OCTOBER,1946 323 anumbingboredom,thisten-pagesurveylacksbothideasand information.Asananalysisofagreathistoricalphenomenon, itisasincisiveandobjectiveasoneofthe"talkstoliberals" whichMr.EdwardL.Bernays,thewel-knownpublic-relationscounselor,foolishlypays TheNewRepublic torunon itsinsidefrontcover.(Isay"foolishly,"althoughitisaword notgeneralyassociatedwithMr.Bernaysatleastnotinmone- tarymaters,becausehiscopyisasjournalisticallyvaluableas theWinocour-Youngjob,andhecouldprobablygetitinfor freeifhetalkedtoMr.Bliven.)Thestufyofficialeseinwhich thearticleiswriten---alowdialectinventedtosayaslittle aspossibleinasmanywordsaspossibleshouldindicateto anyonewiththeslightestearforlanguagethatitsauthors (oneofwhom,incidentaly,is TheNewRepublic's regular Londoncorrespondent)areinterestedinconcealingratherthan communicatinginformation.Thosewithnoearforstylemay beconvincedbythefactthatintenpagesofprinttheauthors foundnospaceforevenasentenceontheLaborGovernment'sactivitiesinGreece.Tobescrupulouslyfair,theword "Greece"(andnomore)doesappeartwice,viz:onpage442 ("Greece,Indonesia,Iran,India,EgyptandPalestinehave benmajorcentersofconcern.")andonpage444("Ifthe governmenthasbeenthetargetofatacks,evenbyitswarm- estsupporters,overPalestine,GreeceandSpain. . .").The latter,bytheway,istheonlyreferencetotheGovernment's Spansihpolicy. Theeditorsofsuchjournalsas TheNewRepublic have waxedverymoralistic,intheirday,overthevenalityofthe commercialpress. I don'tseriouslyaccusethemoftaking moneyforthisarticle,butIdosuggestthatcorruptionisnot justamoneymater,andthattoprintsuchawhitewashof one'sideologicalfriendsisjustaslowasto"goeasy"onbig advertisers. "SurveyofJapan'sDefeat,"byArdathWalterBurks. FarEasternSurvey,August14,1946. AsummaryaccountoftheUnitedStatesStrategicBomb- ingSurveywhichexaminedthecausesforJapan'sdefeat.The Surveycametoseveralinterestingconclusions: (1)"It issurprisingtolearn,fromSurveyevidence,that thetotalitarianstatesdidnotenterthewartotallymobilizedin theeconomicsensedespitethedictatorialpowerwhichmade itpossibletodoso.. .long-rangeeconomicplanningandcompletemobilizationforaprotractedwarweredelayed,asinthe caseofGermany,untilitwastoolate."Infact,thesuccess ofearlymilitaryoperationshamperedtotaleconomicmobili- zationuntilafterthelate1942defeats.This,writesBurks, wasdueto"inadequaterealizationofrequirementsandnotto inherentlimitationsoftheeconomy." (2).TheairatackslaunchedagainstJapanwereevenmore deadlythaniscommonlysupposed."Theattackwasmore concentratedintimeandthetargetareasweresmalerand morevulnerable.Intheaggregate,104,000tonsofbombs weredirectedatsixty-sixurbanareas,inwhichsomeforty percentofthebuilt-upareaswasdestroyed.Approximately thirtypercentoftheentireurbanareaslosttheirhomes. . . TotalciviliancasualtiesinJapanwereapproximately806,000, ofwhich333,000werefatalities. Thesecasualtiesprobably exceededJapan'scombatcasualties. Approximately 185,000 of thetotalcasualtiesreportedlyoccuredduringtheinitialat- tackonTokyoofMarch9,1945." (3)Theatombcrmb,forallthetalkof itssavinglives"in Melongrun"wasmilitarilysuperfluous. Victoryhadalready benachieved."Hiroshimamerelyhastenedthereluctant politicaldecision."Beforeasingleatombombwasdropped, BibliotecaGinoBianco theeconomyofJapanwascompletelycrippled:steelproduc- tionwasattwenty-fivepercentofcapacity;railtransportationatfiftypercent. (4)WhatdelayedthesurenderwasnotJapan's"spirit," butratherthecumbersomeandinefficientbureaucraticapparatusbywhichthenationwasruled.Peacefeelerstheir existencedeniedatthetimebytheU.S.wereputoutin May,1945,throughRussia.Buttheoutdatedandclumsy feudal-bureaucraticgovernmentmachinecouldnotreact rapidlyenough;inthewordsoftheSurvey:"Thetimelapse betweenmilitaryimpotenceandpoliticalacceptanceofthe inevitablemighthavebeenshorterhadthepoliticalstructure ofJapanpermittedamorerapidanddecisivedetermination ofnationalpolitics." Fromthisdry,soberoficialreportthenatureofmodern warfareemergesclearly:anautomaticmachine-processwhose courseeventhetopleaders,letalonethecommonpeople,are abletoaffectverylittle(Tolstoy'sWar andPeace ismoreto thepointtodaythanever.)Thepeoplearethechiefvictims ofthisprocess,anditisabsurd—aswelasunjust to talk abouttheir"responsibility"and"warguilt." THEODOREDRYDEN DiggingattheRoots,or StrikingattheBranches? "Icannotpraiseafugitiveandcloisteredvirtue, unexercisedandunbreathed,thatneversaliesout andseesheradversary,butslinksoutoftherace, wherethatimmortalgarlandistoberunfor,not withoutdustandheat." (JohnMiltonin"Areopagitica") "Theessenceofreactionarypoliticsistotryto getpeopletobehaveinaclasssocietyasthoughit wereaclasslesssociety,i.e., tostop'playing politics.'" (DwightMacdonaldinthefirstissueofthis magazineonly two-and-a-halfyearsago) HUXLEY'S TimeMustHave Astopclosesuponascene inwhichtheyoungmystic'sfather,unabletomake senseoutofaworldindecay,askshissonSebastian: "Andwhatistobedoneaboutit?"Sebastiangoestotheloudspeakerthatisblaringnewsofthefrightfulturmoilandchaos oftheworldandsays:"Onecaneithergoonlisteningtothe newsandofcoursethenewsisalwaysbad,evenwhenit soundsgood.Oralternativelyonecanmakeupone'smindto listentosomethingelse."Andthenhepusheshisfatherinto anotherroomwheretheycannotheartheloudspeakeranymore.. . DwightMacdonaldandthewritersofthe"NewRoads" serieswanttoshutofftheradio,theywanttoescapefrom theuglynoiseofaworldinagonyanabsurdandterrifying worldwheremilionsaredyinginsqualor,wheremilionsare sickandfrightened,aworldwheregoodishorriblytaintedby
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