Is Tomorrow Hitler's? 200 Questions on the Battle of MankindKnickerbocker, H. R. (Hubert Renfro)
History
Is Tomorrow Hitler's? 200 Questions on the Battle of Mankind
Knickerbocker, H. R. (Hubert Renfro)
Europe -- Politics and government -- 1918-1945; World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945 -- United States
Another impressive sign of the wisdom of the British Labor Party from
the leaders to the rank and file is that you do not hear from them the
demands for a “definition of war aims” which are so loudly voiced by
groups of American liberals. These Americans who are so concerned about
establishing the chemical purity of British intentions, and who insist
on a blueprint of the peace settlement, and a guarantee that the world
will be made over in a style that meets with their approval--these
Americans show precisely the incomprehension of Hitler that Chamberlain
showed with his appeasement. Your ordinary British dock worker knows
more about the meaning of the war than scores of American intellectuals
who are still bleating about war aims. As the British Labor publicist,
G. D. H. Cole, put it, “The Labor leaders and the great majority
of their followers alike believed firmly that the defeat of Hitler
mattered immeasurably more than anything else. For this reason they
were ready to put aside even their socialism and the greater part of
their reforming policy and even to abstain from criticizing openly
the government’s mistakes rather than run any risk of dividing the
national elements which stood for a vigorous prosecution of the war.”
Q. _Is Churchill what you would call a realist or an idealist?_
A. Churchill is both. He is a hardheaded, tough-minded idealist and
an imaginative, generous realist. He is convinced that the policy
which works for the good of all will also work best for the good of
the individual. This is the foundation stone of civilization. Hitler
believes that the smart man is the man who exploits others. Hitler’s
are the ethics of the “heel,” the gangster, the racketeer, the cheat
who is always on the lookout for a chance to swindle, or rob, betray,
or murder for profit. The Churchill attitude is that of the moral man,
the member of society. The Hitler attitude is that of the amoral man,
the bandit preying upon society.
I do not think Churchill is formally a religious man, although he
attends divine services and thus sets an example for the nation under
his leadership. But Churchill’s beliefs add up to something closely
approaching practical Christianity. It seems to me that very few
Americans really understand what Churchill stands for. He is so much in
the public eye as a war leader, that we are bound to think of him as
a warrior first. We forget or never were told that he is first of all
a builder. Before the war, in the field of international relations he
believed passionately in the life-and-death necessity of sustaining the
League, of collective security through the League.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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