COMMUNISM AND THE WEST
Sir,-Dr. J. F. Northey stated in Lookout that the West cannot retreat indefinitely in the face of. Communist "agsression." He repeats the popular theory on the manner in which to resist the Communist drive. It is by such methods as the Colombo Plan that the menace is to be averted, Improve the standard of living of the Asian peoples, they say, and it will prove to\the Communists that there are other systems of introducing human values into the community besides Communism. Never a word about trying to solve the problems of these countries because they are a disgrace to humanity, but only to win a point on the Communists. It is a little late now to find this alternative method. The Russians introduced their method in 1917, and the Chinese in 1949, and they seem very successful. The average New Zealander will lift his hands at this and say "subversion," and he will utter the time-worn phrase that Communism is an evil thing. The answer to the subversion charge is that in this country Communist candidates stand as members to local bodies and Parliament, True, their numbers are small; but so was the size of the Labour vote in this country when Labour first came into the arena. The charge that the Communist Party is evil is the result of'a good deal of anti-Communist propaganda, which the average New Zealander should be able to see through. Unpleasant things may have happened to kulaks and landlords or any of those who previously exploited the people, but the answer to the charge is to ask whether there is anyone who would like to go back to Tsarism in Russia, or to the Kuomintang’ in China. Did these régimes have any regard for human values? There is nothing to fear from these two countries in the military sense, because they stand for peace. Communism like all new progressive movements, is stirring people’s imagination in all lands, and there is nothing that its opponents can do to prevent its growth.
P. J.
ALLEY
(Christchurch).
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 793, 1 October 1954, Page 5
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344COMMUNISM AND THE WEST New Zealand Listener, Volume 31, Issue 793, 1 October 1954, Page 5
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