Evening star., 1942-07-12
Allied War Aims Serve to Spur
Axis On in Fight for Victory
Prospects of Postwar Destruction as Political
Forces Solidify Bern.Rome.
Toxic Alliance
By Felix NJ oriey.

for whom they have never felt either
respect or cordiality.
The suppression of Japan, the humili-
alton of Italy and the debasement of
Germany may in each case be wholly
iustiiable, desirable, even essential. But
the point at issue is that We can scarcely
expect many nationals of the Axis ma
tions to view 1t that way. 1t follows
that our war aims. as so far outlined,
have efficiently served to unite the Jap
anese, Italians and Germans behind
their respective governments, even
though many of our enemies undoubt-
edly dislike these governments as much
as we do.
Some of the unexpected Axis strength
is undoubtedly attributable to our evi-
dent intention to dictate the peace along
such lines as are from our viewpoint fair
and reasonable. An equally potent
source of power may be found in the
Spartan life and drastic self-discipline
In which the people of these economi-
cally deficient nations have been
schooled, by grim necessity as much as
3y totalitarian indoctrination.
PrivatiOn Helps Endurance.
1t has long been our somewhat dubious
boast that the American standard of
living. measured largely in terms OF
available luxuries is far superior to that
of the average Japanese, Italian or
German. To protect our workers against
such "sweated labor" has long been q
cardinal point in American tariff policy.
nv~I1 aefo
though we might have remembered 1t
from our own early history, Is that pri-
vations themselves provide capacity to
endure and achieve which is not meas
ured by the salaries Of movie stars, by
the normal output of pleasure cars or by
the distribution Of telephones.
1t was on the German shortage Of raw
materials that most Of our calculations
of an early Nazi collapse were based. If
we had been less pleasure loving and
sybaritic ourselves we might have real
lied that in the very deficiencies Of
German, Italian and Japanese economy
lie the greatest reserves of Axis strength.
We might have earlier realized that
| however brutal the Nazi schooling 1t has
turned out generation which does not
| merely talk self-sacrifice, but also prac-
tices and glories in it.
Thus we have voiced war aims which
encourage our opponents to fight to the
| bitter end and have at the same time
| placidly assumed that the very factors
which make them tough will somehow
lead to their speedy collapse. This
attitude on cur part has been called
complacency. Perhaps stupidity would
be more accurate description.
We Have Refused to Learn.
Our propagandists, moreover, have
mistakenly refused to admit that we can
learn anything from our enemies. Their
objectives have been uniformly depicted
| as the epitome Of all that Is vile, while
it is all but fifth-column to suggest that
here and there our practice has failed
to conform with precept. The contrast
| Is justified If we remember that it has
dangers. For the armor Of perfection.
| as seen in the mirror Of seit-esteem, may
seem far more impervious than is actu-
| ally the case.
The frequent satirization OF Hitler as
a paper hanger" bearing the slightly
COAAA4C udAlAC "a 0SAlNhCA6A uDCi, ID u
| case In point. Under the system which
| we fight to defend paper hanger Is for
that reason no less honorable than Is q
college president.
| BY traditional American standards the
one achievement for which we should
honor Hitler Is his self-accomplished
rise from obscure and socially question:
able origins That this Is instead cause
| of ridicule is in itself trifling matter
But If the underlying arrogance evinced
| were to become habitual and to be
deemed desirable type of propaganda
it would give grounds for real anxiety.
| 1t Is scarcely coincidence that the per-
sistence of an attitude Of extreme self
esteem has so far, for the United Nations,
been paralleled by an almost unbroken
sequence OF serious military reverses.
And If it Is fair to find relationship
between our bland assumption Of moral
| superiority and our apparent inability
to demonstrate military efficiency. then
the time for change in our methods Of
psychological warfare would seem to be
| overdue.