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5423967_2_0070.xml
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<bibl><title>Rassviet (The Dawn)</title>,
<date when="1935-03-30">Mar. 30, 1935</date>.
<title level="a">Is Communist America Possible?</title><title level="a" type="sub">Retort of Senator James A. Davis to the Article by Trotsky on Communism in America</title></bibl>
</title>
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<publisher>The Newberry Library</publisher>
<pubPlace>Chicago, Illinois</pubPlace>
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<addrLine>60 West Walton</addrLine>
<addrLine>Chicago, IL 60610</addrLine>
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<addrLine>http://www.newberry.org</addrLine>
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<idno>5423967_2_0070</idno>
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<notesStmt>
<note>Transcribed from digital images contributed to the Internet
Archive by the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.</note>
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<bibl><title>Chicago Foreign Language Press Survey</title>, <date>1936-1941</date>,
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<sponsor>Chicago Public Library Omnibus Project</sponsor></bibl>
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<item>RUSSIAN</item>
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<item>I E</item>
<item>III H</item>
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<div type="citation">
<bibl><title>Rassviet (The Dawn)</title>,
<date when="1935-03-30">Mar. 30, 1935</date>.
<title level="a">IS COMMUNIST AMERICA POSSIBLE?</title><title level="a" type="sub">Retort of Senator James A. Davis to the Article By Trotsky on Communism in America</title></bibl>
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<body>
<p>An article by L. Trotsky, printed in the magazine Liberty, on the possibility of Communism overwhelming America, called forth a reply in the same publication by the former Secretary of Labor, the present Senator from the State of Pennsylvania, James A. Davis.</p>
<p>Davis ridicules the premises and conclusions set forth by Trotsky. He states that "from the time of Plato and his conception of republics to the time of the theories on Communism promulgated by Trotsky, many Utopias have been tested in the clinics of practical attempts at reform, but all such experiments have ended in failures.</p>
<p>"Insurmountable obstacles," continues Davis, "practically preclude the <pb facs="5423967_2_0071.jpg" n="2"/>possibility of Communism establishing itself in America.</p>
<p>"The fate of Trotsky himself, who was deposed by Stalin, and the fate of the U.S.S.R. under the regime of Communism speak against such an experiment in America; and, as all Utopias in history, new attempts are doomed to failure. The ideal of the perfect state was not achieved by Plato in ancient Greece, nor by Spencer in England, nor by Trotsky in exile.</p>
<p>"It is true," admits the senator, "the United States sprang from a revolution, but this was caused by the thirst for freedom, not by class antagonism, religious dissent or any of the other causes which overwhelmed the governments in Europe. In America only temporary dislocation of the economic balance between production, distribution and consumption has occurred, but all this will be corrected, because America at present progresses more rapidly than other countries. The United States is conservative because it has <pb facs="5423967_2_0072.jpg" n="3"/>some things to conserve. If the workers in the rest of the world received the same high wages as the American workers then the purchasing power of the mass of the peoples would give employment for the workers in every country.</p>
<p>"America," assumes Senator Davis, "although sick with an economic malady, will not fall for promises of the Soviet Utopia, and will not sacrifice its traditional liberties acquired through experience. Trotsky loses sight of the counter-revolutionaries, the upper class, the ten per cent of the population which controls the press, the radio, the movies, the railroads, the steamships and other industries. This group is so strong that it managed to force America into the war, and will manage to save America from revolution."</p>
<p>Davis ridicules Trotsky's proposal to settle all millionaires on an island paradise. "Men of Science and executive geniuses who have created riches <pb facs="5423967_2_0073.jpg" n="4"/>by their own brilliant achievements will not leave us, and by remaining they will become leaders and rulers in the new setup. Then, what kind of communism will it be? Just as absurd are dreams of Pan-Americanism. Citizens of Canada, while remaining loyal to the English King, have nothing in common with the American people, and hot-tempered Southerners will not fraternize with Northerners. This Trotsky idyl also cannot stand the test of reason."</p>
<p>"Trotsky's idea of Soviet-America also belongs to the sphere of Utopias," the Senator states. "Planned economy is diametrically opposed to personal liberty and democracy. Individual liberty is incompatible with collectivist principles and regimentation from above."</p>
<p>"Trotsky," writes Davis, "has not laid down pratical revolutionary technique. Counterrevolution will seize transport and will bring hunger upon the country, and this will be ascribed to Communism. The chaos so created will not help, but will harm the revolution of Communism. "Trotsky", says the author, <pb facs="5423967_2_0074.jpg" n="5"/>"himself speaks against the success of revolution. Although possessed of immense power he was not able to nullify the will left by Lenin, and he was easily removed from the stage by Stalin and his clique.</p>
<p>"The achievements of Communism in Soviet Russia", concludes the author, "are rather negative. What has this Utopia brought to the peasant? Has it done away with the class struggle, or has it provoked new hatreds and created, as Bakumin once said, 'a brotherhood of violence'?</p>
<p>"The Communists have created a powerful bureaucracy made up of a group of opportunists, who have not fullfilled even one promise of Marx or of their own. The best social reform in America, which will be followed by others, is to secure for workers enough earning power not only to preserve but to raise to a higher level the existing standard of living. In the new state, according to Trotsky, individual liberty, economic democracy, competitive <pb facs="5423967_2_0075.jpg" n="6"/>spirit, freedom of the press and other attributes will prevail.</p>
<p>"But then," asks Davis, "will it be genuine Communism, or some form of society entirely antagonistic to it?"</p>
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