Persuasion 1965 Vol2no1

8/10/2019 Persuasion 1965 Vol2no1

1/12


2/12

Volume

No

1

WORLD PE E

V I E W S

January

1965

OR PI S

Alice w en t t hr ou gh

lo )king glass into a wonderland of

m y s t e y ~ strange

delights,

and

UlogiO.

She

~

a

pool o f tears.

ran a race

of

indetenninate

length in no

specifi.c direction. attended

a

te a party with

a

hare

a , . ~ a dormouse

an d

met

umpty

fumpty.

Alice s

ta ry

t al e

is

fanciful

fu n

lo r

young

and

old

alike.

t

has a b iz a rr e q u a li ty welcome on a chUd

f

s

bookshelt. ut

when

the same bizarre

qUality appears in

a

speeoh by

a

U lN

o f f i o i a l , there

is oause for alann.

rrhe

world is

not

wonderland .not yet, at any

rate.

On October

23.

1964

a o r ~ T mes

headline read as

t o ~ o w s

nu N

Chief

U rges A cc ount

y

Khrushchev

o f Ouster; He Halls

~ o v i e t Leader

an d

Voi ces Bel.iet

_

l1etropolitan

Young

Republican Club 1965


3/12

2

I ~ o s o o w tim

Con'bW$ iisPo;],.i.c:Les

Praises

SUocessors. U U T h ~ l f v Q 1 ~ ~ g '

praise

for

the

o\1sT,E:)1Sollie'tl.ead.Qr

ars anet tect ive W 9 1 ' k e r r o r l V d t ~ . d . p e ~ o e a n d ex..

pressed conti


4/12

things

l ike

these

one talks to ona s friends and certainly

not

to foreigners. Is

i t lldiscipline

or

i s i t slavery?

the

dictator

who sent tanks into the

s tr ee ts o f

Budapest can be praised

as a sincere peace lover n the forum of the United Nations. what ara

our

national

leada; sl predatory warmongers? .Alioe was r1ght tha questlon s l-lhether you cap

make

words

mean

so

many different thil1gS.

Putting aside semantics,

an

examination of tho history of the concept

peaceful coexi.stence

is revea.l1ng. In his book to which the following page nwu

bers reter)

'l' 1e

S o Y i ~ t ~ s i g n For

dor.dState (Col:umbia

U.

Press. 1960 Dr.

l iot

a.

Goodman

presents

voluminous

and

conclusive

proof

that

peaceful coexistence

has

~

been

COl1S1dered to be

one form

and

an

extremely effective one) t the

war

against

oapitalism

by

the Sov ie ts . Lenin

understood the advantages

o compro.

m:1.se

with

the West

as

a means

of

t u r t r ~ the

cause of

socialism. He

stated n

1918,

vie

must

make

use of this brea.thing spell, which

circumstance

has given us,

to

heal

the wounds

that

war l1as inflicted on

the

social organism t Russia. It

(P.

16.5)

He urged Soviet leaders to make comprom:i ses

to f u . ~ t h e r

the1rown ends.

Sta l in a t the First

Congress of Soviets of

the

USSR on December

JO 1922,

viewed peacefUl coexistence as a 111ethodto achieve tile amaJ.gamation t the

toilers of

a ll

countries into

a ~ o r l d Socialist

Soviet Republic. U

(P .

168)

Lenin

earl ier

that

year pointed

the most iJrrportant

aspect of

the

ubreathing

spell

__

the

necessity of

trading

with capitalist

countries

n

order for Russia to grow

strQnger

economica1ly.

H

Trade

vdth

capitalist

oountries i s absolutely essen

t ia l t us

(s,o

long as

they

have not yet collapsed). It (P .

