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Shangri-LA, issue 4, January-February 1948
Page 10
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THE THIRD AMERICAN REVOLUTION (a Book Report) by Dale Hart In Nietsche, I see only fragments of the truth, the truth that can be apprehended by my imperfect mind. In London, I seem to see large and integrated sections of what the truth must be. The hero of the novel is Ernest Everhard, a socialistic revolutionary, and his test of truth is---will it work and will you trust your life to it? Some of Everhard's ideas, briefly, are: Primitive man combined to beat the competition of his environment, and that competition naturally evolves into combinations, and that combinations evolve into bigger and better combinations. Competition in the capitalistic world results in a large surplus which cannot be consumed by the capitalists. The surplus must be used to develop new industries of countries---and this process must end somewhere. Class struggle is not class hatred, and the proletariat must struggle for a better existence. Those in power manufacture their own morality and then rationalize this morality. To prevent spiritual mayhem---the surrendering of personal feelings to professional feelings--the Brotherhood of Man is necessary. Labor must revolt against Capital, and it does, in the book. The Oligarchy is helped by some members of the proletariat, and vice versa. Education and religion help maintain the status quo. The fighting is often confused and inconclusive. Heroes die beside cowards, there is sudden and lingering death, and counter-espionage meets espionage. On the last page, the Third American Revolution is in progress still. A few interesting facets of the narrative: The use of balloons and a new explosive called Expedite; the anticipation of plastic surgery; the thesis that charity is only the poulticing of an ulcer; the fallacious and dated conception of Hearst; the resume of Rockefeller's career; and the footnotes indicating what the men of the future might well think of the last two centuries. I enjoyed the book, as I enjoy all radical literature. I excused all the posturing of the characters, I applauded all the incisive arguments, and I loved the Utopian spirit. Emotion was too mixed with facts, true...but this emotion did not invalidate those facts. (*The Iron Heel," by Jack London. Published by Macmillan, New York, 1908. 354 pages.) -10 -
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THE THIRD AMERICAN REVOLUTION (a Book Report) by Dale Hart In Nietsche, I see only fragments of the truth, the truth that can be apprehended by my imperfect mind. In London, I seem to see large and integrated sections of what the truth must be. The hero of the novel is Ernest Everhard, a socialistic revolutionary, and his test of truth is---will it work and will you trust your life to it? Some of Everhard's ideas, briefly, are: Primitive man combined to beat the competition of his environment, and that competition naturally evolves into combinations, and that combinations evolve into bigger and better combinations. Competition in the capitalistic world results in a large surplus which cannot be consumed by the capitalists. The surplus must be used to develop new industries of countries---and this process must end somewhere. Class struggle is not class hatred, and the proletariat must struggle for a better existence. Those in power manufacture their own morality and then rationalize this morality. To prevent spiritual mayhem---the surrendering of personal feelings to professional feelings--the Brotherhood of Man is necessary. Labor must revolt against Capital, and it does, in the book. The Oligarchy is helped by some members of the proletariat, and vice versa. Education and religion help maintain the status quo. The fighting is often confused and inconclusive. Heroes die beside cowards, there is sudden and lingering death, and counter-espionage meets espionage. On the last page, the Third American Revolution is in progress still. A few interesting facets of the narrative: The use of balloons and a new explosive called Expedite; the anticipation of plastic surgery; the thesis that charity is only the poulticing of an ulcer; the fallacious and dated conception of Hearst; the resume of Rockefeller's career; and the footnotes indicating what the men of the future might well think of the last two centuries. I enjoyed the book, as I enjoy all radical literature. I excused all the posturing of the characters, I applauded all the incisive arguments, and I loved the Utopian spirit. Emotion was too mixed with facts, true...but this emotion did not invalidate those facts. (*The Iron Heel," by Jack London. Published by Macmillan, New York, 1908. 354 pages.) -10 -
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