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| Title | What has become of the Russian Revolution |
| Creator (LCNAF) |
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| Contributor (Local) |
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| Publisher | International Review |
| Date | 1937 |
| Subject.Topical (LCSH) |
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| Subject.Topical (Local) |
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| Subject.Geographic (TGN) |
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| Genre (AAT) |
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| Language | English |
| Type (DCMI) |
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| Original Item Extent | 63 pages; 22 cm |
| Original Item Location | HN523.Y8613 1937 |
| Original Item URL | http://library.uh.edu/record=b8304536~S11 |
| Original Collection | Socialist and Communist Pamphlets |
| Digital Collection | Socialist and Communist Pamphlets |
| Digital Collection URL | http://digital.lib.uh.edu/collection/scpamp |
| Repository | Special Collections, University of Houston Libraries |
| Repository URL | http://libraries.uh.edu/branches/special-collections |
| Use and Reproduction | In Copyright |
| File Name | index.cpd |
| Title | Image 45 |
| Format (IMT) |
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| File Name | uhlib_2209396_044.jpg |
| Transcript | slogans, on the latest manner of presenting the slogans without risking the sin of "deviation." One is an "artist" or a "writer" in the USSR to the degree that he aids the official propoganda or embellishes the last slogan. A writer with different opinions stops being a writer soon enough, for he cannot be published or even find paper to write on. The theatre still produces some classic plays and several old operas. It thus acts as a sort of museum of art. But outside of that, the theatre, the screen and the radio produce only what suits the "only truth." They are all under the control of the severest of censorships. The intensity of the official propaganda is so great that it is not only impossible to hear or see anything but the eternal "only truth"—in the factory, lunchroom, at home, in the street, in the movie house, in the newspapers, in books, in the city or in the countryside. It is impossible to avoid hearing and seeing it. Evening courses on "political thought" pursue you at night, into your home. You always need to prove your power of assimilation as a good wide-awake citizen. Orators, writers, actors, cinema players, form an army whose job it is to shape the thought of the population. Stalin found the right word when in his wisdom he applied the title of "engineers of the soul" to his Soviet writers. It is not safe to express your own opinion either in speech or in writing. Only the official organizations may hold public meetings. But even the official organizations—the Soviets, trade-unions, etc.—cannot meet without the control of the Party. The speakers are designated in advance by a superior rank of the organization. The same organs dictate the decisions to be reached at such meetings. Anybody may take the floor. The only condition is that you speak in agreement with the official decision. You may also ask questions, but you must do so orally or sign your name to the written question. There is much criticism at meetings. Everybody criticizes violently and constantly. There is no country where you have so much criticism. But this criticism is directed exclusively against persons who are said not to apply diligently enough the line decided on by the top. Not a meeting passes without the discovery of lukewarmness in a neighbor in the accomplishment of his task. To criticize your neighbor means to push yourself to the fore. You criticize in order to take away a good position from another man, to replace him. These frequent bitter public criticisms call for great pliability on the part of people who want to keep the confidence of the top. The best way to deal with criticism in Russia is to anticipate it or to accept it. When you know yourself to be in danger, you accuse yourself in time. You do it publicly and energetically. You try to do it louder than your critics. You recognize all your errors, though they may be non-existent, and after the theatrical mea-culpa, you express your decision to correct yourself, applying all your strength to the triumph of the line. That is what is called "self-criticism." Not everybody has the mentality permitting him to play this vile comedy easily. But when you want to keep a good position, moral fastidiousness is not an asset. It is especially difficult for the population to escape this intellectual 43 |