90 p o l i t i e s perfectionseemedcurablewithpolitics.Hetriedtocure economicswithpolitics.Butpoliticssuddenlyrevealed thatitwastainted.Hetriedtocurethetaintofpolitics withmorals.Now,moralsisbecomingtainted,andhe threatenstofumigatemoralswithreligion. In thisway, wecanseeadialecticalevolution. Aonemanrevolution isgradualyturningintoaonemanreligion. Writingin PartisanReview, August1940,DwightMacdonaldstated:"Onlyifwemeetthestormyandterrible yearsaheadwithscepticismanddevotionscepticismtowardsalltheories,governmentsandsocialsystems;devotion totherevolutionaryfightofthemassesonlythencanwe justifyourselvesasintelectuals."Hemoreorlessbegan hiscareerofdevotedscepticismandscepticaldevotionby tryingtodevelopatheoryofhisown.Thistheory,briefly, heldthatfascismwasanewsocialsystem,productively superiortocapitalism,butreactionary.Onthebasisofhis theory,thescepticofalltheories,interpetedthewarand madepredictions.Heclaimedthatunlessthegovernments oftheUnitedStatesandEnglandbecameeitherfascistor socialist,theywouldbeincapableofdefeatingHitler. In PartisanReview, August1941,hepublishedjointlywith ClementGreenberg,10 PropositionsontheWar. Oneof hisconclusionsmadetheflatprediction:". . . thetruth isthatthedemocraciescannotdefeatHitlerbyforce.They cannotgetcloseenoughtoslugitoutevenassumingthat theyarebeteratsluggingthantheGermans.Andsofor yearstocometheymustcontentthemselveswithlong-range attrition,warfarethatexhaustsandkillsbutdoesnot decide."Anyonecanmakemistakes.ButMacdonald,so adeptincrowingwhenothersmakemistakes,doesn'tever trytocorrecthisownmistakes.Hedoesn'tfollowthrough hisscepticismofalltheoriesbyapplyingit tohisown. Afterformulatinganewtheoryoffascism,hedidnot developit,testit,applyittoeventsastheseunfolded.The factthathedidn'tdothiscastsacuriouslightonhischarge thatMarxistsdon'tspeakuponpaperbecausetheirposition ispresumablyinadequate.Macdonaldspeaksonpaper: buthedoesn'tspeakonpaperabouttheclaimsandpre- dictionshemadeinthepast.Thisoffersobjectiveproof towarrantthestatementthatheisnottheoreticalyserious. Andsincethisisso,heisbraveandfoolhardytodemand thatotherstakehimseriouslyandanswerhimwhenhe thinksthathehasdiscoveredsomeimportanttheoretical criticismsofMarxism. Additionally,ifreaderswilllookbacktothefounding issueofPOLITICS,theywilldiscoverthatMacdonaldde- claredthathewasissuinganewmagazineinorderto defendsocialism,andtointerpret,monthbymonth,events fromthestandpointofbasichumansalues.(Thisisutterly vague,ofcourse.)Heproposedthatintelectualsmust enterthe"historicprocess."HecriticizedKoestler,remarkingthathecouldnotdiscussKoestler'sspiritualvalues,be- causehedidnotknowwhatspiritandspiritualmeant. In thosedays,Macdonaldthepresentmoralisticcriticof Marxianmaterialismwasaveryveryawkwardmaterialist, himself. I t isnecessarytoremindreadersofthesefacts inhispastnotsolelybecausehehappenstohavechanged hismind. I f onereadshimwhenhewasanawkward Marxist,onereadilydiscoversthatheneverseriouslyworkedthroughMarxistideas.Thus,hisinsistenceonstressing basichumanvalues in hisfoundingstatementabout POLITICS.Anybodycanbelievein"humanvalues,"ver- baly.Thebeliefinhumanvaluesisoneofthestandardized formulaeforretreatfromMarxism. I f thesefactsarekept inmind,acarefulreadingofMacdonald'sinvulnerable anti-Marxismof themomentwillsuggestthathe is Emilbfêugn,sfeeeihteingheneverclearlygrasped. Thiscanfurtherbeatestedtobythefurtherfactthathe