No More Learning

Soviet civilization.
Lamont, Corliss, 1902-
New York, Philosophical Library [1952]
http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 39015020686591
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? ?
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? SOVIET CIVILIZATION
BY
CORLISS LAMONT
PHILOSOPHICAL LIBRARY
NEW YORK
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? X) ^ Copyright, 1952, by the
Philosophical Library, Inc.
^"X 15 East 40th Street, New York 16, N. Y.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
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? Ji<L\>
LOG
To
Albert Rhys Williams
/
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? INTRODUCTION
Historical superlatives are dangerous, yet it is no
exaggeration to say that seldom, if ever, in the whole of
human experience has so momentous a social change been
condensed into so brief a span as that represented by the
Russian Revolution and the consequent establishment of
the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Scarcely a
generation ago there was not a single country of any im-
portance in which socialism was the established mode of
life. Now nearly one-third of the entire human race is
living in countries with a full socialist economy, and the
socialist principle is deeply entrenched in many other
areas. It would be a denial of the essential character of
social evolution to assume that this portentous movement
had now reached its apogee and would come to a sudden
stop, or even be reversed.
Up to the present the result has been an international
situation dominated by two great Powers, one individ-
ualist-capitalist and the other socialist. Current develop-
ments in the Far East indicate the possibility that in the
relatively near future there may be a third world Power,
with a population far exceeding the combined total of
the other two. This will be socialist. What then?
In the face of these facts one might reasonably sup-
pose that intelligent persons would wish to know all they
could about this remarkable phenomenon, whether it
seemed admirable to them or not -- not merely historians,
vii
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? IHTRODUCTIOH
sociologists, and professors of political science, but every-
day citizens of democracies who are presumed, through
their political activities, to determine the course of their
own countries. Such, unfortunately, does not seem to be
the case, at least in that pioneer of democracies which we
call the United States. It sometimes seems that the more
an individual knows, through first-hand observation and
study, about those other countries that call themselves
the "new democracies" or the "people's democracies," the
harder it is for him to get an audience.
This is not too difficult to understand. In the first
place, it is very hard to be sure that one is getting the
truth about socialist lands, and consequently there is
the temptation to reject all testimony as unreliable, or
else, even worse, to accept only such evidence as accords
with one's own existing preconceptions, prejudices, be-
liefs, wishes, or hopes. In the second place, it is very dif-
ficult for any moulder of public opinion, however fair
and conscientious he may be, to be entirely objective
about the Soviet Union and its associated countries. In
the present state of world thought and international rela-
tions, socialism and individualistic-capitalism are much
more than mere abstract contrasting patterns for organ-
izing social life. They are "causes," with a high emotional
content. Basic moral values are attributed to them on
one side as well as the other. Individuals who are com-
mitted to one or the other become champions, devotees,
sometimes fanatics. It is just as improbable that a Com-
munist can write dispassionately about the Soviet Union
as that the president of a giant corporation could portray
capitalism in an entirely objective fashion.
But, for the sake of world understanding and lasting
peace, it is vitally important that such a book as Soviet
viii
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? ITiTRODUCTIOH
Civilization should be written. Who, then, is to write
it?
The best answer is, simply -- such a person as Corliss
Lamont.
It is clear from the record that Dr. Lamont is not a
Communist. His background of family, education, and
occupation is that of Western capitalism. But he is a
student, a scholar, a thinker, a teacher, and a philosopher.
And he is an honest man.
Being himself an excellent exemplar of "the inde-
pendent mind," for which he has such a deep regard,
and having realized from the beginning that the Russian
Revolution was introducing an era of extraordinary
potentialities, he has devoted years of study, including
two visits to the Soviet Union, to what was at first dubbed
a "great experiment" -- and which, from the scholastic
point of view of the social scientist, is actually a spon-
taneous experiment of unparalleled significance. It would
be hard to find anybody better fitted than Corliss Lamont
to throw the spotlight of reality upon some of the vital
features of this unprecedented civilization.
Being addressed primarily to the citizens of a demo-
cracy, the practical value of this book depends directly
upon the number of those who become acquainted with
it. If it were read by ten million Americans it could
have a profound influence on the whole shape of human
destiny. It might be one of the determinative factors in
preventing World War III.
Perhaps it would even be worth while to settle for one
million readers.
