Toledo union journal. [volume] (Toledo, Ohio) 1942-current, 1945-02-23
On The
Beam
TOUCHY

many, but a few-have taken
to chiding me for the vigor
with which 1 berate the Com
munists in this column.
This Loneliness about criti-
cism of the Commies springs,
/ am sure, from a vague fear
that good folks will interpret
my blasts at the Comrades as
an attack on the nobler prin-
ciples of radicalism for which
the Stalinists once stood.
Let us bring this fear into
the light, the better to see it.
The idea under this fear,
which has been tenderly and
deliberately nourished by the
Commies for many years, is
that any person who says un-
kind things about the CP can
not possibly be either a pro-
gressive or a democrat. In
other words, if you disagree
with the Comrades about any,
thing at all, the fact of your
disagreement is evidence of
your reactionary character.
Of course, this sounds like
something out of the dark
voodooism by which the Com
mics seek to make it appear
that theirs is the only pos
sible political faith by which
man may reach the good life.
NOBLE ORIGIN
l would be the last to deny
that the idea of Communism
sprang from a noble origin.
The facts of history show that
Marx, Engels, Lenin and
others did aspire TO lead the
masses to a social order of
brotherhood, peace, freedom
and abundance.
In fact, it can be truthfully
said that Communists are to-
day firmly convinced that the
tactics they are employing
will take us to the good life.
But, while l will cheerfully
admit that l believe that the
Comrades think they are do
ing the right thing, they will
positively not say the same of
me-and, to my mind, this re-
veals the basic dishonesty of
their political code of ethics.
TWO FACTORS
l think that the dishonesty
of the Communist concept of
political ethics stems from
two factors.
First, it was decided long
ago by the CP master minds
that it did not matter If they
did, bad thing today so long
as they did it for the purpose
of implementing the accom-
plishment of a good deed to-
morrow. In other words, so
long as the good life is your
goal, you need not be queasy
about doing things today that
presumably will be outlawed
after the good life is attained.
In even blunter terms, it
does not matter if you lie,
cheat, defraud and deny dem
ocratic rights to those with
whom you disagree-so long
as you think that you are
doing these things for the pur-
pose of achieving a social or
der in which it is intended
that these evils will be abol-
ished.
I am not putting words in
the mouth of the CP by as
cribing this code to it; for
the Commies themselves will
admit that they operate on
this basis.
POWER IN RUSSIA
Secondly, since acquiring
political power in Russia, the
Communists have had to de-
fend the fatherland of their
faith against the intrigues of
a capitalist world; and so
their participation in world
politics has been conditioned
by their belief that deals,
double-crosSes and duplicity
are okay if employed in the
defense of the Soviet Union.
Now we find the Comrades
in this country endorsing cap
italism, selling out workers
Gas they did in the Ward
strike), supporting a labor
draft and otherwise sabotag-
ing social progress all be-
cause they think that this is
the way to make Russia
strong enough to lead the
world to the good life.
/ do not blast the Commies
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