75-16-A4
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Ruritania[edit]
Transcript[edit]James Burnham has authored a column which should alert us to the fact that a great many opinion makers on the watch for any threat from the right, have a blind spot to danger from the left. I'll be right back. Columnist James Burnham writes an interesting what-if story about an imaginary country he calls Ruritania. A group of military officers stage a coup and take over the government. They explain their action as necessary to free the people from oppression by a left-wing regime that was headed toward a soviet-style totalitarian dictatorship. A year later the military junta announces it will continue to rule for at least three to five more years, regardless of the outcome of any elections that people might hold. Naturally, they've outlawed the communist and socialist parties in all left-wing organizations. Leftist and liberal newspapers and publications have been outlawed, as have gatherings by liberals. Any attempts to hold such meetings are broken up by right-wing militants. Thousands of people have been jailed without any legal process such as serving warrants and none have been brought to trial. Many thousands of others have fled the country. Inflation has reached the highest level in the world and unemployment is tripled. Strikes, of course, have been banned as counter-revolutionary. At this point in his story, Mr. Burnham asks, what the response would be in other nations, and here he doesn't have to deal in fancy. There are enough real examples for us to know that countless meetings would be held, speeches made, organizations formed, and demonstrators would march. Student sit-ins would follow, editorials, petitions, and TV specials denouncing the fascist military dictators. Of course, the UN would get in the act with eloquent speeches thundering through the halls, protesting the violation of human, civil, and political rights of the Ruritanian workers and peasants. The intellectual community and, yes, some segments of the clergy, would appeal to the conscience of mankind. Burnham describes the ad-hoc committees that would spring up in a dozen countries demanding sanctions and severance of diplomatic relations. Ruritanian escapees would be offered professorial chairs on the campuses and their lectures fees would triple. Then, quoting Mr. Burnham, "Murray Kempton, Anthony Lewis, Garry Wills, Harriet Van Horne, and Tom Wicker would have a collective fit. A special issue of Time would give in-depth coverage of terror in Ruritania. Jack Anderson would reveal that CIA had financed the Ruritanian generals." end quote. He's drawn a very accurate picture substantiated by actual incidents but then he explains the reason behind his mythical kingdom story. All that he said about the military takeover, the jailing of innocent citizens, the denial of human rights, the economic tragedy of inflation and unemployment, is happening right now. All we have to do is reverse left and right. He's telling the story of Portugal today. The military dictators are left-wing, the outlawed parties are moderate or right, as are the banned publications. The fiction begins with the description of world reaction. Except for an almost unheard-of fringe, the usual protest apparatus isn't the least upset about what is happening in Portugal. As Mr. Burnham says the media together with the other reverberators of public opinion are so organically and totally biased that they are not aware of their bias. There's one way of responding to acts of the left, another way to the same acts sprung from the right. One simple factor is decisive. Does the regime suppress the Communist Party? If it does, it belongs with the bad guys. End quote. This is Ronald Reagan. Thanks for listening. |
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