Henry Pratt Fairchild
ix
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? PREFACE
For full twenty years, ever since my first visit to the
Soviet Union in 1932, I have devoted considerable time
to the study of Soviet affairs; and to teaching, lecturing
and writing about them. Despite the temper of these
times and an atmosphere hostile to an objective consider-
ation of the Soviets, I believe it is worth while to sum
up calmly my conclusions concerning the U. S. S. R. and
American-Soviet relations. This is my major effort, intel-
lectual and moral, to help stem the tide of misunder-
standing between the United States and Soviet Russia
and thereby to make some contribution to the enduring
peace for which our two peoples and the whole world
so yearn.
Since this volume is critical of many things in Soviet
civilization, it will not please left-wing groups who con-
sider the Soviet Union above all criticism. On the other
hand, because the book is sympathetic to the true achieve-
ments of the Soviets, it is likely to be denounced by the
dogmatic right as Communist propaganda or Utopian
naivete. I am repelled by the dictatorial and repressive
aspects of the Soviet regime, but am unwilling to join
in wholesale condemnations of it based on a one-sided
over-emphasis of its negative points. The complete and
many-sided story is what we need for a just evaluation of
Soviet life; the common-sense recognition, avoiding both
extremes, that it contains much that is good and much
that is bad.
In my analysis of Soviet Russia I have tried to use
xi
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? PREFACE
the same method of reliance on fact and reason which
I have applied to other subjects and especially in the field
of philosophy. We may as well realize, however, that to
stand out these days against the irrational fears and
passions that hold sway, to endeavor to be dispassionate
and scientific about controversial subjects of a political
and international character, is to invite bitter comments
from almost every quarter. But my function as a scholar
and a writer remains as always to tell the truth as I find
it. Putting forward no claims to infallibility and ready
to reverse my judgments if they prove wrong, I present
this work as the nearest approach I can make to the truth
about Soviet Russia.
I have often been accused of wishful thinking about
Soviet Russia and of viewing conditions in that country
more favorably than the facts warrant. That is what
happened, when after my return from the Soviet Union
in 1938, I wrote: "It is my own feeling that the Soviet
people are well-nigh invincible in an economic, moral
and military sense. From without Soviet socialism can
undoubtedly be set back, but hardly destroyed. "1 For
that and other statements pointing out the great progress
which had taken place in the U. S. S. R. I was widely set
down as an apologist for Soviet Russia. This was still the
case in the summer of 1941 when, three weeks after the
Nazi invasion of the Soviet Republic and disagreeing
with 95 percent of American public opinion, I predicted
in an address that Hitler would never get to Moscow
and that the Russians would hold off the Germans and
eventually defeat them.
"The Soviets will never yield," I said. "They will
fight on their plains, they will fight in their mountains,
they will fight along their rivers, their lakes and their
xii
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? PREFACE
seas, till the trampling march of Nazi power dies away
into the silence of history. "2 Somewhat later, in January,
1942, Mr. George E. Sokolsky, an anti-Soviet diehard and
one of my most slashing critics, asserted in his column
in the New York Sun: "So even those of us who are not
given to seeing any good in Russia are faced by the very
cold facts of the moment, and until we are proved right
about our prognostications and doubts, we have to bow
to such superior prophets as Corliss Lamont, who always
said that the Bolshies would do it. "3
The point is, of course, that to tell the plain and
demonstrable truth about the Soviet Union, even if that
truth recognizes considerable Soviet achievements, indi-
cates that you are a careful observer rather than a Soviet
apologist.
It would
be hard to find anybody better fitted than Corliss Lamont
to throw the spotlight of reality upon some of the vital
features of this unprecedented civilization.
Being addressed primarily to the citizens of a demo-
cracy, the practical value of this book depends directly
upon the number of those who become acquainted with
it. If it were read by ten million Americans it could
have a profound influence on the whole shape of human
destiny. It might be one of the determinative factors in
preventing World War III.
Perhaps it would even be worth while to settle for one
million readers.
Henry Pratt Fairchild
ix
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-06-10 17:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 39015020686591 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
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? PREFACE
For full twenty years, ever since my first visit to the
Soviet Union in 1932, I have devoted considerable time
to the study of Soviet affairs; and to teaching, lecturing
and writing about them. Despite the temper of these
times and an atmosphere hostile to an objective consider-
ation of the Soviets, I believe it is worth while to sum
up calmly my conclusions concerning the U. S. S. R. and
American-Soviet relations. This is my major effort, intel-
lectual and moral, to help stem the tide of misunder-
standing between the United States and Soviet Russia
and thereby to make some contribution to the enduring
peace for which our two peoples and the whole world
so yearn.