170)

In

NOV EIilber1947 t four 1110nths prior to the COl1 ll1un1st

d etat n

Czeohoslovakia,

E.A. Korovin stated. -The Soviet people know that time

is lnrk1ng

in th eir

favor and that

each

additionol

t

peaoeful coexistence

of the

two

systems

the

socialist and

the cap1tellist-. strengthens the

former

al1d

undermines

the latter. II (p . 179)

Since most of

the

Soviet

economioettort was

turned

into the

p r o d u o t ~ n

t

cap1tal

goods

and

a

m1l1tary machine,

periods

t active revolut,iLonary a c t i v ~ t y

(wartare,

colcdor hot) were a

great strain

on thei r economy. The breathingspeU

a 1 q r d ~ d

by

periods

ot

peaceful

coexistenoe allowed

the

o v i e t ~

to

gain

enough

s t r ~ t t o t ight

the

non-communist world

a t

a

la ter

date, and to exploit ~ divi.

sions

in

the non-eo1l 1lnunist commun1ty

of

nations.

As late as 1952

the

International Economio Conference h ~ l d n

1'Jloscow

cried for

mor'e

trade ldth

Western

countries. liThe Conterenoe

aboW1ded ;n

assura.nces of

the

possibll.1ty of peaceful

coex1stenoe, insist ing

that

tditferenoes

in economic and

sooial.

systems

need

not bean obstacle to

the

expansion of international

economio

relations. n (P .

181)


5/12

.

lUring

Khru.shchev's reg1me,

th e

concept

of

peaceful coexistence

was

extended

the breath1ng

spalls got

longer, perhaps,

but their purpose

relllained the

same.

n November 195.5 Khrushchev stated, Vie are confident

that,

even as things

are

now.

in

peaoeful oompetition between

th e

capitaJ.ist and socia1ist system.s. i t

s

we., socialism. that

will

win

W e

have

never

abandoned., and never

w

abandon,

our polit1oal

l ine

which .,.as mapped by Lenin. (p . 87) As

Dr.

Goodman .,tat.es.

To those who remain n doubt

or

Soviet

intentions, one

oan only

say

that camlpr

indeed.

th e best

fOrm or

deoeption. fJ

Peace1\1l coexistence,

undor Kh.ru,shohev.

became

not just

pnq,

device of,

w o r ~ d

conquest, but

tl r

device. I t had worked well. after au. Khroshohev

ex

ploited

two

things:

manls basic

:ear

llal1. and

his longing

for

a peaceful l'lOrld.

He dealt in economic

trade

by intimidation, thus keeping his country eoonom1cally

alive

by being

a

parasite on capitalist l'lealth. Also,

bY means of

subtle

influence

upon

neutral countries in the U.N

f

he

showed his

so-c.a.Ued love

peace

by o t f e r ~

1ng

these

weaker nations (and tho frightened larger onos) the false alternative of

peaceful ooexistence or war; trade. or

t ight

hey fe l l

for i t

n addit1on, he

worked diligently to separate th e NATO nations from

one

another. The result

or

these

activities

is

that the NATO 11L1tions ltnow tind

themselves under the shadow or

a potent1al

Sov1et-Atro-Asian majority.J1

(P.

,)9:3)

Note

that the cruci.al elel e t in the sucoess

of the

scheme

peaoe1\1l

coex1.stenoe is the wUlingness

of

i t s victims to help

s u . c J ~

Russia needGd

trade and eoonomio

t ies. '

capitalist countries provided them. W e are

s tUl

prev1d

ing

them....

recaJ.:L th e

wheat deal. o

196:;. Parasitism in the

animal

world

depends

upon a

host

wiUing

to

at ord subsis tence

to

a

parasi te.

Parasitism

n

world

a f

fairs depends upon the same vrillingnass--cap1talism must produce n order

that

munism can

plunder. One

wonders

how

Western leaders have gone so long evad1ng

the

meaning or the actions and words of

Soviet,leaders.

