THURSDAY. AMR 26. 1962
&Wed $ News
The Myth 1
Of Communism!
One of the foremost-ways of
heailing . doubt on an ideology
today 1114 - babel the: concept a
"Myth." No true. believer likes
a to' see his creed defined, as '
mythology scholars do, as
something firmly, belleVed but
existing only in the imagina
tion:'
I Myth is indeed felt to be "the .
• sacred truth." absolutely un-
E changeable. People; of ancient
cultures and even.a avast num
ber of 'groups - today believe
g that certain stories are 100 per
B cent true about the -origin of
Ithe world and its religions or
-governments. -, . '
1 There is a - great and hardly
harmlessm political myth afloat
on' the international scene -to-
Iday—commtinism. It is my
thesis that , communism is
strictly mythical. 'lts ',typo
= nents—from Marx through
ElChrushc.hev spout. dogma
"which has not been applied to
the hard realities of life.
g
- - Communism boasts of in
creased production and the'll
leaders must eat their - words
When agricultural yields fall. P:
And these . words may enable g r
them to be the only .ones eat
ing, for Djiliis reminds us that g
the new , class "may be said to
be made up of those .who have
special privileges and eco
nomic preference because of
the administrative monopoly-S''
they hold."
'Some scholars say that myths E.!
originated as a."disease of i
lan
guage." Coinmunism is truly
such a, disease in a cancerous
form. People have not forgot-1
ten Marx but ave distorted :4 - 1
l
To prove the'myth of corn-i bis philosophy. . • =i
•munism, one must -therefore The brotherh idea of this E a
show that these conditions do myth can also be - believed onIYEI I
not in fact exist and—contrary if one excludes - Russia's Jewish-1
to Mr. -we; claims—will not population. The Soviets can
exist._Soviet • military power .Mrdly point the finger at U.S.
may vercome the western discrimination with a "holier
world; the militarists, how- than-thcni" attitude after look-:
:ever, are rushed by the knowl- ing at recent unfounded con- „El
edge that some day the Rus- demnations of Jewish - citizens
sian people may perceive this • • •
myth 'and smash it asi they Myths are irrational and can- ak :
not be' combatted with logic. a
smashed Stalin's statues. They arise from desperate situ- E
First, therefore, let us ex- ations ;mid have certain rituals 1
amine strictly social conditions. which cannot be easily aban-
An issue •of the English-lan- cloned. In a totalitarian way, "..L.fl
guage magaz i n e, "USSR," communism has captured and V!
quotes statistics on the im- . rendered powerless many of
provement of housing facili- its subjects. E
ties within Russia and other
Of the success of commu- Eli
communist countries. In con
nis* m, the late Ernst Cassirer
trast. however, Warsaw's Ma
rek Mask° ado: in the anthol- wrote in "The _Myth of the : 4 1
State" that "when small groups E
ogy, "Bitter- Harvest": do try to enforce their wishes 2 4"
"How long will; lovers have and their fantastic ideas upon El
no place to live, how long will great nations and the whole -2i
people have to part because of body politic, they may succeed
an apartment, washing and for a short time, and they may Et
trash like that? If I didn't even achieve great triumphs,
know how things were before, but these must remain ephem-
I would think I was in hell: eral." Ol
now."
Roughly speaking, commu
nism is based on •the idea that
history '• progresses through
stages in which man's relation
to produition. is altered. From
a primitive communism
through slavery', ' feudalism"
capitalism and socialism, man
moves •ILinally to the •pinnacle,
or communism. Here men.live
—although. Voltaire was hardly
communist— in the best of all
possible worlds. There is food.
cicithing,"ancl shelter In a land
of bcotherhood.-
Evidence Needed
And medical care. Ones
again - "IISSR" gives staggering
%ruraon the number of medi
personnel in the Soviet or-
bit. Where are these trained
people when a citizen needs
them? Returning, to "Bitter
Harvest," we read the story of
the woman doctor on Presav
dencka 'Street. The tale tells of
a woman seeking aid from a
goverminent clinic for her sick
child. With ,no help coming
from the red-tape bound and
unsympathetic staff, ,the wom
an beconies desperate' until
she finally discovers a woman
doctor. who saves her child.
Only a person who had lived
such.an experience could write
it ~ so realistically: .
, ObjectivitT Difficulty
Obviously it is difficult to
find a wholly objective; view
of communism. It is a subject
which. as the mountaineer
says, "You're either fer it er
affin it." Considerj however, the
number of American intellec-
tuabz who tasted .communisni
By KAY MILLS
Editor
in the thirties and so on
b found
that the ideology was not being
applied to life.—
RememberJ too, the rise and El
fall of Miloyan Djilas, former a:I
vice president • of Yugoslavia
The reason for his fall? Djilas
made statements the govern
ment claimed were untrue.-g
Gradually he soured on the en- a
tire operation of the state.- This g
man, who today sits in jail for a,
similar outbursts, would will- -2
ingly return to the ideological g
fold if it mirrored the truth.
But the image of the classless
society, another tenet of the s
communist faith.• is no more.
Djilas says. In "The New =
Class," he writes:
. The communist revolu-
tion, conducted in the name of S
doing away with classes, has a
resulted in the most complete -3
authority of a single new class.