Since this volume is critical of many things in Soviet
civilization, it will not please left-wing groups who con-
sider the Soviet Union above all criticism. On the other
hand, because the book is sympathetic to the true achieve-
ments of the Soviets, it is likely to be denounced by the
dogmatic right as Communist propaganda or Utopian
naivete. I am repelled by the dictatorial and repressive
aspects of the Soviet regime, but am unwilling to join
in wholesale condemnations of it based on a one-sided
over-emphasis of its negative points. The complete and
many-sided story is what we need for a just evaluation of
Soviet life; the common-sense recognition, avoiding both
extremes, that it contains much that is good and much
that is bad.
In my analysis of Soviet Russia I have tried to use
xi
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-06-10 17:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 39015020686591 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? PREFACE
the same method of reliance on fact and reason which
I have applied to other subjects and especially in the field
of philosophy. We may as well realize, however, that to
stand out these days against the irrational fears and
passions that hold sway, to endeavor to be dispassionate
and scientific about controversial subjects of a political
and international character, is to invite bitter comments
from almost every quarter. But my function as a scholar
and a writer remains as always to tell the truth as I find
it. Putting forward no claims to infallibility and ready
to reverse my judgments if they prove wrong, I present
this work as the nearest approach I can make to the truth
about Soviet Russia.
I have often been accused of wishful thinking about
Soviet Russia and of viewing conditions in that country
more favorably than the facts warrant. That is what
happened, when after my return from the Soviet Union
in 1938, I wrote: "It is my own feeling that the Soviet
people are well-nigh invincible in an economic, moral
and military sense. From without Soviet socialism can
undoubtedly be set back, but hardly destroyed. "1 For
that and other statements pointing out the great progress
which had taken place in the U. S. S. R. I was widely set
down as an apologist for Soviet Russia. This was still the
case in the summer of 1941 when, three weeks after the
Nazi invasion of the Soviet Republic and disagreeing
with 95 percent of American public opinion, I predicted
in an address that Hitler would never get to Moscow
and that the Russians would hold off the Germans and
eventually defeat them.
"The Soviets will never yield," I said. "They will
fight on their plains, they will fight in their mountains,
they will fight along their rivers, their lakes and their
xii
? ? Generated for (University of Chicago) on 2014-06-10 17:29 GMT / http://hdl. handle. net/2027/mdp. 39015020686591 Public Domain, Google-digitized / http://www. hathitrust. org/access_use#pd-google
? PREFACE
seas, till the trampling march of Nazi power dies away
into the silence of history. "2 Somewhat later, in January,
1942, Mr. George E. Sokolsky, an anti-Soviet diehard and
one of my most slashing critics, asserted in his column
in the New York Sun: "So even those of us who are not
given to seeing any good in Russia are faced by the very
cold facts of the moment, and until we are proved right
about our prognostications and doubts, we have to bow
to such superior prophets as Corliss Lamont, who always
said that the Bolshies would do it. "3
The point is, of course, that to tell the plain and
demonstrable truth about the Soviet Union, even if that
truth recognizes considerable Soviet achievements, indi-
cates that you are a careful observer rather than a Soviet
apologist. And by reporting the actualities of the Soviet
situation I was surely serving my country better than the
so-called experts who continually misled the American
people by supplying information about the U. S. S. R. that
had such dangerously little resemblance to the facts. That
holds as much for 1952 as 1941. We may be sure that
the truth concerning Soviet Russia has not altogether
changed in a decade. And we may also be sure that it is
just as important to know the truth now as it was then.
What I am trying to establish here is not that I am
always right about the Soviet Union -- for I have made
my share of mistakes regarding Soviet affairs -- but that
I have made an earnest effort to be objective and that
events have proved me correct on a number of important
points. However, as the climate of opinion changes
towards Soviet Russia, so, too, does the general attitude
towards writers on this subject. Today many Americans
will call you a Soviet apologist if you find any good at all
in the U. S. S. R. and will become quite annoyed if you
xiii
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? PREFACE
remind them of indisputable facts such as the Red Army's
victory over the Nazis at Stalingrad. So it is that Mr.
Sokolsky and his confreres are firing away at me once
more as an apologist for everything Soviet.