Existing peaceably

n

t,he

~ r l

should be a value to all

na.tions. but

not

pelt0eful coexistenoe at a.rrt price, Peace is an absolute state, not a

conditional

peft1 ssion grarlted on the

tenus

one nation. .

rery

cit izen of

the United

States

who is a

true

lover or peaoe must re

examine his viev1 of the United Nations and

the role

the U.S.

plays

n

i t

Russia

has f1aun ted

i t s aggrossion

n

the

face of a U.N. Charter whioh i s tul1 of

phrases

about peace. I t has worked

actively

tor

the admission

of

Red China. 14bose entire

population

l ives

in

slavery.

I t

supplies

arms,

teohnical

assistance, and

agents

to

subversive

groups all over the world n

a.n effort to

overthrow governments.

Its

major

goal-.its stated.

goal

...s

world dominat1on to be

achieved

at the expense :

overy productive

man

on earth. The U.N. and

the

U.S.

are too

terr11ed

to

take

act ion against this

men.aoe.

:Eh1ssia

counts 011

this

terttor

tl

As

David Lawrenoe

wrote in I h

ler8:rirdTribune

of

December .J,

1964.

trThe


6/12

- 5

real

is aue is

whether

tl le

tree hations

of the world are

going

to

centinue

to

pUSs -

foot and nounder in

their relations

with the Soviet Union

instead otcoming

out

in

the open and

setting

forth

tho t rue fao ts about Soviet

bost1J.1ty to

freedom

and

pea.oe

in the

world.

This exposition

ot the

true

facts should

also be

tho

primo responsibllity

t

the

U.N.

SQcretary-Genaral.j

i t he is t ru y

interostod

in peaco. We must demand that

he. above

others,

usc

language in a precise manner. Peaoe means peace, not

walls erocted between slaves C nd

free

men. The

fa.ctthat there

was

an

absence of

total

war during the

seven-year period

of Khrushchev s reign does

not

mean that he

was

an

eftootivc wot kertor

world peace.

II

Humpty Dumpty s tray

or dealing nth

reali ty is :

to

try to create

by

playing

wiUl

words.

U

Thant

can

call

a red menace peaCe lover,

but

he and

the

world

will

sut ter (and are suf te ring ) the consequences. Black is not white and nover will

be,

Pretending that i t e morelY helps

the world

become Red al lover.

--.Joyce Jones

R ~ V I ~ ~ S

TRANSACTIONS

IN POvlER

Dlo Maldpg t

t h ~ r e s i d e n t

1,260,

by Theodore H. ~ J h i t e Pocket Books Inc. 1961

On Tuesday NovGluber 8,

1960, 68.832,818

(as of Deoember 17.

1960)

Americans

went

to the polls to cas t their vote

tor

the

Presidont

of the

United

States. The

choice wa.s between two men: John F. I(ennedy and Richard

M

Nixon,

as

candidates

t

tbe

two

major parties.

t

is , of course, no secret that Kennedy won the e lect ion.

ut

in

the t

t

1959. his hopes for

winning

l-lare

very

sJ.ght. In

his

own

Democratic

Party, no

less than four other men t wid.er e x p e r i ~ f o e and more tame were thought

to

have a

better chanoe.

In the

Republioan Party, Rtohard NiXon

was

oonsidered a shQo-in

for

thenominat.ion

and

an

unbeatable

o n d d ~ e tor

t he o ff ic e

of

President.

On.lJ Nelson

F..ookefeller

challenged

his

r ight

to

the

npmination.

iJhat. then, happened

bettfean

1959 and E:lect1on Day 96 7 How did Kennedy win?

The

Makin

9 ~ President

1960 does

not tully

answer

these questions,

perhaps

becausetb,e author

is a jourbli11st.Although

he i s peroeptive--espeo1ally 1n

tbs areas of ~ l o y and mot1vation.-ha leaves

any overall interpretation

of the,


7/12

6

events to the reader. He charaoterizes his

book

as

nthe

eortot

a contemporary

reporter

to

catch

the

mood and

the strains. the

wariness t elation and

uncertain

ties of the men who

set

their

sights on

the

office

or the

Presid$MY.

n

this

ef

tort

he

succeeds admirably. All the

exe1

tement--the turorthe heartbeat.- the hard

wr,--o tho

Q_atin

i;soa.ptured1n thoe pages.

