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Milty's Mag, issue 9, March 1943

Page 8

MILTY'S MAG             Page eight.

The purple shirts over in that corner send out a lot of propaganda arguing for an idea which you do not like and which you think is dangerous to yourself. If nobody does anything, the purple shirts are going to recruit a lot of people to their ideas and the result may be trouble. To check that you have to do two things. First, get up on your own legs and talk. Don't let people be argued to that other side. Blow your own horn. Make your own propaganda. Simultaneously, find out what it is that is making people dissatisfied so that they join up with these inimical groups and do something about these conditions.

That is the basis of a peaceful world: Don't let the other side get big enough to hurt you, and keep conditions in such a good state that people will not want to flock to harmful ideologies. Theoretically, the second should take care of the first. Personally, I have a suspicion that counter-propaganda is necessary in spite of social stability. That is why I say that I like to get on a side and do my own arguing.

..... Begging your pardon, Jack, but when you say that people should wear neckties as a sign of self- discipline, you are just being full of stuff. As I say elsewhere in this issue, the less symbols we have the better I like it. Hell, neckties aren't a symbol of comfort vs. social aims (I may ask what social aims) -- they're a sign of man's slavery to fasion. I like neckties with pretty designs and colors from an aesthetic point of view, but why wear them on hot days? The Russians have a better idea. They embroider the entire shirt and don't bother with neckties.

I wrote a rather boring article on the nature of war just so I could join into the present discussion about what is going on. However, I won't have time to stencil it, so you can shout hallelujah. It boiled down to interpreting war as a method of solving disputes which evolved from simple hand-to-hand combats to very complex formal wars. People fight wars because they have gotten into the habit of solving problems in that manner and they don't know how to get out of it. I don't think there are any basic instincts for war per se. Certain instincts, such as possessiveness and self-preservation may be channeled by these habits into war. Without reasoning from the past to the present, thepicture of a highly trained man in a highly developed machine like the airplane shooting high-velocity projectiles at other men in similar machines is entirely senseless. When you visualize it as the end product of a complex evolution, then it is possible to understand it. Understanding doesn't mean condoning.

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MILTY'S MAG Page eight. The purple shirts over in that corner send out a lot of propaganda arguing for an idea which you do not like and which you think is dangerous to yourself. If nobody does anything, the purple shirts are going to recruit a lot of people to their ideas and the result may be trouble. To check that you have to do two things. First, get up on your own legs and talk. Don't let people be argued to that other side. Blow your own horn. Make your own propaganda. Simultaneously, find out what it is that is making people dissatisfied so that they join up with these inimical groups and do something about these conditions. That is the basis of a peaceful world: Don't let the other side get big enough to hurt you, and keep conditions in such a good state that people will not want to flock to harmful ideologies. Theoretically, the second should take care of the first. Personally, I have a suspicion that counter-propaganda is necessary in spite of social stability. That is why I say that I like to get on a side and do my own arguing. ..... Begging your pardon, Jack, but when you say that people should wear neckties as a sign of self- discipline, you are just being full of stuff. As I say elsewhere in this issue, the less symbols we have the better I like it. Hell, neckties aren't a symbol of comfort vs. social aims (I may ask what social aims) -- they're a sign of man's slavery to fasion. I like neckties with pretty designs and colors from an aesthetic point of view, but why wear them on hot days? The Russians have a better idea. They embroider the entire shirt and don't bother with neckties. I wrote a rather boring article on the nature of war just so I could join into the present discussion about what is going on. However, I won't have time to stencil it, so you can shout hallelujah. It boiled down to interpreting war as a method of solving disputes which evolved from simple hand-to-hand combats to very complex formal wars. People fight wars because they have gotten into the habit of solving problems in that manner and they don't know how to get out of it. I don't think there are any basic instincts for war per se. Certain instincts, such as possessiveness and self-preservation may be channeled by these habits into war. Without reasoning from the past to the present, thepicture of a highly trained man in a highly developed machine like the airplane shooting high-velocity projectiles at other men in similar machines is entirely senseless. When you visualize it as the end product of a complex evolution, then it is possible to understand it. Understanding doesn't mean condoning.