Right from the Beginning. - book reviews

Washington Monthly, April, 1988 by James Fallows

In his final chapters, which switch from memoir to manifesto, Buchanan argues that the U.S. must not simply resist communism, it must be committed to rolling it back in the Russian heartland itself. (The chapter is called "Containment is Not Enough.") "The only way to bring true peace to mankind," he says, "is to eliminate the root cause of this century's struggle: the Communist party of the Soviet Union."

Now, I know why Buchanan believes Soviet communism must be overthrown. In this book he tells me: it's a matter of faith. "The Catholic Church of Pius XI and Pius XII, in which we were raised, never lost sight of the truth that the permanent, irreconcilable, and decisive conflict for the destiny of mankind was between a West, built upon Judeo-Christian values, and the Communist East....Either men are, or they are not, children of God, with immortal souls, destined for eternity and possessed of God-given rights no government can take away. If they are, Communism is rooted in a lie; and every regime built upon that lie is inherently illegitimate. We were taught that, and we believed that then--and we still do."

But suppose I disagree. Suppose what I know about Russian politics and history, leads me to conclude that while the "de-Leninization of the Soviet Union" would be desirable, we can't make it happen. The Russians beat Napoleon, they beat Hitler, and they can out-sacrifice and out-wait us. Suppose, moreover, I have a fatalistic/isolationist view: it's their country, it's a long way from ours, let them run it the way they want, especially since we probably can't change its internal structure anyway.

Furthermore, suppose that what I have seen in the Third World, and Buchanan has not, convinces me that the struggle between communism and Christianity is really beside the point in most of these countries. It's absurd to talk about "Judeo-Christian values" being involved in Thailand's victory over its communist guerrillas; there are practically no Christians in the entire country (and even fewer Judeos). The powerful forces of nationalism were against the communists in Thailand, as they'd been on the communists' side against the French and Americans in Vietnam--and the U.S. played its part mainly by getting out of the Thai government's way. In the 1950s, Malaya used the powerful forces of racial hatred to help beat its "communist terrorist." (Most of the communists were Chinese, so the mainly Malay military happily hunted them down.) It's absurd to speak of communism in China as if it were primarily a question of saving souls. If Buchanan can find much difference between how the Chinese carry out their traditional ceremonies in communist Guangzhou and in super-capitalist Singapore, he's seen something most other people can't.

Suppose, in short, we disagree about the right policy--toward communism, about taxes and welfare, whatever. In that case, it doesn't impress me very much that Buchanan has "certitude" and still believes what he was taught. And it doesn't impress him that my experience goes counter to his faith. In normal politics we would debate about facts and interpretation, and one of us might persuade the other. But this disagreement isn't about facts. All that's left is Holy War.