Everything else is sham and g
illusion . ."
C' • C*4l Privgeges
Communism is the most mod
em
in a series ,of political s
myths. Cassirer says these new a
myths are.. "artificial things
fabricated by very skillful and E
cunning artisans. It has been I
reserved for the 20th, century. Ea
our own great technical age, r .§
to develop a new technique of
myth. - Henceforth; myths can g
be manufactured as any other E
modern weapon—as machine §
guns or airplanes."
Modern Myth
Today many people are con
cerned
with combatting this
myth, whose believers and 2.
their leaders have e the strength 2
to obliterate the United States. E
We cannot ignore communism
even. if we do consider it a 2 .
myth.' We - must analyze it aid
observe the techniques em
ployed in building the politi
cal myth. We must urge our N
legislators and scientists to do
likewise. a'
"We should see the adver- -3: -
sary face to face in order to g
know how to combat him."
SUMMER COLLEGIAN. UNIVERSITY PARK. PENNSYLVANIA
Students Injured
As Car . Crashes
In Lemont Area
Two University students were
hospitalized Sunday evening be
cause the driver failed to follow
a curve In the road and struck a
ouse. state police said yesterday.
The accident occurred at 11:30
p.m. Sunday on Branch Road in
Louont.
Air Force Capt. Finis Shannon, I.
a part-time student in meteo
coktgy from Macon. Ga., was driv
ing the car. -Frank Carpenter,. 7th
term student' In counseling from
Bloomsburg. was a passenger,
police said. ' •
Shannon was taken to the Cen
tre -County H osp ital with a frac
tured skull and a fractured left
leg and later transferred to
Williruntport Hospital for brain,
surgery because he was in serious:
condition. police said. 1
A brain operathin was per
formed at 6:13 a.m. Monday by'
Dr. George Lyon. who said that
Shannon is recovering "very satis
factorily" although he is still in
serious condition. Shannon is ex
pected to remain at the • hospital
two weeks, Lyon saki.
' Carpenter received cuts on hisl
left hand and bruises of the head.l
arms and back. police said. He;
was also admitted to Centre]
County Hospital Sunday night and ,
releaied the following afternoon.
Department Name Changed
,The Department of Poultry
Husbandry has been redesignated
the Department of Poultry Sci
ence. -
A. •J. G. Maw, professor and
head of the department, said the
new designation will more ac
curately reflect the work of the
department.
New ollege Diner
BIKE
REPAIRS .
• PARTS
ACCESSORIES
Western Auto
New Bikes-1 yr. Guarantee
112 S. FRAZIER ST.
AD 7-7112
la vie, 1963; -
senior portrait
1963
senior portrait
to vie, 1963
senior portrait
for graduates from august
1962, up to and. including
lune '63 especially
if you wore off campus
Last spring, will be
off campus this
fail, or will be
graduating - at the
end of this term.
senior portrait,
al penn slate photo
143 east bearer are.
hours from ohm to ,
four daily. only $2.40
la vie, 1963
senior portrait
is vie, 1963
HERLOC ER'S
SUPPER SPECIAL
Served Only 5 - 7
'4 Large Bar•B•Uued thicken
Choice at Salad
Choice of One .6.
Apple Pie
Now York Cheese Cake
• Choice of Soft Drink
SODA
221 i L Beaver Avenue
Will you leave these freedoms
to your children?
144" haw lOW to !Too Yoe thaw' 4 symbols of frooifsiso.
A FlotY lilbsvosiosi of ,your right to worship as you wish.
(Fki Arnmantet U. S. C 60011044
A doe, hoy-•your right to lock your door toggled illoge I .v.
oremeett force end prying. (r...a Ameadmeact, U. S. Conat)
A pondl=froodooo b opoik or wrWs what you Mink, whothiw
you °gm whit tha eovornmont or not.
(Pint Anwrsennot, V. $. Coutinnise)
Ansi a free ballot—your right is choose the•people who repro.
you in government ..your protection ospoinet spsvornesent
tyranny. tAelPicht I, V. S. Cadistlfelloo)
In halt the world today, these symbols and the things
they stand for have been destroyed.
And Kbrushcheir says it can happen here. He boasts
that our children will live under socialism.
Unthinkable? Yes—but only so long as America
guards its freedoms well, Against threats that come from
inside our country, as well as from the outside.
In these critical times you Would think that all of
America's clunks and financial resources should be
concentrated on strengthening our country's defense. -
But there are some people who would weaken this
effort through, needless government spending. For ex.
ample, they want to use billions of your tax dollars to
put government deeper into the electric power business.
Such spending is unnecessary because the Investor
owned electrk light sad power companies can supply all
the additional power a growing America will need.
Each time the government moves further into bust
neu7Auty
. business—it is another step on the road to
socialism. And sOeialisra is one thing Americans do not
magic, leave to their childreo—or grandchildrep—desplt•
what Khrushchev says.
WEST PENN POWER
iseveeter-wwwl. isx.poyfoionting WOW* PIMON*IIOII
1.15
PIZZA
SANDWICHES
Call AD 8451$
PAGE