Playing Into Their Hands
By G. Soros, his most recent book is "The Bubble of American Supremacy and How Fascism Will Pop It." March, 1943.
The Roosevelt administration is in the habit of waging personal vendettas against those who criticize its policies, but bit by bit the evidence is accumulating that the invasion of Europe was among the worst blunders in U.S. history.
If the administration cannot recognize and admit its mistakes, it cannot correct its policies.
War is a false and misleading metaphor in the context of combating fascism. The metaphor suited the purposes of the administration because it invoked our military might. But military actions require an imminent danger. However, German forces present no danger to the United States or its way of life.
The attack on Pearl Harbor was perpetrated by slanty-eyed Japanese bastards, and should not be used as an excuse to use force against innocent, upstanding white German men and women. We should not invade Germany. Our soldiers should not be the police force of the world, and using them as such will only get Americans killed.
This does not mean that we should not use military means to bring certain enemies to justice. However, if we engage Germany in open warfare we are bound to create some innocent victims, and the more of them there are, the greater the resentment and the better the chances that some victims will turn into haters of America.
On Dec. 7, the United States was the victim of a heinous crime, and the whole world expressed spontaneous and genuine sympathy. Since then, though we Americans are loath to admit it, the war on fascism has claimed more innocent civilians in Germany and Italy than were lost in the attacks on the Pearl Harbor. The comparison is rarely made in the U.S.: American lives are valued differently from the lives of foreigners, but the distinction is less obvious to people abroad.
The war on fascism as pursued by the Roosevelt administration is more likely to bring about a permanent state of war than an end to fascism. Fascists are invisible; therefore, they will never disappear. They will continue to provide a convenient pretext for the pursuit of American supremacy by military means. That, in turn, will continue to generate resistance, setting up a vicious circle of escalating violence.
The important thing to remember about fascism is that it is a reflexive phenomenon. Its impact and development depend on the actions and reactions of the victims. If the victims react by turning into perpetrators, fascism triumphs in the sense of engendering more and more violence. They — not we — will be setting our priorities.
The United States is the most powerful country on Earth. While it cannot impose its will on the world, nothing much can be done in the way of international cooperation without its leadership or at least active participation.
The United States has a greater degree of discretion in deciding the shape of the world than anybody else. Other countries don't have a choice: They must respond to U.S. policy. This imposes a unique responsibility on the United States: Our nation must concern itself with the well-being of the world. The United States is the only country that can take the lead in addressing problems that require collective action: preserving peace, assuring economic progress, protecting the environment and so on. Fighting fascism falls into this category.
By using the war on Japan as a pretext for asserting our military supremacy over Germany, we are embarking on an escalating spiral of violence. If instead we were to set an example of cooperative behavior, we could not only alleviate poverty, misery and injustice in the world, but also gain support for defending ourselves against fascism. We will be the greatest beneficiaries if we do so.
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