RADICAL BUT NOT COMMUNIST

New Zealand Listener, Volume 10, Issue 241, 4 February 1944, Page 6

RADICAL BUT NOT COMMUNIST

L/E published last week the first of two articles for "Foreign Affairs,’ by

Barbara

Ward

foreign editor of "The Economist," in which she developed

the argument that although Young Britain is radical, it is not Communist. Here is her second and concluding article.

HEN they talk of control, quite a number of young people are thinking not only of State control but of popular control. How do we protect ourselves against the bureaucrats who are supposed to be serving us but may very well make the apparatus of the State their private property? This is a problem which worries the young intellectuals more than the average run of young men and women. It has been crystallised into a phrase coined, I believe, by Stephen Spender after a lot of experience with youth in the National Fire Service. The phrase is "We and They"-we, the people, and they, the government, the boss class, the ruling clique. It epitomises the drift in democracy towards passive citizenship and the dependence of great masses of people on small active groups in the parties, in business, in local government, in the co-operatives and in the trade unions who do the governing while the Test are content to play follow-my-leader. If this account of young opinion in Britain seems somewhat confused, that is in part at any rate because it reflects the uncertainties that exist in young people’s minds. The remarkable thing is not that the outlines are foggy, but that on the whole the substance is as clear and unanimous as it is. I think it is safe to say that 80 per cent of the young people between 20 and 30 want roughly the same programme, and that the main points in it have been mentioned. This unanimity ought to breed confidence and ‘hope. So far, it has not done so. The existence of a uniform body of ideas is at once the most encouraging yet in many ways the least important aspect of young opinion in Britain to-day. "Between the idea and the reality falls the shadow." Young people do not know how they are going to see their idealism translated into practical action. The Leaders Are "They" The first obstacle is enormous ignorance of how the present system, works. ABCA officials have been astonished over and over again to find men and women ignorant even of their most ordinary rights as citizens. There is no clear picture of the structure of government or of how the ordinary man can insert himself into it. There is equal ignorance about Factory Acts, town planning legislation, the health services, the civil service, what the Beveridge plan really means. It is hard for people with education and experience to realise what a brake on action the feeling is that you don’t know the ropes, that you are likely to make a

fool of yourself, and that the whole business is so complicated that you had best keep out. This bewilderment, of course, feeds the "we-they" feeling. "They" are the know-alls, the people who manipulate the system, the men with educated accents, the trade union official who understands the regulations, the manager who quotes scientific formulae, the Labour Exchange official who knows Subsection 2 Paragraph B3 by heart. Men and women can go through life constantly if subconsciously frustrated by the sense of being run by other people in a world that is somehow unaccountable. This sense develops easily into active hostility to "sinister vested interests." It is particularly strong in the Army, where the completely undifferentiated military life makes the men hyper-conscious of discipline and the running of their lives by the "brass hats."" When their officers are incompetent, or when reforms of which they vead in Picture Post or the Daily Mirror take months to be put into effect, the sense of frustration and cynicism tends to swamp other more hopeful or co-opérative reactions. Again and again in ABCA discussions, the men’s attitude is "Oh, yes, we want such and such a reform, but ‘they’ will jolly well see we don’t get it." "They" is not often analysed very carefully; but the dominant figure is undoubtedly the boss class in industry. "Vested Interests’ --the insurance companies believed to be fighting the Beveridge Report, for example-are an almost universal bogy. Party Leaders The party leaders, apart from Mr. Churchill and Sir Stafford Cripps, do not stir much intefest. It is widely assumed that Mr. Eden would become Prime Minister were anything to end Mr, Churchill’s term of office. Sir Stafford’s popularity is increasing steadily with young people. His connection as Minister of Aircraft Production with Joint Production Committees has earned him new recognition and wider contacts, Herbert Morrison’s recent cycle of speeches made a strong impression on young people at the manager-civil servant level. But this relative interest in a few eminent figures is no substitute for interest in, or readiness to, work for a political party. The parties are probably the most discredited sector of British politics. The predominance on the Conservative side of men who are qualified for their seats in Parliament by the fact that they can afford them and of retired Trade Unionists on the side of Labour (continued on next page)

(continued from previous page) has alienated most of the young people. They feel they have no chance of getting elected, and that if they work to elect the man selected by the party caucus, he will not be in touch with young opinion. The party truce and the automatic return to office of members who often are of very ordinary calibre, has discredited the party system still further. This negative and distrustful approach to economic and social institutions is at its most obvious in relation to political parties just because they, the principal weapons in the struggle for a better society, look so inefficient for the purpose; but the feeling, as I have suggested, covers a great many other factors in our national life, and it is always very much the samethe feeling of separation, of no confidence, of detachment and_ indifference. One can see it in the Cooperatives, where about two per cent of the members trouble to attend the meetings, and that two per cent is not too young. One can see it in local government, where half the electorate never vote-I believe the Birmingham figure is an average of about 35 per cent, and again it is not the young people that take their responsibilities most seriously. One can see it in many empty churches; in many community centres run by the elderly; throughout the field of voluntary service, where the most reliable workers are all too often those trained in another generation to different standards of selflessDess and hard work. Interest Without Hope It seems to me that anyone who is trying to report fairly on the state of young opinion in Britain cannot help taking as the central point in his or her analysis this unhappy cleavage between a keen interest in a better future and cynicism about all the means of obtaining it. It is a dangerous situation for, as far as I can see, there are only three ways in which the irritating and frustrating conflict between the two states of mind can be resolved; and two of those ways are disastrous. It could be resolved if the dream of better things were to fade. Then apathy could cover ends and means alike. The Britain of Baldwin and Chamberlain was not chafing under bad leadership. The "safety first’ of the one and the appeasement of the other represented dominant states of mind among

