◆ SpookStack

82 THE TECHNIQUES OF SOVIET PROPAGANDA while, in the West, 0 statesman remains a human being, wi personal inclinations and friendships. " ; That Russian people do not want war any more than any > people; true, but the people in the U.S.S.R. have no voice while, im. the West, the people—the voters—rule. __ eri! ok That «# conference is better than conflict; true, for people who # confer to explain themselves or reach an agreement, but the Soviets, - do 80 only to introduce the progaganda ruses and duplicities with __@ which they hope to prevail without striking a blow. caine 4 That everyone has done some wrong; true, but the wrongs of thé F# Soviets are high crimes, not misdemeanors. tay EE ; CAPITALIZING ON ITS OWN TURFITUDE (oseefe Bisa Soviet propaganda resorts to this practice proscribed by the Roman ~-+ code, as well as by the laws of decency, whén, for example, having compelled Western nations to rearm in self dafense, it capitalizes on ihe remorse which filis them ai the necessity jor rearmament. rs BLUFFING THE FREE WORLD ON ITS OWN PRINCIPLEB «ini on aha ie .. The Kremlin, now far more colonialist and imperialist than the West, plays on unwarranted extensions of rules of virtue which the “advanced thinkers” had opposed to old abuses by the free world. -- - Moscow plays on the West’s traditional pacifism, representing any ass AS Warmongering. : : It. plays on democracy’s tolerance to induce it to tolerate Com- - - munist Parties, which are the incarnation of ivtolerance. ; Tt nlave an the cancern for ohiactivity in Wheral circlaa tno incite - a pesy = Wes Vas Ww kee ee Oe “se any ~“ contesteitnanel ese iamiaiae ow . . neutralism on the pretext of balancing America’s faults against those © | ee ee ee of the U.S.8.R., when it is impossible to be neutral between the camps of freedom and slavery. - It plays on the liberals’ traditional mistrust of their own state to - freeze them into antagonism, paralyzing any unison of Western forces against Soviet totalitarianism. In short, one of the key tactics of Soviet propaganda is the burial of liberals under the weight of their own principles. It is high time for the West to cast off the spell and reject the attacks on its purity made by the impure. PLAYING ON FEAR Many Soviet propaganda successes are due to fear, rather than - conviction. The Kremlin displays every ounce of power it possesses even exaggerating its strength by hoax. Thus it develops a defeatist reflex among the masses, and induces prominent personages to desert the cause of freedom, speculating thet a victorious Soviet power would be ruthless to its opponents, while the tolerant Western camp ean be betrayed without risk. PLAYING ON RIVALRIES Communist Propagands unces on every difference of opinion that divides the free world, embittering conflicts at will. It exaggerates our national, ideological, and economic rivalries. If the free world were not menaced by Communist totalitarianism it would be good to