hasneverworkedouthiscritiqueofMarxism.Forseveral years,forinstance,hehasbeenincidentaly,casualy,off- handedlydeclaringthatLeninisresponsibleforStalin. Thiscanbeaveryseriousissue.ButMacdonaldhasnever eventroubledtospecifyhowandwhyLeninisresponsible forStalinism.Whenhemakesthischarge,onedoesn'teven knowwhatheistalkingabout.Heraisesquestionsofthis kind,anddoesn'tdealwiththemsothatit ispossiblefor onetojoinissuewithhim,openly,seriously,sharply. In generalthen,thenewmoralityandreligiositywhichheis spreadingacrossthepagesofPOLITICSistheproductofa backgroundofconfusionsandflightychangesofmind. ConcerningPOLITICSasawhole,itisclearthatwithevery passingmonth,thismagazinebecomeslesspolitical. Foundedasanindependentmagazine,itrarelyrevealsany independenceofthought.Aftertwoyears, ithasnot developedarigorousandsystematicanalysisofworld politicalevents,ananalysiswhichwouldopenupperspec- tivesforitsreaders.Generalyspeaking,thepoliticalanalysesofPOLITICShaveveeredbackandforthbetweenaLeft WingNewDealismandanOrthodoxTrotskyism.The editorismoreorlesspoliticalytornbetweenthesecur- rents,andtheypushhimandpullhimbackandforth. POLITICShasoftenprintedusefulinformation,butitisrare thatitknowshowtohandlethisinformation. Itopposed thewar. I t ofersspacetovariouscurrentsofopinion. But,atthesametime, it isacharacterlessmagazine. I t specializesincommentsonandjokesaboutotherpeoples' politics. I t resortstotheeditorialpracticesofbourgeois magazines,theuseofjokes,poems,quotations,fillersand thelike,mainlyitemsofakindwhichsuggestthatother peoplearestupid.Assuch,itisaLeftWing NewYorker. Itsrealspecialtyispoliticalpepsi-cola. It istheprivilege oftheeditortoputoutsuchamagazine.Butanorganso editedlooksslightlyfoolishwhenitsuddenlystartscrowingandchalengingotherstotakeitseriouslyonthehigh- estlevel,toconsideritasexpressinganewtheoreticaltendency,tostopotherworkinordertoansweritsendlessand banalatacksonMarxism.Thisistobestressedespecialy whenwerecallthatPOLITICSsetoutasatruesocialist magazinewhoseeditorputhimselfforthasanunorthodox andspecialycompetentinterpreteranddefenderofMarx. Fromtheverybeginning,hehasadvancedandadvocated socialistideas,hehasbeenMarxistbypresentinganti- Marxistheroestohisreaders. I t seemsasthoughhis notionofthebestwaytounderstandMarxandtounder- standsocialismistoprintthecriticismsofMarxandsocialismwhicharealwaystobegottenfromanti-Marxistsand anti-socialists. In thebeginning,theeditorseparatedhimselffromsuchtendencies.Butwhileseparatinachimself, hedidnotdefendhisownavowedsocialismandMarxism. Now,hehascapitulatedonthesequestions.He and alargenumberof hiscontributorsarewalowingin thehighestmoralsentimentsandthemostblindingcon- fusions.Theyexpresstheirmoralityandtheirconfusion inarticleswhichare,merelylookedatfromthestandpoint ofmethodicalthinking,ajokeifnotadisgrace.Writers ofoccasionalarticlesandbookreviewsnowbloominthe pagesofPOLITICSastheoreticiansandmoralists,almostas LeoTolstoys.Andtheeditor,thatscepticoffiveyearsago, cannotcastevenascepticalglanceatallsuchdevelopments. DwightMacdonaldandmostofhisanti-Marxiststakea moralpositionagainstMarxianwritings.Withthis,they presentthemselvesasmoralymoresensitivethanMarxists. Astatementofthemoraldiferencesinvolvedwillmakethe issueclear. InPOLITICS,then,Marxismisatackedonthemoralplane.
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