' he root question or American politics, n sa.ys l ir. ~ h i t e lIis always: Who s

the

Man

to See?

To

understand American pol:\.tics

is

f simply t o know people, to

know

the

relative weight of namos--who are

heroes. who

ar c straw men, Vho controls,

who

does. not. u t to operate

in

American

politics one must go

a

step iUrther-.onemust

buUd a bridge to such

lk\l es

establish a warmth, a

personal connection.

It

he book

te l ls

the

story

of seven men--John Kennedy. Richard Nixon, Lyndon

Johnson. Nelson Rockefeller. Hubert Humphrey, Adlai Stevenson and Stuart Sym1ngton

_ in the throes

poli t ical

ambition. I t begins n th the f i rs t stirrings in the

oamps of both Democrats and Republioans, when the hopes, or these seven

men

ware

f i rs t verbalized to their friel1ds and a.ssociates. The

ini t ia l

focus

these men

was

on

the

f i rs t

olimax of

the

alective process:

the

Party

nominations. ro

win.

each

of these men

had to

concern hitlselt with

marshalling

the forces wi thin his

own

party

that

coUld

win

hiJn

tbe

nominat1on;

the

forces money. fr1endBh1p,

loyalty

and 1nf1.uence

The planning,

the calculat ion, the strategy--all were handled

differently- by

these

seven

men. Each man

had

to analyze his strengths

and weaknesses,

to

use

one

and overcome t he o ther . How each man d1d this depended on his personality

and

char

acter. his organization and his t tpoli tioal ins tinot

n

h is abi l i ty

to

turn events to

poli t ical advantage).

Kennedy dem.onstratedhis abUity

to

use situations

to

his advantage during

the

primaries

in

Wisconsin and \'/est Virginia,

llhen

the

religious

issue

became

an impor

tant

factor

in the

race

for the

Presidency. He dealt

with i t

sl


8/12

- 7 -

around him.

like

a Whirlpool. waiting

to be

sucked

in or rejected. like

a piece

or

drift, vtood. ld thno

d1reotion

of i t s

own.

.tor Johnson and Symington, neither had a

real chanoe

after

th e Kennedy

organization began-rolling at high speed. Johnson never managed to

lose

his iden

t i f icat ion as a Southerner, and throughout

the

campaign

he

w as distrusted by

both

the

North and

the

South.

Symington f

s hopes were pinned on a deadlocked Convention,

at

which time

he

oould

be

brought forth a.s a

comproluise candidate. But

by Conven

tion time K e l 1 n e ~ had 600

oertain

votes on the first b a l l o ~

I

v

luoh

of

1tlhat lir. 1,Jhite has to say about

the

Republican Party 1s

interesting

and

Valuable

to those wholrant to

know

i t s composition. He points out that although

many

people think

of the

Demooratic

Party a.s

the par ty o f spli ts and

dissidence,

Democrats have a

greater

abil i ty

to comproraise

behind a

ldnner.

The book aocording

ly explores th e Republican schizophrenia

lhich for

a century

has barned

l l ob

servers.

t

He

charaoterizes the

Republican

Party as ntvJins t r a t X 1 0 ~ 110t

fraternal, tWins.

If

One wing of the Party is l de up of the regulars, the men who

with

unflagging

loyalty

and gruni.te reo:>lution against

tho future,

hold the

Party

i h ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ r t h : l ~ ~ ~ ~ e ~ ~ Y o 1 ~ r r t i ~ ; : S ~ J I g ~ ~ ; ; ~ t m ~ ~ ~ C 1 i ~ ~ =

are basically

anti

1ntellectual

0 :/

na.ture,

but they

are the men who control the

machinery

of Pa.rty polit ics.

