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Once the
theory of communism is understood and the history of communism is known,
there should be little difficulty in presenting the facts concerning
communism so that it will be spurned by any individual with humane feeling
and logical mind. It remains true, nevertheless, that most people experience
considerable difficulty.
The president of an
American company trading with foreign countries said to me, "I am
alarmed by the appeal communism has to the students in the countries where
we operate. I wrote to the State Department and asked them to provide me
with the arguments which I could use to show the students why communism is
detrimental to their own best interests. I am very dissatisfied with their
reply. The arguments they giver make sense to me as an American businessman,
but have little relevance to the problems of a student in Venezuela, Turkey,
or Egypt."
Many parents are
confronted with the problem of their bright son or daughter returning from
college and saying something like this, "You know, Mom and Dad,
communism is not so bad after all. Americans are the last ones who should
criticize in the light of their own history of violence and exploitation. I
think you are prejudiced and don’t appreciate the good things communism
has done for the Russians, Chinese, and the underprivileged of the world. I
wish you could listen to Professor Brightmind for a while; he’d set you
straight."
How helpless parents
feel in such circumstances.
There is no need to
feel helpless or inadequate. The revelation of one aspect of communism
should be enough for any intelligent and idealistic student. This is the
potential starvation that hangs like the sword of Damocles over the head of
every citizen of a communist country. The power of communist monopoly is
such that it exercises governmental control by the ability to starve
selectively any citizen upon whom it frowns. This is an awesome power of the
monopoly state. Communism may be defined as government by potential
starvation.
Control By Starvation
I have frequently tried to illustrate this power by the case of Boris
Pasternak, the Russian author, who wrote the book ‘Dr. Zhivago.’ For
this he earned the displeasure of the communist state. I have repeatedly
raised the question of whether he starved to death. For doing this I have
been ridiculed and abused but my arguments have never been answered. I have
never stated that the communists did starve him to death but have insisted
that their system gave them the power to starve him and have questioned
whether they did so. The same power controls all employments, all banks, all
stores, all law courts, and all communications. The plight of an individual
who falls foul of this power is obvious. Once dismissed from his job, he
cannot secure another; if he has savings in the bank, he cannot withdraw
them; he has no prospect of legal redress; he cannot sell his possessions;
and he has no free press to publicize his condition. He retains the freedom
to starve.
A Revealing Incident
Illustrations of the actual use of this power are now coming from the
communist press. The communist press is not given to sensationalism. When a
particular incident is reported, it is usually because it is typical of a
general situation which needs attention. For this reason it is probable that
the following is not an isolated instance:
A United Press International report from
Moscow, published in the Long Beach Press Telegram, Wednesday, February 2,
gives a report by the communist youth newspaper ‘Komsomol Pravda,’ the
organ of the Young Communist League, of how a young girl was driven to
suicide by starvation. The paper told how Galina Ozornina had worked at a
textile factory in the Tadzhikistan capital of Dushanbe when the factory,
finding its plan unfulfilled, ordered her and other girls to work nights.
"Teen-agers are
not allowed to work nights," the paper said. "The factory
administration knew about this law but its plan was failing."
When the girls failed
to show up, the shop foreman, Mrs. E. Chetverikova, went to the girls
dormitory, scolded them and fired Galina.
Galina became caught in
a vicious circle of red tape that ended in her death.
The factory demanded
that she be cleared by the factory library, personnel department and
dormitory before she could collect her pay.
But she could not pay
her dormitory rent until she got her pay. And her internal passport–which
she needed to get a new job–had been taken from her until she paid her
rent.
Galina wandered around
Dushanbe for two months and occasionally crept into the dormitory to sleep.
Eventually she killed herself, and the factory (suddenly magnanimous) bave
her back pay to her family.
Comment
In this particular instance the starvation did no appear to be
deliberate, but how was the girl’s body to know this? A weapon that can be
accidentally discharged can also be deliberately discharged. The plight of
this poor girl was clear. She was dismissed from her job. She was unable to
collect her back pay. She was unable to pay her rent and remain in her
living quarters. She was unable to get a new job since she did not have her
internal passport. Every Soviet citizen needs an internal passport on which
his employment record in written and he must produce it before he can get a
new job. The consequences are clear–starvation and death.
The Communist Party has
the power to do this with any individual in the Soviet Union. Exercise of
this power is seldom necessary since the very knowledge that it exists will
be enough to produce complete obedience in most people. This is communism!
