The Lexington advertiser. [volume] (Lexington, Miss.) 1904-1985, 1951-05-24
Americas Reel Secret Weapon

America today is fightig two wars-a limited one in
Korea and a war for the minds of men.
The theological war in many ways is more important
than the war of bullets. Ideas do not die but men are
mortal.
It is another way of saying - the pen is mightier
than the sword.
In this war of words, knowledge, like charity, must
begin at home.
To counter Russian propaganda with Voice OF
America broadcasts to Europe is good; but can we ask
others to believe about America what many OF us refuse
to learn?
We cannot afford ignorance about our way OF lie.
II Americans refuse to understand free enterprise, if they
fail to abide by the spirit as well as the letter OF our sociai
institutions, if - through apathy they finch IN tneH
resolve to uphold the cause of freedom-can we expect our
Allies who look to us for leadership to understand or to De-
lieve our ideals?
We enter now on a period of sizeable and sustained
military spending. This might soon reduce consumption Q
consumer goods. might require greater mass output per
manhour and obligate more people to work longer ana haro-
Or. Some temporary adjustments in standards OF living may
thus result in order to concentrate more OF the available
productive capacity for defense, particularly during the
transition period. Such conditions could arouse a measure
Of discomfort with free enterprise institutions.
For this reason, and because we can never sell to
others ANYTHING on which we are not ourselves sold, we
must be a nation of informed people.
Once informed, knowledge is contagious. It imbues
With confidence and generates an eagerness to impart that
xnowledpe to others. It does not permit one to remain ST.
lent when faced with a barrage of communist propaganda.
Begin by testing your knowledge OF your country
and its institutions:
Do you believe that most of the income OF a
corporation goes to "the boss in huge salaries while
workers receive a dsproportionate share?
Do you think the free enterprise system is over
burdened with debt, and sooner or later will crumble
of its own weight?
Do you think the Soviet has a comparable per
capita national income?
Do you think advertising makes goods expensive
while in Russia Advertising is unnecessary and goods
are therefore cheaper?
Do you think the communists believe in farm
ownership for the small man?
Do you believe that increasing chronological eff
ficiency eventually causes an incurable unemployment
disease?
If YOU answer Eyes to these questions Ito which
mo" would be the correct answer) you are in a fair way
of being a "fal guy for Soviet propaganda. You need
facts about Russia and about your own country too. Get
the facts! Compare both systems! Defend the American way
Of life. Become impervious to the subtle barbs of prOpa-
ganda that weaken loyalty!
AS to communism, most of our arguments against it
are shallow hangovers from the World War II propa-
ganda against Nazism. These arguments fail to note one
difference in the two totalitarian ideologies. The commu-
mist challenge to free society, unlike the Nazi threat, is a
double-edged weapon. Soviet propaganda is synicalIy
nationalistic. 1t operates under a camouflage OF noble
humanitarian and equaltarian banners. It it were not so
disguised, and as obvious as Nazi Imperialism was, it
would fool fewer people. The stubborn power of the COM
munist movement is in it's subtle duality. It's prime OBJ
jective is to defend the Soviet while all the time piousIy
preaching a belief in a better day for mankind.
For example, in countries where land reform is tar
DIV and lags behind social needs, the communist promises
to break up large estates for the benefit of the small
farmer.
Actually, has communism ever stood for the private
ownership of land? In Russia, land owners were "Kulaks,'
and have been long since "liquidated." The Russian pea
SAINT hated the landlord who exploited him. The Commu-
mist held out as bait to the mujik a promise of owning his
own land. Once the peasant took this bait, allied himself
with the Red conspirators or stood by idly while the So
viets take over, he was trapped. He found that he had come
under the heel of a tough, ruthless, unfinching tyranny
and there was no turning the clock back. The peasants OF
China now know what this is, and this same fate may yet
befal farm workers of other Asiatic countries. The land
ownership bait entices, the trap is there, and the Com
munist waits to spring it on the trusting, the naive and