the people. A great majority were prepared to believe that £16,000,000 spent on the distressed areas over three years was about all we could afford to "cure" unemployment. To a great many, Czechoslovakia was just a country a long way off "about which we know very little." Personally, I find it hard to believe that the upheavals of the war will have so little effect as to bring back that attitude, gspecially since the new radical temper has sprung from wartime experience itself. It should be as difficult to root out the desire for a better nation as to wipe out the memory of the London blitz. Besides, a desire, however general, to return to the "normalcy" of the ‘twenties and ‘thirties provides no real solution of the state of mind of the young. Even if this generation were

to be worn out by over-working and over-fighting, the next generation after them would present the same revolt and the same challenge. Either young people have to find their way back into a society which they feel is theirs and is a going concern, or they will remain to be snatched up sooner or later by some form of extremism. This is the second alternative-that, maintaining their desire for change and continuing in their distrust for all existing institutions, they decide on the violent short-cut of attempted revolution. It is. significant that of the small minority in the Army who still profess to have any confidence in a political party about half are supporters of the Communists. This is not because of any (continued on next page)

Towards Frustration-Or A New Democracy?

(continued from previous page) widespread extension of Commutnism. It reflects the fact of a soldier’s existence, in which mutiny is the only way of securing a violent change. It often is asked whether there are signs of Fascism in Britain. If the question means-Is there a Fascist party? Is there Fascist propaganda? Do people call themselves Fascist or even think of themselves as Fascists? -- then the answer is emphatically "no." Most people believe they are fighting Fascism and are sufficiently indifferent to sociological analysis to believe that once it is defeated in Germany and Italy, it will be finally scotched. Totalitarian Risks Yet it is true that Britain is still a pre-Fascist society. In other words, it has not yet met the crisis which in other countries produced Fascism. Its form of society is still predominantly that of the 19th century. So far, all new 20th century forms have been totalitarian. The form of 20th century free society has still to be evolved; and in this sense it is true that Britain could "go Fascist," or rather "go totalitarian," and that an unassuaged sense of revolt and frustration among its young people could be one of the factors driving it towards totalitarian control. Here it does not matter much that the ideals of the young people are progressive. The crucial thing is the spirit in which they would set about securing change. A ‘revolutionary movement, even if it wanted the Beveridge plan for all and government control of heavy industry, would still end as a Fascist movement. I need hardly add _ that there is absolutely no sign of such a development at present. The only organised extremist party is Communist, and it is very, very small indeed. , Creative Leadership Fascism is possible, here or in any other liberal democracy. But is it likely? The answer depends on the events of the next few years and, in particular, on whether there is any hope of achieving the third way out of the present impasse-the emergence of creative political leadership. The apathy, the unenthusiasm about existing institutions and parties, is not an incurable affliction of young people in Britain. It is hardly even their fault. The "so few" in their Spitfires, the gallant army of Civil Defence workers and firemen doing wonders of cool heroism during the blitz, the merchant seamen, the little boats at Dunkirk, the women in the war factories, the keen, excited youngsters in the Air Training Corps, the two million housewives in the Women’s Voluntary Service, the Invasion Committees, the Home Guard to which thousands of lads of 16 are devoting most of their spare time after a day’s work in a war factory-these people are not naturally apathetic. They are not cynical by choice. After the publication of the Beveridge plan, which suggested that after all, there was a more decent kind of society ahead, people’s morale went up with a bound.

Particularly in the Services, more cheerfulness and more zest were teported from every part of the country. To Bring Back Confidence The young people need so little to recover confidence in democratic society. Will they get it? It is still too soon to say. One can only report the hopeful signs. In recent months, Herbert Morrison has been growing in stature. Long known as a sound administrator, he has now shown in a series of remarkable speeches that his approach to politics is nearer to the ideals of 20th century democracy than that expressed by any other statesman to-day. On the Conservative side, Quintin Hogg has emerged as the spokesman of a group of young Tory M.P.’s who are determined that social reform shall continue to be part of the tradition of their party. These young members have formed their own committee in the Commons, and are pressing for the immediate setting-up of a Ministry of Social Security. Here again, is a sign of an emerging leadership which, if it were successful against the arid "last ditchery" of the Conservative back benchers, could put new life into the Tory Party. Mr. Hogg acknowledges his attitude to be due to his contacts with the soldiers in the Middle East, where for two years he was on active service. It is a straight reflection of the radical mood of youth. It is an attempt to onyrors. that mood in political terms. The Bid By Common Wealth Common Wealth, already mentioned in passing, represents, broadly speaking, the social idealism of the Middle Classes-a radical idealism-and is profiting now by the party truce which debars Labour from contesting Conservative seats, and vice versa. Its candidates are mainly young people, and it is getting a good deal of enthusiastic support from the young. Incidentally, Common Wealth is making a bid for radical Christian support. I cannot say that there is a widespread religious revival in Britain, but there are young people who are interested and bring religious enthusiasm to the task of social reform. The fact that the Archbishop of Canterbury is an outspoken "radical" undoubetdly tends to increase the prestige "of Christianity among young people. These, then, are some of the growing points from which a rehabilitation of British politics, of the machinery of British government, can spring. There is nothing incurable in Britain’s diseases. The quality of the young people is magnificent. Their ideas are progressive, yet there remains an undercurrent of conservatism bred of their love of old ways and places and possessions, The failure at the moment is a failure in political leadership. That leadership was magnificent in 1940; it is uncertain for 1945. For myself, I feel the scales of history are fairly evenly balanced. Our country may swing down on the side of frustration ‘and apathy; or on the side of a new democracy. The material is there for either decision. But prophecy is as unfruitful now as it would have been at the time of Dunkirk.