How could any humane and idealistic individual choose it?
No one can deny that
there are many things wrong within the United States. It is impossible to be
satisfied with the present situation with rising crime rates and growing
immorality. In certain areas it is foolhardy to walk on the streets at
night. Nevertheless, individuals are free to devote their lives to changing
these conditions and progress is being made in many areas. Poverty and
racial discrimination are certainly diminishing.
It is possibly true
that, given the opportunity, a majority of the people of the world would
elect to come and live in the United States.
On my first trip to the
United States, the plane carried a revolutionary being deported from
Australia to Canada. He sneered at religion and said, "I am not
interested in God or abstract ideas; I’m interested in food, clothing and
shelter."
I replied, "I will
meet you on your chosen ground. The United States of America has created and
distributed equitably more food, clothing and shelter than any other nation
on earth."
He answered, "I
have to admit you are right."
There is no room for
complacency concerning the problems of society, but, compared to conditions
prevailing under communism, those in America appear heavenly.
The Problem–Human Nature
Since human nature is weak and sinful, there are always problems where
people live together. The presence of evil is the price of freedom. Freedom
depends on choice. There can be no choice to do good unless it is
accompanied by the ability to do evil.
God values human
liberty so highly that He allows evil. Unregenerate human nature will be
motivated by greed, lust, and prejudice. The social consequences are clear.
The communists are
right when they say that the nature of man is at the heart of the problems
of society. They are wrong when they say the nature of man is the product of
economic environmental forces and that man can be regenerated by an enforced
environmental change. God can regenerate man through Christ.
Communism is not the
source of all the ills of society. Many ills existed long before communism
was born and will continue if and when communism is defeated. The problem is
that communism utilizes and compounds these ills and stops the forces of
genuine improvement.
If communism
disappeared tomorrow, great problems would remain; if communism prevails,
all problems will be solved even as death solves all problems of human
illness.
SOBERING NEWS FROM RED
CHINA
In the ‘Peking Review’ of January 21,
1966, we find this ominous report:
"Malayan Representatives Welcomed
"The Chinese Committed for Afro-Asian
Solidarity gave a banquet on January 12 to welcome the Mission of the
Malayan National Liberation League to the People’s Republic of China.
Liao Cheng-chih, Chairman of the Committee, was among those present.
"Speaking at the
gathering, Vice-Chairman Kang Yung-ho of the host organization extended
his greeting to the Malayan mission. He paid high tribute to the Malayan
people and pledged firm support for them in their persistent struggle
against the reactionary rule of the U.S.-British imperialists and their
toadies, and to crush ‘Malaysia’ for national liberation. He said that
the National Liberation League and the liberation army of Malaya, fighting
on various fronts, were dealing powerful blows to the British colonialists
and their flunkeys. ‘The struggle of the Malayan people is part of the
struggle waged by the people of the whole world against U.S.-led
imperialism, colonialism and neo-colonialism,’ he said. ‘The Malayan
people, in the spirit of daring to win, will grow in strength in the
course of their struggle, overcome all obstacles and forge fearlessly
ahead to final victory.’
"P.V. Sarma,
chief representative of the Malayan mission, also spoke. He said that the
National Liberation League of Malaya (including Singapore) was a united
front organization of the Malayan people’s movement at home and abroad,
its aim being the crushing of ‘Malaysia’ and the achievement of real
independence, democracy and peace in Malaya. He said that the Malayan
people had learnt from their own experience that, in order to free
themselves from the rule of imperialism and its puppets, they must meet
counter-revolutionary violence with revolutionary violence and oppose
counter-revolutionary war with people’s revolutionary war. ‘They have
also learnt,’ he added, ‘that a United Front, which is led by the
working class and based on the worker-peasant alliance and which closely
rallies the people of all social strata and nationalities, is another
indispensable factor in achieving final victory over the enemy. Inspired
by the armed struggle of Malaya, a mass campaign is taking shape to bring
about the total defeat of ‘Malaysia’ and the withdrawal of foreign
troops from Malaya. We are confident that we shall triumph because ours is
a just cause.’" (Peking Review, January 21, 1966, Pages 3 and 4)
The Chinese
Communists are planning to create in Malaysia a "civil war"
corresponding to the "civil war" in Vietnam. It would be folly to
take this threat lightly. It took many years of bitter fighting by the
Malayan people, assisted by scores of thousands of British troops to defeat
the previous attack on Malaya waged by a few thousand guerrillas. If the
Malayan Communists had had a neighboring communist country to serve as a
sanctuary, it is doubtful if they could have been defeated. This is one of
the great differences between the present situation in South Vietnam and the
previous conflict in Malaya. The forces in South Vietnam can be constantly
reinforced and replenished from across the border and presently scores of
thousands of troops from North Vietnam are pouring into South Vietnam.