In the spring of 1951 I made plans to visit Western
Europe and the Soviet Union during the summer, and
actually engaged passage on the S. S. Queen Mary. Then
week after week I waited for the Passport Division of the
United States Department of State to grant an extension
of my passport. The Passport Division finally turned
down my application on the vague grounds that my
"travel abroad at this time would be contrary to the best
interests of the United States. "4 However, my extended
correspondence with the passport authorities made clear
that they were discriminating against me for political
reasons and especially because I had publicly expressed
disagreement with American foreign policy. * In October,
1951, I appealed in an Open Letter to President Truman
to intervene on my behalf. As a consequence the Passport
Division reconsidered my case, but again denied my ap-
plication.
I had hoped during my intended trip to Soviet Russia
to make a first-hand appraisal of current conditions.
While there was no guarantee that the Soviet Govern-
ment would have let me have a visa -- though my chances
were good -- it was in the first instance the arbitrary
action of the U. S. State Department, violating my ordi-
nary privileges as an American citizen, that prevented
the fulfilment of my traveling plans. Faced with the alter-
natives of waiting indefinitely, perhaps several years, for
the re-establishment of my right to go to Europe or of
finishing this book with the abundant factual materials at
? Cf. p. 402.
xiv
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? PREFACE
hand, I decided on the latter course. Both in my own case
and in many other recent cases the State Department
must take the responsibility for seriously obstructing
knowledge of foreign affairs by preventing American
writers and teachers from making on-the-spot investiga-
tions into conditions in Soviet Russia and other countries.
While this volume deals with a variety of fundamental
questions concerning the Soviet Union, it does not pre-
sume to attempt the hazardous undertaking of giving an
all-inclusive picture of the U. S. S. R. I have concentrated
on those features of Soviet civilization which have parti-
cularly interested me and to which I have devoted special
study. Much of the material here has appeared previously
in preliminary form in articles or pamphlets. In Chapter
III on "Soviet Ethnic Democracy" I have drawn to some
extent upon an earlier work of mine, The Peoples of the
Soviet Union.
For assistance in the preparation and writing of this
book I wish to thank especially Mr. Bernard L. Koten,
of the Library for Intercultural Studies, who made a care-
ful check of the factual material throughout and cheer-
fully provided the answers to my innumerable questions.
He has no responsibility, however, for the many judg-
ments of interpretation I have made. I am also greatly
indebted to countless other individuals who have helped
me with this volume, but shall not try to list their names.
It has been difficult for me to bring this work to an
end. New facts about the Soviet Union and American-
Soviet relations keep pouring in; and the international
situation changes from day to day. Moreover, I realize
that in attempting to compress into one volume a sum-
mary and an analysis of these very large subjects I have
not done complete justice to the problems involved and
xv
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? PREFACE
. v t>>-" ? '-? >'
have had to omit many details that would throw further
light upon them. Yet I cannot go on indefinitely and
must at last put aside the temptation to include further
material and to keep this book abreast of the current
news.
C. L.
New York City
August 25, 1952
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? CONTENTS
Pace
Part I. Soviet Domestic Policy and Achievements 1
Chapter I. On Evaluating Soviet Russia 3
1. Introductory 3
2. Much Reliable Information Is Available 6
3. Some Standards of Judgment 24
Chapter II. The Soviet Constitution 50
1. Background of the Constitution 50
2. The Structure of Soviet Society and State 52
3. The New Rights of Man 73
Chapter III. Soviet Ethnic Democracy 90
1. Soviet National and Racial Minorities 90
2. The Soviet Minorities Policy 102
3. Summary and Evaluation 112
Chapter IV. Soviet Russia and Religion 121
1. The Tsarist Background 121
2. Soviet Theory in regard to Religion 125
3. Soviet Practice in regard to Religion 137
Chapter V. Soviet Economic and Cultural
Progress 156
1. What the Second World War Showed 156
2. The Role of Socialist Planning 165
3. Achievements of the Five-Year Plans 182
-4. Post-War Economic Gains 192
5. Cultural Advances 209
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? CONTENTS
Page
Chapter VI. Contrasts between Soviet Socialism
and Fascism 227
1. Ten Fundamental Differences 227
2. Attitudes towards Democracy 229
3. The Other Contrasts 237
Part II. American-Soviet Relations 249
Chapter VII. The Historical Background 251
1. From the American Revolution to the
Russian 251
2. From November, 1917, through World
War II 255
3. American Names on Soviet Maps 273
Chapter VIII. Soviet Foreign Policy 282
1. The Basic Principles 282
2. Does Soviet Russia Wage Aggression? 306
3. Incitements to War against the U.