Evening star., 1942-09-16
Dangerous illusions

Dangerous Illusions
In his recent address stressing the
Importance of recognizing the fact
that this war is the real thing,
played for keeps" Ambassador Grew
was urging the people and the Gov
ernment Of this country to rid their
minds of the illusions which are
threatening us with military defeat
Just how we have been, and are
being, handicapped by muddy think
ing can best be illustrated by looking
back over the past year or two and
appraising the things we believed in
then when measured against the war
picture as we see it today. This is
not merely a matter of second
guesslng"-we must recognize these
past mistakes to measure the cor
rectness of our present attitude.
1t was not so long before Pearl
Harbor that we were told we could
have guns and butter, too. The
people believed it. They believed
that our social gains could be pre-
served, because every one said so.
We were going to superimpose our
military program on our normal in
dustrial establishment so that there
would be plenty of everything-mu-
nitions as we'll as washing machines.
And all of this was going to be done
in a forty-hour week, because ex-
perience had shown, it was said, that
men could not work longer hours
and retain their efficiency.
We have gotten over most of those
illusions by. now, but we believed
them at the time. And, that being
the case, it is not surprising that
our enemies believed them, too-and
jumped to the conclusion that we
would never be ready to fight.
This obviously was the background
that Ambassador Grew had in mind
when he said that we have been
challenged by people (the Japa-
nese) who have been hypnotized into
believing that democracy weakens
those who possess it, that a high
standard of living weakens those who
enjoy it, that peace and the love of
peace weaken those who cherish
them" Were our enemies wrong in
holding these beliefs? Mr.. Grew
implies his conviction that they were,
but the military record should give
us some pause on this score.
The Japanese have not enjoyed
democracy, a high living standard,
nor even entertained love of peace.
But, with greatly inferior resources,
they have gained more by conquest
in less time than any other modern
nation. They may lose it all in the
end, but 1t is foolish to ignore or to
minimize what they have been able
to accomplish.
One OF our most popular present.
day convictions is that somehow
free" men will always Outright and
outproduce those who have no indi-
vidual freedom. But 1t is dangerous
Just to take this for granted and to
assume, because we are free, that
ultimate victory is inevitable. France
was free nation. The British are
free, too, but after four years OF
preparation for war their record as
a whole is not impressive. On the
other hand, the RussianS were not
free, but we hail them today as the
one United Nation which has been
able to meet the full force Of Ger
man military might and still survive.
In this country, after nine months
Of adverse fighting, 1t is doubtful
that we have yet looked the facts in
the face. Mr.. Grew urges US to stop
groping" Our production leaders
plead with men to stop strikes, to
work harder, to give up Monday lay
offs and weekend holidays. There
are no strikes and no lay-offs in the
enemy countries; they are not trying
to maintain the living standards of
the pressure groups; they are not
waiting until after an election to
draft the young men and the men
with dependents. They are fighting
the war, in deadly earnest, with
everything that they have, and they
are winning it. We will not begin
to defeat them, in any important
sense, until we discard the last OF our
illusions and make up our minds to
fight harder than they are fighting,
both on the battlefronts and at home.
We are not going to win just because
we are free men, who believe in
democracy and the ways of peace.
Freedoms Bnrd