Malaysia borders on
Thialand and Thialand borders on Laos and Cambodia.
Both Laos and Cambodia
are being used to ferry troops and armament to South Vietnam. All
authorities are agreed that a massive attack on Thailand, disguised as a
civil war, is scheduled for this year. If this is successful, Malaysia will
be faced with a communist sanctuary on its border and the threat to its
survival will be multiplied many times.
The Domino Theory
President Eisenhower once used the illustration of a row of dominoes to
show how, if South Vietnam fell, the neighboring countries would fall one
after the other just as each domino would fall as it was knocked down by the
one adjacent to it. Today this "domino theory," as it is called,
has fallen into discredit and is ridiculed by speaker after speaker at
various "teach-ins." It remains an excellent illustration of the
probable consequences of defeat in South Vietnam. The stakes there are very
high. These stakes include the freedom of the people of South Vietnam, and
also the people of Thailand, Malaya, Singapore and ultimately the United
States of America.
The Cancer Analogy
The conflict in Vietnam is not now, and never was a civil war in the
true sense of that term. The true situation can best be illustrated by using
the medical analogy of the means by which cancer spreads. Cancer begins with
what is known as the primary lesion forming in one tissue. This lesion
spreads in two ways: (1) Metastasis, (2) Infiltration.
In Metastasis, a
portion of the primary lesion breaks off and travels by the blood stream to
distant tissues where it settles down and produces a secondary lesion in
that tissue.
In Infiltration, the
cancer cells migrate across the barriers between tissues into adjacent
structures.
Both of these processes are
operative in the situation in Southeast Asia. The primary communist lesion
was established in Russia. It spread by metastasis and infiltration into
China and Vietnam. China and North Vietnam have now become established
communist lesions from which the malignancy is spreading into Thailand,
Malaysia, and other areas.
Cuba is an example of
the establishment of communism by metastasis and the communist lesion in
Cuba is now trying to repeat the process by sending communist personnel
throughout all Latin America to create communist insurrection or "civil
war."
Those who contend that
the conflict in South Vietnam is primarily a "civil war" are blind
to the nature and history of communism.
LET’S ESCALATE THE WAR OF
WORDS
The battle against communism requires words as
well as bullets. If the right words are spoken, the necessity to use bullets
may be avoided. Yet the 1966 BBC handbook on external broadcasting shows how
we are failing in the battle of words. It states, "Cuba (which
has no external broadcasting until 1961, a year after Castro took power) is
now the biggest transmitter to Latin America, with the Soviet Union
second, and the Voice of America a poor third."
THE WORKSHOP
The program of the Crusade for this year is an
ambitious one. Much of our energy will be directed to television programs
which can reach the maximum number of American citizens with the message. In
addition we propose to deliver lectures and provide literature for the
students on as many major college campuses as possible. There will be no
retrenchment in our established programs within this country and throughout
the world.
Our television schedule
is developing. An anti-communism school will be televised over Station WMCT
in Memphis, Tennessee, during prime time from April 25-28. In preparation
for this school a mass public rally will be held in Memphis on Tuesday,
March 22, at 7:30 p.m. featuring Herbert Philbrick, Janet Greene, and
myself.
We are conducting
extensive negotiations with television stations in Los Angeles, St. Louis,
Indianapolis, Milwaukee, and Columbus. We hope to give definite information
shortly. Our vision is for a nationally televised school of anti-communism
before the year is out.
We have changed the
nature of our anti-communism schools. Our current plan is to conduct public
sessions each evening of the week with one hour televised, and during the
day the faculty members will speak on the campuses of universities,
colleges, high schools and seminaries in the area.
The Price Tag
Our program is not only ambitious, it’s expensive. Our minimal need
remains at $50,000 per month and special projects will require additional
funds. One example is the project to provide copies of "You Can Trust
the Communists (to be Communists)" to all servicemen in Vietnam. Since
there are presently 190,000 servicemen, the cost will be great. Like manna
for the Children of Israel, our funds must be gathered every day.
The enemy is coming in
like a flood. Our prayer is that we may be used by the Spirit of the Lord to
raise a standard against him. Your support makes you part of this standard.
