Evening star., 1934-05-27
Can NatiOnalism Be Halted?

do not possess are arming with the
purpose OF compelling reallocstion by
force.
For the nations that constitute the
haVe-nots. their condition is an In
justice which is not to be borne. For
those that are the haves, the, chal-
lenge to their titles is at once Illegal
and immoral. And out of the COL
liSion Of these two dominating reso-
lutions, that to have and to hold and
that to take and to exploit, arises this
great phenomenon Of nationaliSm
today.
But this phenomenon should be
perfectly comprehensive to any Ameri-
can who will put himself first in the
skin Of German or an Italian, who
sees the future as 1t Is If his present
conditions are to endure; and then in
the skin of Frenchman who sees what
his estate will be if the Italian or Ger
man plans are carried out. Above all,
he must see that for both the French
man and his neighbors the issue is
one Of national life or death.
What promise Of equality in pro-
perity. in national opportunity, can
the professional peacemakers hold out
to the German, the Italian or the
Japanese If they will consent to aban-
don their present programs of violence?
Will any nation cede them territories
voluntarily? Ne, obviously not. Will
any state generously open its markets
and resources to them to exploit on
equal terms with its own citizens? No,
certainly not.
Must Fight for Equality.
II Germany, Japan and Italy are to
live as real peoples, not to exist as
subordinate peoples, then they have
got to fight for it.
NationaliSm Is no more than the
expression Of the will Of the lucky
people to keep what they have got
and Of the unlucky to take what they
need. When the peacemakers come
around with the scented soap and
sanitary powders they find themselves
confronted by men for whom their
lives and the lives of their children,
the future Of their people Is at stake.
To tell these people that war is ter
rible is as futile as to tell women
that childbirth is an agony.
Who are the people which are per-
petually preaching peace and eter-
nally seeking to enlist international
support for the existing order? The
American, the British and the French.
But what is the condition of these
three peoples in respect Of land and
resources? Completely satisfactory.
Who are the peoples who are now
proclaiming doctrines OF violence and
change? The japanese, the German
and the Italian-and their material
situation is known. If only you could
persuade the Germans, the japanese
and the Italians to accept the status
quo. the moral nations which are
enjoyment Of their property for all
future time. But II you could per-
suade these three peoples what would
their comparative condition be?
Hypocrisy Is Complete.
Is there any hypocracy at once
more unconscious and more complete
than that which the American, the
Briton or the Frenchman discloses
when he sets out to persuade the
Japanese, the German or the Italian
to be contented with his present un-
equal state because war is wicked and
destructive? None Of the latter de-
sires war, but none can discover any
other means Of escaping from condi-
tiOns which In his eyes are more ter
rible than war itself.
The peacemakers won't admit even
to themselves that nationaliSm Is the
consequence Of q system and not of q
transitory state of mind They won't
recognize that the German, the Japa-
nese and the Italian have q just and
unanswerable grievance against the
existing order. They start with the
assumption that whatever is, is right
And 1t Is for them. But not for the
other fellow. Actually the campaign
Of Americans, Britons and French
men for peace is campaign of the
property owners to protect their real
estate titles.
But you can't get peace in the world
by an endeavor to perpetuate between
nations Of relatively equal strength a
situation Of absolute and undisguised
inequality. Those that have must be
prepared to fight, because those that
have not in the long run will prefer
war, no matter how terrible. to IN
equality. And the nationafism of
both is. in reality, the expression of
the same spirit.
The only conceivable fashion. in
which you can keep the Italian or
German within his present limits or
bring the Japanese back to their for
mer boundaries is by force: But the
sole fashion in which the German or
the Italian can change his condition
is by force. But the right of one set
OF peoples to hold what they have
denies to another the right to possess
the very minimum requisite to ma
tional well-being.
Expression Of Instinct.
Nationalism is the expression Of the
instinct Of peoples to live Today one
set of peoples feels quite justly that
its right to live Is threatened by the
Il = - ID