October 28, 1942

THE··BARDIAN Volume 22, No.6 Z-443 ANNANDALE-ON-HUDSON, N; Y., OCT. 28, 1942 Twelve Pages faire are the most satisfactory of economic systems, Dangerous Thoughts (an undeniable thesis, since all systems are satisfactory when they work properly), and he goes on definitely to .About Peace state the mode of action by which these desirable goals can be obtained. Hoover and Gibson make the same :initial hypothesis, and then go on to say that perfect by ANDREW EKLUND competition will come about if only we let everything There are four more or less popular books which alone and give the natural forces a chance. This notion I come to mind in the consideration Of the causes and will do more at the conclUSIon of the war to perpetuate ;consequences of the Second Wodd War. They are, in strife and chaos than any other of which it is possible jchronological order, James Burnham's "Managerial to think. Some of the reasons for this statement will be i Revolution/' E. H. Carr's "Conditions of Peace," Hoover indicated at a later point. I and Gibson's "Problems of Lasting Peace," and Nicholas The first section of "The Problems of Lasting Peace" :Spykman's "American Strategy in World Politics." is devoted to the development of the most ridiculous Briefly, the main objection to Burnham's thesis is that piece of historical analysis to appear in a long time. The it suffers by being wholly abstruse; Spykman's that it authors have made a "study" of history, and have an- I ! suffers by being too specific in its application of theoret- alysed and abstracted the "dynamic forces which make I ical doctrines; and' Hoover and Gibson's suffers by for peace and war." These are: (1) Ideologies, (2) Eco comparison. nomic Pressures, (3 ) Nationalism, (4) Militarism, (5) This article deals with "Conditions of Peace" and Imperialism, (6) The Complex of Fear, Hate and Re "Problems of Lasting Peace," as being the best examples venge. The authors have made these "forces" so all : of sound thinking on one hand and falacious, and' dart:. embracing, that they have created an interpretive error, gerous thinking on the other. not the usual one of dividing a subject i~to categories The last mentioned book, written by a former presi- with a residual category which includes everything not • dent and a former American ambassador to almost every mentioned in the others, but of dividing the "dynamic where, is simple to understand. In fact, it becomes forces" in such a way as to make each category residual. • apparent after reading that there is one main trouble Having made an unwarranted ab~traction, they frolic gaily with the' book. It is no good. Ordinarily, that would ahead and start interpreting .ancient and modern history be sufficient for something. of this caliber but unfor in terms of these "forces." They do it as if they were tunately the book contains many ideas which are not giving a recipe for a cake. They say in effect, take one merely wrong, but are downright dangerous to the part "ideology," two parts "imperialism," and three parts achievement of any lasting peace. It is vitally important "fear, hate, and revenge," and you have thf recipe for to dispel these notions, and therefore the formulation the Treaty of Versailles. of the main criticisms of Hoover and Gibson's book is But this part of the book is not dangerous. It is only in order. slightly pathetic. The danger comes in later sections The whole thesis is based on the assumptions of classical when they say things such as, "Before the World War I liberalism. There is of course, nothing wrong with the of 1914, the American People were slowly awakening to ideas of men whose notions reflect ~hese assumptions, the necessity to correct these abuses and become masters except that most of them are living in the wrong cen in their own house.-But before these problems could be tury. During the first three quarters of the nineteenth solved, the First \VorId War brought terrific shocks into century, these liberal assumptions; the assumptions of these delicate balances of worId economy and movements a perfectly competitive system, of the ascendance of the of reform." profit motive etc. had some relation to reality, but with They are saying in other words, that we were on the the growth of monopoly, of nationalism, and the concen right track before the First WorId War, and that the tration of executive political power in the realm of war threw us off that track. It is this inability to see economics, these assumptions became dangerous an . that the First and Second W orId Wars were symptoms achronisms. There are perhaps half a dozen men who of a basic revolution and not just deviations from the expound these principles successfully, (of whom Thur- right course, that causes the kind of thinking that may I man Arnold is perhaps the most compelling in his logic) help to create WorId War Three, Four and Five. The ,I but Hoover and Gibson are certainly not among this point is that if one does not understand what is happen- I group. Thurman Arnold says· that lib~ralism and laissex- (Continued on page 10) THE BARDIAN, OCTOBER 28, 1942 Mrs. 'Honeycutt Gels 'Our Cood Neighbors by DONN O'MEARA Rid of Her Man When we think of our allies in this present fight we only too often restrict the meaning of the word to (WITH: AID FROM BOCCACCIO) England, China, and the Soviet Union. It's time that everyone became conscious of our other allies, the by HOWARD MEUNIER· nations of Latin America. There is a crying need for David Tubb had a nose, two arms, two le,gs, and. other s'ome medium of passing on information to the people . parts. belonging to a man; but every woman who knew of the United States about our neighbors to the South. him ran when they heard him coming. This was not It would seem that the Hull-Roosevelt "good Neigh because the ladies were old or prim (quite the contrary) ; bor policy" came a little too late to put Argentina and but because he had so many vain airs: he strutted and Chile, on our side but it certainly has lined up the rest swagered, he kept, his eyebrows raised and fluttered his of. Latin America with us; and among the most solid eyelashes, he talked as though he had a lump of sugar supporters of the United States is our next door neighbor, in his mouth, and his voice swooped up, and down like Mexico. Every effort is being made by. Mexican maga a swallow. His, actions were so absurd and revolting zines and newspapers to give their people a picture of that any' woman would rather have been seen with her the U. S. A. and what she is doing. grandmother than with him. The United States in her turn knows very little about ·One night at the opera he saw a woman who excited Mexico and it is only recently that interest has increased him beyond his wildest dreams. She was warm and enough to make a book like Days oj Ojelia at all popular. young and luscious. He discovered that she was Mrs. Days oj Ojelia is an attempt to portray Mexican people Honeycutt, a rich widow, which made him more pas and Mexico in a manner pleasing to read and at the same sionate than ever. He immediately took a house near time fairly accurately. The authoress, Gertrude Diamant hers. He bought a dog so he could walk with it when spent some time in Mexico City making occasional field she waJked with hers. That they always fought made trips to give intelligence tests to Otomi Indians. The it all the better. He went to dinners whenever she went, book is in the main about her little chambermaid, .ofelia, ,and cast amorous glances at her from every position her family and a small group of people whom she knew possible (although he was not very athletic). The lady, personally but who cannot be considered at all repre not being blind, was aware of all of his actions, and was sentative of the whole of the Mexican people. The book violently amused at first. But she became over-burdened has enjoyed tremendous success and has been praised for with his love, and being weary of such constant adora its clear, sympathetic picture of the Mexicans; I myself tion, she decided to quench his eternal flame. find it a very serious fault. She had a maid, Georgine, who, beside being nearly Miss Diamant has committed a sin that is typical of feeble minded, had a glass eye, false teeth, ~ wig, and most Americans of her probable status who have at it wooden leg. She decided to tell Georgine that a -friend tempted to write about Mexico and the Mexican people. of hers was attracted by her, and, that he begged to kn<;>w Her's is the outlook of an American schoolteacher (which if she would return his love. Georgine, with all her she would seem to be) who believes her "own teaching afflictions, still had a desire for the male, and was beside about the greatness of our civilization and the inferiority herself with ectasy. Mrs. Honeycutt told her that since of that of all other nations. she had been such a faithful and efficient servant, she , She has painted w;hat she believes to be the Mexican would do everything in her power to help the romance.

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