The KANSAN Comments...
PAGE SIX
SUNDAY, FEBRUARY, 16, 1941
SELLING DEMOCRACY By SIEGFRIED MICKELSON Assistant Professor of Journalism
EDWARD L. BERNAYS; who is famous for selling soap, electric light bulbs, and bobbed hair; tried marketing a new commodity last fall when he wrote a book entitled, "Speak Up For Democracy." The book is a manual of public relations methods for selling democracy.
Now, there's no denying that publishing this volume was a fine and patriotic thing for Mr. Bernays to do. But then again it frightens one to think that it has become necessary to employ public relations methods to sell democracy to the American people. And it has its dangerous side, too.
Ever since the German army knocked the socks off the rather uncertain French in Northern France last summer, the United States has been going through something like a college pep meeting.
Irving Berlin wrote the alma mater song, "God Bless America"; Bernays wrote the manual for cheerleaders; thousands of leading Americans, professional patriots and honest men, are leading the cheers; America's cosmeticians, dress designers, button manufacturers, and pennant fabricators are providing the decorations.
You can't fail to spot a compact, a purse, or a dress done in a flag design if you walk past the windows of the leading department stores in American cities. Homes decorated in good taste are being cluttered up with God Bless America pennants.
Now this sudden trend toward paying homage to democracy is fine, with one exception. None of the salesmen for democracy have yet taken the trouble to explain the merits of their product. The public is being sold a neatly decorated carton on the merits of the carton itself, not its contents.
Word For Sale—No Product
The American people are being sold the word "democracy"—not democracy itself. They are being taught to revere the froth of empty symbols, not the substance of solid philosophy.
It may be possible to sell a commercial product with a slogan, "Four Out of Five Have It," or even a political candidate with "Keep Cool with Coolidge," or "Hoover and Prosperity." But with the world as confused as it is, it's unthinkable to hope to preserve world democracy by driving home an empty word.
And that leads us to the dangerous element in the present campaign for democracy.
"Americanism" vs. "Fascism"
Huey Long, who was without doubt an incipient American fascist, if not an outstanding example of fascism at work, is reputed once to have said, "When we have fascism in American, we'll call it Americanism." Why couldn't we just as well call it democracy?
Let's assume for the moment that we want to sell fascism to the American people. How would we go about it in order to insure any reasonable hope of success?
We could sing the praises of Hitler and German fascism. But that wouldn't work. The American people uniformly hate Hitler. We could argue that only a fascist state could protect our interests. But the American people have too many prejudices against fascism to hope to use a direct attack, so we'd try an indirect attack.
Our first job would be to find out what the citizens of the United States like. They like democracy, the constitution, Americanism, capitalism, and Christianity.
It wouldn't cost us anything to evolt all these virtues of the great democratic state. We could join in with any great, but empty, campaign for democracy.
Task number two is to discover what the American people dislike, preferably what they detest.
That's easy. They detest communism, fascism, atheism, all isms, and many of them secretly dislike Jews, labor, and even Catholics.
We should be offending relatively few influential people and gaining the sympathy of many if we were to attack each of these widely known symbols.
Advocate Repression
Our attack would be violent. We would argue that communists, fascists, atheists, Jews, members of organized labor, socialists, liberals, and Catholics are jeopardizing the existence of democracy, the constitution, Americanism, capitalism, and Christianity.
We'd identify all our enemies with one or the other of those hated organizations that are seeking to undermine all those fine things for which we stand. We'd make all labor leaders "red, Jews, and atheists." We'd make Jews, Communists; and Communists, Jews.
In an effort to split the country, we'd tag the administration in power with the same hated labels. If any man were to stand in our way, we'd call him a communist, or a Jew, or one of the other terms in our catalogue.
And then we'd come back to our original premise We must save democracy and Americanism. So we'd advocate repressive measures against all of those whom we had termed un-American.
If everything went right, before long we'd have enough repressive measures to handcuff our enemies. Under those circumstances, our government would hardly be democratic. It would deny freedom of speech, freedom of press, and freedom of worship to any person branded with the hated label which we had applied to him. It would result in hatred, bitterness, recriminations, and most important, a demand for stability. The fascist state supplies the stability. It enforces its stability with all the cruel and repressive measures known to man. But, although we had abrogated all the privileges of democracy, we could still shout our love for the word.
Such a situation isn't unthinkable in the United States. In ordinary times, perhaps, the program would never work itself out, but in the confusion brought about by world turmoil, reason seldom holds its own with madness. The system worked in Germany. It worked in Italy. Hitler saved Germanism for Germany. Mussolini saved Italianism for Italy. The unthinking strung along with fascists hoping for stability and for the preservation of all those traditions which they considered sacred. They got repression and fascism.
Need Democratic Means
Therein lies the danger of paying lip service to democracy as a symbol, notocracy as a dynamic, effective, and free way of life.
As the fog of confusion grows thicker and the arguments of opposing factions on the war issue grow more bitter, the United States will need a solid democracy to anchor itself onto. Too easily can the honest citizen, embroiled in the bitter conflicts arising from the international turmoil, be victimized by the clever manipulators of symbols.
What can the thinking, patriotic American citizen do?