The

other ~ 1 1 n g t the Party is oalled by

}fir.

vanta

the

citizen-progressive

wing,

U

which is almost

indistinguishable from

l iberal

Democrats. This wing of the Party has

generally been

ineffective, 1dth

the excep

t ion

of

Eisenho trer and,

in

a negative way, Rockefeller. t is

this

wing that i s

struggling

for power today. after

the defeat

of Goldwater.

Rocke feller s

ill1paot

on th e Party

in

1960 i s clearly dissected. n the tau

of 1959. Rookefeller

set

out to explore the possibllities of becoming

the

Party

nominee,.

He

was blool


9/12

..

we were Witness

to

th e

effectiveness o f a

convention

tloor

.tight and

the

mariner

in

t1hich the R.ocI eeller

toroes

conducted i t N1:xDn wanted

to

avoid th e tate that

l a t e r befell Goldwater when he opposed Rockefeller o V er the platform.)

The t i ght

culminated

the infamous uCompaot

of F ifth

Avenue.

U

flbioh damaged Nixon s

prestige

n th 1 n his own Party and gave Rockefeller a povlerful voice national

politics.

The authorts a n ~ 3 s 1 s

Hixonts cha.racter i s devastating and

rings

tru.e. He

shows that

Nixon s Calnpaign ha d Uneither philosophy nor structure,

to

t t . no

w o l e

picture either

of

the

man

or

t he f ut ur e

he offered.

.,Nixon s

skills

1 n ~ o l i t 1 c s

lfere enonnous.

his

courage

unquestioned. his endurance substantial. Buli

they were

s k i l l s , courage

an d

enduranoe o f

the s ai l o r ,-rho knollS the tdnds an d c an b ra ve the

storm. and

r e c o g n i ~ e the t i d e. l here

l i a S

missing him. always

t he d ir ec ti on the

navigator

tJ

This lack became more and more apparent once

Kennedy a.nd

ltiXon tiers

n o m 1 n a t e d ~

as

Kennedy

began to gain confidence

an d deVelop

style

an d leadership;

as

Hixon b e-

gan

to reveal his

moodiness,

his inability to rely

on staff

strategists,

and h1s

s t e ~ move tol-lard tIle defensive position.

The TV debates of 19 >

tvere

really

the clirilaX

of the

Calupaign. This is

when

Kenn.e

r

showed the war.,1 0 M ~ U b 1 1 c his

uill1C1g.Gll dElc:i.slnness.

ana st11e. And When

Nixon

sho Vled the public

h1slme tooism.

1t

t vTnsn t t he i ss ue s

t h a t

liGre 11uportantJ

they tferen1t s erious ly discussed. t n s t he pe rsona l it i es

of

th e two men that be-

came the

1ssue

....1Jerhal:lS th e deciding one on ELeotion Day.

Atter

the debates,

the

call1pa.ign became almost colorless and

routine.

an

an t i -

cl1JrJatic round.up of au t he l oo se ends. And then came Election

Day

and victory

tor Kenned1.

A

word

of,mrriing must be ,given to prospective readers of this book. The author

1s obviously biased 10 favor of I ennedy and. the Democratic arty He adm1res Stev.

enson, Humphrey, and Roclceeller perhaps

as

a

natural

Democttat?). for the

ideas

theY hold. But

he does not,

as

ta r

as

I oan

jUdge obscU1 e the Imechz ios o f

the

oampaign

process

nor th e events

that

shaped tfie election.

As

a

reporter. the

author

followed

flas many

or

the men

as possible, both in

travel and in

thought.

n He

has

many quotes from. interviews with. and anecdotes about the seven

men

l.zho sought th e

presidency.

