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American Friends Service Committee — Part 32
Page 95
95 / 169
Adlai Stevenson: “Let us not" ‘ome the prisoners of our... prop’ nda." .
Premier Macmillan; “Don't let .s add to mankind's burden by becon..u9 the
victims of own propaganda."
A GOSPEL FOR LATE 1959
As one who criticized John Foster Dulles while he was Secretary of State; I was agree-
ably surprised the other day when I delved into his War, Peace and Change, published 20
years ago, to find that it is filled with simon-pure wisdom, according to my opinion, and
that its ideas could be very useful now that there are new possibilities for reorienting
our Eqreign policy.
In this book he writes that total war is made possible by our emotionalism, especially
@s masses ate more emotional than individuals. Upon this foundation of emotionalism "is
built that form of patriotism which personifies the nation as a living being endowed with
heroic qualities, who lives bravely and dangerously in a world of inferior and even villain-
ous, other nation personalities."
. To build up the desired personification "history, in each nation, is written and taught
in the manner of a dime novel.... This background built up by history as commonly taught
is kept up to date by the current utterances of political leaders and by the press."
Mr. Dulles points out that officials can count upon reinforcement from private agencies
which are engaged in catering to the emotional cravings of the masses and which profit fi-
nancially from purveying shock and excitement. "By printed word or by pictures selected to
produce an emotional reaction, they magnify incidents out of all relation to their actual
importance and they induce unreliable generalizations." And he adds, "The easiest and
quickest cure of internal dissension is to portray danger from abroad." (Of course this
method is constantly used to get huge "defense" appropriations, too.)
There are many possible types of the nation-hero, but Mr. Dulles says that two of then
are the most conducive to war: "One is the crusading hero, who champions the cause of jus-
tice and succors the oppressed... and the nation-hero who is sensitive of his personal honor
and who is quick to strike out in case of actual or seeming affronts." Alas, that Mr. Dulles
did so much to build up these nation-hero and nation-villain concepts while he was Secretary
of State!
Among his recommendations; Check the tendency to identify one's personified state with
deity; check the tendency to identify the other-nation personality with evil; increase elas-
ticity -- human action should not be dictated by emotion to the virtual exclusion of reason;
mass effort and sacrifice should not depend upon the ideology of conflict. After progress
is made in these respects we should attack the “problem of eliminating force as the solvent
of conflicting desires."
Whe ts Wtrs. Yietine of Our Cun Prspaganda?
A book to read...
and to give to your friends
Alice Franklin Brcauth
RELIGION FOR THE HARDHEABZD
Senator Rolph} E. Flanders: “Religion for the Hard-
headed’ has id by me with increasing interest
verging on mitt exeitement. It is far and away the
best explanation of the Christian relirton for the times
in which we livg that I have read or hear! of.”
Chicuco Tribune: "For that triend of yours whe fs intel-
Hgent and well informed about everything except Chris-
tlanity, maybe Mrs. Bryant has turned the trick.”
Bryant?
‘ARLY in 1957 Val Peterson,
then Civil Defense Admin-
Istrator, estimated that a sur-
prise enemy attack would kill
about 50% of the American
people, regardless of whether
they had bomb shelters.
Since then war potentials
have increased, and in August
of Jast year the House Mili-
tary Operations Subcommittee
released # study of the prob-
about three-fourths of us would
survive @ nuclear attack on
224 target areas.
Never did Eleanor Roosevelt
Speak tnore truly than when
she wasned that people would
be cursed by war as long as
they endure the idea of it
making us believe we cou
survive a major war,“
defense” increases our tol
ance of the idea of it and Ko
5 ” . + Author able effects of a nuclear at- increases the probabilicy of its
The e Mirror (New Zealand): “A tonic for the practicing + Lecturer tack which estimated that outbreak,
ete nan mur your tonstre er frm Price two most Americons, nearly 160 3t we could conperate with
Dodd, head ana Comer $gco Traveller mitlion persons, would be Russia to defeat Hitler we
killed by @ nuclear attack on ean cooperate with her to roti
432 Fourth Avenue. New ork 16
10 of our cities,
Now comes a civil defense
official and estimates that
back the threat of global holo
eeust. Alice Franklin Neyant in
Denver Post Jub 16,
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