He can preach democracy as a living, working, dynamic system of government—not as an empty symbol, to be interpreted to any unscrupulous manipulators end.
He can use all means to make democracy more real and more effective.
And he can protect the United States from undemocratic elements by the use of democratic means-not by the repressive measures born out of fascist stimulated hysteria.
UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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ROCK CHALK TALK
By HEIDI VIETS
Jim Gillie got huffy the other day and bet brother D.U. Glen Perkins that he could walk to Topeka in four and one half hours. This weekend he is to try to prove it. Perkins will drive along side just to see that he doesn't hop on a bicycle.
At the banquet of Phi Delta Phi, professional legal fraternity, Thursday night John S. Dawson, chief justice of the Kansas Supreme Court, was speaker. He began by addressing them as brothers in Phi Alpha Delta, also a professional legal fraternity and a bitter enemy of the Phi Delta Phi's. Halfway through his speech he realized the error.
Sarilou Smart, who announced her engagement to Clyde Pace this week had to break a date for today. It's the day of their wedding.
"Whose day is it to get lunch?" asked Lafe Bauer in the Rock Chalk Co-op.
"It's Doom's day," they told him.
But Gabriel didn't start tooting on his horn. Everton Doom is one of the Co-op cooks.
The other day Larry Blair, Jayhawk Co-op, had a large flapjack on his plate. He buttered it, reached for the pitcher, and poured. Syrup? No, coffee. He said it tasted like a dunked doughnut.
Since Betty Willis went with the scout master to a boy scout dinner the other night, her motto is "Be prepared."
Thursday night at the Granada, Ramus II was going to town answering questions by mystical concentration when he came to, "Will I pass that quiz?" It was Kay Claybaugh's question.
"When is this quiz?" asked Ramus.
"Tomorrow," said Claybaugh.
"Then," cried Ramus, "what in the world are you doing in the show?"
OFFICIAL BULLETIN UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS
Vol. 38 Sunday, Feb. 16, 1941 No. 87
Notices due at Chancellor's office at 3 p.m. on day before publication during the week, and at 11 a.m. on Saturday for Sunday issue.
CERAMICS EXHIBITION; An exhibition of ceramics by Miss Gadys Bate, guest instructor of the Design department, made while she was studying in Sweden is being shown in the halls of the third floor of West Frank Strong hall.—Marjorie Whitney.
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE ORGANIZATION: Christian Science Organization will hold a regular meeting Tuesday afternoon at 4:30 in the Pine Room of the Union Building. All students, graduates, and faculty members are welcome—Patricia Neil, secretary.
COLLEGE FACULTY MEETING: The faculty of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences will meet on Tuesday, at 4:30 in the Auditorium on the third floor of Frank Strong Hall—Deane W. Malolt, president.
DRAMATIC CLUB: The Dramatic Club picture will be taken Tuesday afternoon at 5 o'clock, Lawrence Studio—Shirley Jane Ruble, president.
EDNA OSBORNE WHITCOMB SCHOLARSHIP: Applications for the Edna Osborne Whitcomb Scholarship for the school year 1941-'42 should be made in Room 1, Frank Strong Hall, before March 15. The scholarship is open to women students majoring in English.-Lela Ross, executive secretary, committee on Aids and Awards.
FALL SEMESTER GRADES: Grades for the fall semester may be obtained from the Registrar's office this week, according to the following schedule of names: Monday, A to G inclusive; Tuesday, H to M inclusive; Wednesday, N to S inclusive; Thursday, T to Z inclusive; Friday and Saturday, those unable to appear at the scheduled time.—George O. Foster, registrar.
JAY JANES: Jay Janes will meet at 4:30 in the Pine Room of the Union building Wednesday—Ruth Spencer, Aspheraf, president.
to our M.S.C. There will be a meeting of the M.S.C. tomorrow evening at 8 o'clock—Jim Burdge, secretary.
NEW ADDRESSES FOR DIRECTORY SUPPLEMENT: Students who changed addresses between semesters and who have not reported new addresses to the Registrar's office should file those addresses at once, so that corrections may appear in the Directory Supplement.—George O. Foster, registrar.
NOTICE TO ALL STUDENTS: Dr. E. T. Gibson will be available for personal conferences at Watkins Memorial Hospital on Tuesday afternoons from 2 to 5. Appointments should be made at the Watkins Memorial hospital—Dr. R. I. Cauteson.
SIAMESE ART EXHIBITION: There will be an exhibition of Siamese art in room 320 West Frank Strong Hall from Feb. 10 through Feb. 23. This exhibition includes hand-woven textiles and craft work of Siam from a collection belonging to Mr. Wallace Lee, Federal geologist—Marjorie Whitney.
PSYCHOLOGICAL EXAMINATION: A make-up psychological examination will be given at 9 o'clock Saturday morning, Feb. 22 in 112 Fraser.-A. H. Turney.
W. S.G.A. COUNCIL: W.S.G.A. Council will meet at 7:00 in the Pine Room on Tuesday—Doris Twente, secretary.
Y. M.-Y.W.: Explore the Modern Implications of the Teachings of Jesus. Y.M.-Y.W. extension group, Mary Helen Wilson chairman, will meet on Wednesday at 4:30 at Henley House. All students are welcome—Mary Helen Wilson.