2 s . ~

Pi

~ _ ~

Pre:nSitncz

196

i s a

.fascinating

backstage

view

o f

the

p o l i t .

ical

SCG11e

and

i s

told a narrative style

that

is dral1l.atic. pereepUve and

time

lYe t is not just about th e

presidential

race o f

1960;

i t

i s

about t h e m ul ti tu de

of individual actions and choices both elloouraging

andunpleasant.-that load

t

the making a f a president. t is a picture

of

hO t:T

things

w o r l ~ - w h e t b e r we like 1t

or not.

~ e n o r e BodAY


10/12

- 9 -

P R S U S I O l ~

GIVE rna:.

IT

HURTS

Last month s

issue r s ~ i o n

included

some dire quotations trom

i s

sues

o

the N w .York I 1 ~ r a l d

Tribune

about th e laCi;ot etteo E .varless-ofNew

York City s public programs

n

Welfare,

Education,

and Rent

Control.

The

ci ty s problems

are not

unique.

That something is

basically

wrong

with

the

whole

conoept

taxing those who

work, to provide public assis tanoe

fo r

those

Who

do not.

has now been under

lined

by the recently reported faot that

( WhUe

l ~ e w

York City is n

the

throesot

a

strike

among

Trrelfareworkers an,dis

considering

a city income

tax

to meet

expenses)

Newburgh.1 Jelrl Y o r k ~ has gone

bankrupt.

itA

City Gone

Broke O v ~ r

Weltat-e

tt

reads

the headline over a story b1

Paul.

Weissman i n the ~

Yo,k

Herald TribBlle

or December 13. Three

years

ago. Ne\ l. .

~ 1 I g h

became famous

When

the

then city

manager James

v

tchell,

announced

a

l

..point wel fare code which aimetl a t

eliminating

uchiselers

u

and

at

putting

able-bodied. lfelfare rec1pients to work,

Mr Vleissman

reports

tha t ilthe code,

among other things, put a threE -1Uonth

limi.

t

on

relief

payments;

denied

ass1st

ance to

unwed mothers who bore

i l l eg i t i -

mate children; dell1anded food and rent

vouchers; said

newcomers

to

Newburgh

could collect relief to r only

one week

and insisted

a ll able-bodied men

on re .

l i e f

work

40

hours

a week

tor

t he o1tyt s

building maintenance

department.

All

of

these points were

among

those

declared

Ulegal by the State

Supreme

Court.

Only one provj.sion

the

original code

was sustained--Uphysically a.ble recipi-

ents

were

required

to

report

to

th e

de.

partment. once a mOllth to piok

up their

checks.

u

141tcheU t

s

successor as

city

manager.

Thomas

E.

Rose, s

now faced with

the

tollow1ng contradictions: He tired )0

citY employees n

an

econ01 8Y drive, but

.must hope none of them wind up on wel-

fare. It

He re81izes

that a

sales

tax 1fOuld

destroy

down,townsbOpping, II but s

n the

process o

merging

the citY

S

wel..

ta.re into the

County

program, a

DlOve

which

(at present rates) w ll cause the county

taxes

paid by Newburgll residents

to

rise

substantially. The city

which

could

not

require

able-bodied

Welfare

recipients to

WQrk on

buUding

maintenance 18

fortunate

enough to have an able

..

bodied

Helfare

Commissioner who

is frequently

:Lauded

to r

shoveling snow himself

at

the

City

Home. If

And whUethe caselfOrk supervtsor in New

burgh IS welfare department,

when

asked what

rehabUitatiol1 llork

was being done by h1s

caseworkers, could only answer1twith

a

qui.ok smile, f

sometimes

you have to

t l l

them where

the

unemployment otfice

lar

a t

the same time

the

financial. situa.tion

will

not allow

for

the construction

of

a

new sewage plant.

despite

the

fac t th at

the State Board

of

Health has complained

about the million pounds

t

raw sewage

dumped dally into

the

Hudson

River.

vJha t is the

ngeneralwelfare

fl

an;yway?

The total population of Newburgh has


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Documents

Persuasion 1965 Vol2no1