OCTOBER,1946 305 minoritygroup."Thefateofsmalminoritygroupsinthe SovietUnionisnotthatofhonorsandpublication. Butthemenwhocondemntheory,stillrealizethattheory isvaluableasawindowdressing.Theywerenot,forexample, wilingtoexposeLysenko's epigone Lamarckismtothegive- and-takeofaninternationalcongress.Thereceptionmight notbefavorable;thedelegatescouldnotbeforcedtokeep oneeyeontheagenda,theotherontheLubianka. Thereisoneotherreasonwhyatotalitarianbureaucracy wouldliketobelievethattheefectsoftheenvironment mightbeinherited.Perhapswecanalmostseethehopeful gleaminthebureaucrat'seye—itwillbeonlynecessaryto conductonepurge,eliminatetheenemiesthatbelongtoa singlegenerationortwo.Onceanentirepopulationcanbe broughtupinblindworshipoftheleader,thechildrenwill growupdocilecreaturesofthestate.Anditmustberememberedthatalthroughthetwentiesandthirties,thesingleprize jewelofRussiansciencewasthe"conditionedreflex"ofPavlov,amethodbywhichgrowlsandpurrsinthegovernment prescouldbeexpectedtocreatedesiredactionsinthe population. Butthereisonefundamentaldiferenceinlyingabouthistory,orpolitics,economics,andart,andinlyingabout science.Inlyingabouttheformertopics,theresultsarenot immediatelyfataltolargenumbersofpeople.Butscientific factscannotbeignoredanddistortedwithoutrunningan immediateandpracticaldanger.Whenhistoryisinvented, onlythedeadareslandered,onlythelivingsubjectedtofalse ideas.Liescanbepileduponliesindefinitely.Butwhenthe factsofgeneticsareignoredinacountrywitharapidlyexpandingpopulation,somebodyisgoingtostarve. AccordingtoSimpson,Lysenko'striumphmeantthatthe carefuly-conductedplantbreedingexperimentsofVavilov havebeenabandoned.Instead,theagriculturalexperiment stationsareconcentratingupongraftingexperimentsinorder tochangethefundamentalnatureofplants.Worldgenetics andRussiangeneticscannotbebothright.Chancesarethat weneedmerelytositbackandwaitfortheopeningblastin Pravda followedbymonthsofdetaileddenunciationwhich willremoveLysenkofromtheRussianscene. GEORGMANN PERISH-THE-THOUGHTDEPT. TheNewPostwarPMyou'veheardtalkedaboutwill beamore complete--anda better,stronger—PMthanwe'veeverbeenable togetoutbefore. It will bemorelikePMthanPMitself! —editorialbyRalphIngersol in"PM,"May6. ATLAST—AREVOLUTION! Unnoticedin the steady flow ofEuropeanpolitical crises, the FrenchConstituentAssemblyhasadopted,withoutdebateoropposition, a lawwhichends all government-regulatedbrothelsnext October. . . . This is averitablerevolutioninFrenchattitudes. WorldoverPressreport,July17 ORWELL,YOUCAN'THAVEEVERYTHING! TheTabungasesarebloodandnervepoisons. . . .Exposuretoa highconcentrationcausesinstantdeath. It iscapableofpenetrating theskinandcausingdeathbysystemicpoisoning. . . . Thedisad- vantagesof thisnewgasareseveral: it canbeeasilywashedor removedfromtheskinwithnodanger ifdonepromptly;contaminated surfacesareeasilycleaned. . . . —HansonW.Baldwinin"N.Y.Times,"July5. PROGRESSINCOLOMBIA Withunprecedentedspeed,theColombiangovernmenthasbeen drivingthrough a significantset of social lawswhichpromiseto aidthemassesintheireverydaylife. . . .Anotherbasiclawobliges everycitizentovote in all electionsundervariouspenaltieswhich include,insomecases,imprisonment. WorldoverPressreport,July17. BibliotecaGinoBianco Comment TheSeamen's ThegreatestmaritimestrikeinU.S. Strike h i s t o r y endedonSeptember12.Forthe wekitlasted,hardlyanAmerican-flag shipmovedoutofanyU.S.port.Some90,000membersof AFLmaritimeunionsweredirectlyinvolved,buttherefusal everywhereoftheCIOmaritimeunionsaswelasthetugboatmenandlongshorementocrosspicketlinesbroughtthetotal workersidletosome500,000.Therewasnoviolence;neither theshipownersnortheGovernmentmadeanyatempttosail thestruckships;"token"picketlinesofoneortwomento apierweresuficienttoclosedownalloperations.Whenone adsthatitwasastrikeagainsttheGovernmentandthatit endedincompletevictoryfortheunions,onemightconclude thatitwasofenormouspoliticalsignificance.Itwas,butnot intheclass-strugglesense.Ratherinthesamewaythatthe businesscommunity'soffensiveagainstOPAissignificant:as partoftheclashbetween"freeenterprise"capitalismand Statecapitalism. EarlyinJuly,thetwoAFLunionstheSeafarers'Interna- tionalUnion(SIU)andtheSailors'UnionofthePacific (SUP)—negotiatedanewwagescalewiththeshipowners; thisscalewashigherthanthenewscaletheCIOmaritime unionshadgotenafewweeksearlier.Theshipownersthen joinedtheunionsinaskingtheWageStabilizationBoard (WSB)toapprovethenewscale.TheWSBistolaborwhat theOPAistobusiness:aGovernmentagencythatissupposedtoholddownprices(inthiscase,thepriceoflabor)so astopreventinflation.OnAugust24,theWSBruledthat itwouldapprovewagesfortheAFLunionsuptothelevel obtainedbytheCIOunions,butnohigher.WhentheWSB stoodpatonthisruling,thestrikewascaled. U.S. Laborand The strikewasnovelinthatthe "FreeEnterprise" employers,aftertheirlobbyistsin Washingtonhadunsuccessfuly triedtogettheWSBtopermitthepaymentof higher wages, stoodfirmlybehindthestrikersthroughoutthestrike.What unitedcapitalandlaboragainsttheGovernmentwasthe factthattheideologyofbothinthiscountrystillismore "FreeEnterprise"than"Statist."Thesailorswereproudthat theygottheirwagerisewithoutanyhelpfromtheState;and althemoreindignantwhentheStatetriedtotakeitaway. "Wenegotiateddirectlywiththeshipoperatorstherewas noGovernmentinthepicture," declaredJohnHawk,ofthe SIU."Theboard'srefusaltosanctionlegitimately-wonin- creasesthrowsthewholethingout.""Thistypeofaction,if alowedtocontinue,"warnedtheSIUjournal,willdestroy freecolectivebargaining,andatthesametimefosterdangerousGovernmentcontrolofunionsandindustry." WhileJohn L.Lewis,thegreatestFreeEnterpriserofthemall,rumbled thathehadadvisedtheAFL"towithdrawfromthateconomic boar'snestthatcalsitselftheWageStabilizationBoard." Theboar'snestwascertainlyinatoughspot.If itpermited thenewrates,howcoulditdenyotherincreases,whichit foresawwouldbedemandedatonce,beginningwiththeCIO maritimeunions?Itsfunctionwouldthenbemeaningless.But ontheotherhand,asChairmanWirtzoftheboardhadad- mitedonJune29,theGovernment'swagestabilizationpolicy wasdirectlylinkedtoitspricestabilizationpolicy.OPAis hardlyabadjokeanymore;realwagesareestimatedtohave declinedbetween10and20%(dependingonthepoliticsof
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