble motivations, but
it's a movement, in the objective sense, that helps the Soviets to bring
about the unilateral disarmament of the West . Recently in Washing–
ton I spoke with a number of influential politicians. There, the an–
swer to the primitive, unsophisticated European anti-Americanism
is an equally simple anti-Europeanism. This is exactly what the
long-term Soviet strategy is aimed at. But instead of coming here
and saying, "Look, there are other forces here; make use of them,"
we are disappearing in determinism.
The Polish movement, in my view, is the most important polit–
ical movement in the history of mankind.
It
is a movement for hu–
man dignity, not for a political party. The Poles demonstrate - not
as in Czechoslovakia, where they wanted socialism with a human
face and carried a party emblem . They go with the sign of the cross.
And there is a deep national understanding, enforced by religious
feeling, of the need to be human beings. What is America's answer
to them? We ask, "Should we help the Poles? How shall we plan our