MUSICAL COUNTERATTACK
Whenever young people have the opportunity to
hear the anti-communist records of Janet Greene, the response is always most
favorable. One example is this recent letter from the teacher of an eighth
grade class in Louisville, Kentucky.
"I would like to
order twenty-five (25) copies of Janet Greene’s record, The Hunter and
the Bear, two (2) records, Comrade’s Lament, and one (1)
record, Commie Lies, a total of twenty-eight (28) records at 50 cents
each as advertised in your recent newsletter. I bought one of your records, The
Hunter and the Bear, and played it for my eighth grade class in the
public high school where I teach. They really liked it, and the result is
the order I am placing now."
The tragedy is that
most students are constantly hearing songs which downgrade America and
ridicule patriotism and have little or no opportunity to hear popular songs
promoting patriotism and freedom. When they have the opportunity, they grasp
it gladly.
One of the few
anti-communist fold singers, Vera Vanderlaan, of West Newbury, Vermont,
writes: "Schools have proven to be one of the most receptive places for
our message. Many, many students say to us, ‘At long last, some folk music
has a positive American and moral theme. We don’t agree with the popular
anti-America protest songs but we sing them and buy them because that is all
that has been offered to us as fold music.’"
These anti-communist
fold songs do not have the normal channels of distribution open to them.
Your help is needed if students are to hear this message. When enough
students have heard them, the demand will force the record distributors to
sell them. Why not buy records and present them to school teachers and
others who work with young people and local radio stations? Ask the stores
in your area to stock them.
Janet has three records
available: (1) "Commie Lies" and "Fascist Threat," (2)
"Comrade’s Lament" and "The Termites," and (3)
"Hunter and the Bear" and "Inch by Inch." These may be
obtained at 98 cents each, three for $2, and 50 cents each in orders of ten
or more. Note the order form, page 5.
The records of Vera
Vanderlaan may be secured by writing to her at West Newbury, Vermont 05085.
VIETNAM REPORT BY DR.
SLUIS
Joost Sluis, M.D. – Associate Professor of
Orthopedics at the University of California, Vice-President of the Christian
Anti-Communism Crusade.
Dr. Sluis will return
on March 5, and will be available to speak on the subject of his experiences
in Vietnam.
Dr. Sluis writes:
"This tour in Vietnam has been one of the highlight experiences of my
life both medically and in the struggle against communism.
"Medically, I have
personally done skin to skin, two to seven major operations a day, seven
days a week. The total number of major procedures at Can Tho were 315 in
January. I scrubbed in all kinds of general surgical cases as well as
orthopedic. The unusual, by U.S. standards, is an everyday occurrence: Ileal
perforations due to typhoid fever (the ileum is par of the small intestine);
every form of bone and soft tissue tuberculosis; neglected pyogenic
infections especially of the hands (a pyogenic infection is a severe
inflammation); ascariasis (worms), everybody has it; ectopic pregnancies;
and every conceivable type of casualty and compound fracture. The latter
category constitutes about 90 per cent of all admissions and about half of
all patients are orthopedic.
"Our surgical bed
capacity is well over 200, and usually there are two patients per bed plus
assorted family members under each and in the aisles.
"With regard to
the anti-communist struggle, I have made some fruitful contacts for our
Christian Anti-Communism Crusade work. These have been mostly among
Americans but a number are Vietnamese. One of the latter is a Vietnamese
interpreter who lived in Hanoi prior to 1954. She estimates the number of
North Vietnamese refugees in South Vietnam at 1,500,000.
"Just now at 4:30
a.m., believe it or not, I toured the Can Tho market place just below my
room in the former Indo China bank. Already hundreds of people are milling
about and are arriving in every conceivable type of river-going junk on the
Bassat, a tributary of the Mekong River running through the delta.
"These are the
world’s true proletarians; not the industrial type maybe, but certainly
industrious, independent, and individualistic with primary loyalty to the
family. They are good humored and friendly and their life is lived on the
land doing agricultural work. These are the people the Viet Cong is trying
to infiltrate, deceive, terrorize and enslave. How can we expose the
subtleties of communist deception to them unless we understand communism
ourselves?" Signed–Joost.
Knowledge of the nature
of communism by every American serviceman in Vietnam. The book, You Can
Trust the Communists (to be Communists), will give this knowledge. Will you
help us give this book to the servicemen by making a generous contribution?
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