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The Externalization of the Hierarchy - Section III - Forces behind the Evolutionary Process
The above six factors ensure the defeat of the Forces of Evil and the triumph of the Forces of Light, and with these as the basis of optimism we can look ahead with sure hope to the ending of the war, to the demobilization of the armies, to the tranquil passage of the seven seas and to the time when fear begins to die out. What then will be the dangers to be offset? For what must we be prepared when the task of reconstruction confronts us? It might be useful to enumerate some of the dangers for which we must be prepared. Let us consider them in the order of their importance: 1. The danger of too prompt a peace settlement. Let us work hard for a prolonged armistice, during which the heat of battle and the fires of revenge can have time to die down, the agony of mankind can be assuaged, and time be gained for calm, unhurried planning. 2. The danger of a return to so-called normality. The outstanding disaster which faces humanity at this time is a return to the state of affairs prior to the outbreak of war, and the rehabilitation of the old familiar world, with its imperialism (whether of empire or finance), its nationalisms and its distressed, exploited minorities, its vile distinctions and separative barriers between rich and poor, between [370] the oriental and the occidental, and between the castes and classes which are found in every land - without any exception. 3. The dangers incident to the necessary adjustments between the nations. Any adjustment made upon the basis of historical tradition or ancient boundaries will only serve to plunge the world again into war. These adjustments must be carried out on the basis of humanity itself; the will of free peoples must be the determining factor and not the will of technical, political experts, or of some ruling class or group. In the world which is coming, the human equation will take a predominant position; human beings will determine, as far as in them lies, their own destiny and men will exercise their free will in establishing the kind of world in which they choose to live. They will decide in which country they prefer to claim citizenship and the type of government to which they choose to give allegiance. This will necessarily all take time and must be an unhurried process. It will call for a planned education of the masses in every country; and the principles of freedom, and the distinction between freedom and license, will have to be carefully taught. A new world based upon the restoration of territorial limits, historically determined, will fail to end strife, aggression and fear. A new world based on human values and right human relations can institute (slowly to be sure, but inevitably) that new civilization which men of goodwill demand for humanity as a whole. 4. The dangers growing out of hate, revenge and pain. These dangers will be the most difficult to avoid. A deep seated hatred of the Nazi regime (and of the German nation as endorsing that regime) is steadily rising. This is almost inevitable, being based on the facts of Nazi activity. The task of the United Nations after the war will of necessity be - among other things - to protect the German people from the hate of those whom they have so appallingly abused. This will be no easy thing to do. Retribution and revenge must not be permitted, and yet at the same time a just payment for evil action cannot, and should not, be avoided. [371] The law ever works, and that law states that whatsoever a man or nation sows, that shall it also reap. Germany has sown evil broadcast throughout the civilized world, and for some time to come her lot must be hard and she will have to pay in sweat and toil and tears for her evil deeds. But this payment should be part of the great work of rehabilitation and not a vengeful exaction, and if this is borne in mind, no serious mistakes will be made. The German people must work strenuously to put right the evil they have done, as far as in them lies, but the next generation - at present in the cradle or at school - must not be penalized. The little children and the babies of the German race - innocent of the wrong actions of their fathers and brothers - should not be implicated in the penalties exacted. The young men of today in Germany must, by the labor of their hands and the sweat of their brows, rebuild that which they have so ruthlessly destroyed, but the unoffending, though weak, elderly people, the little children and the adolescent boys and girls must be exempt and must be trained to be citizens of a better and a finer Germany than has ever yet existed - a Germany that is a constructive part of the whole and not a menace and a terror to all right-thinking men. The arousing of the men of goodwill in every nation - men who see humanity as a whole and all men as brothers - is the only way in which this rising tide of hate can be stemmed. It will not be stemmed by telling those who have suffered at the hands of the Axis nations that they must not hate, or by exhorting people who have been the victims of traitors that they must not bear ill-will to such men as Quisling and Laval. It will be offset by a great demonstration of practical love and understanding on the part of the United Nations - a love which will work out in the form of food for the hungry, nursing for the sick, the rebuilding of the ruined cities, and the restoration of the "scorched earth." The problems of hate and revenge will require the utmost skill in handling and will necessitate exceedingly wise action on the part of the free nations. [372]
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