The Challenge of Ideas

[Music] the entire globe even as it trembles and passion with the birth of new nations and shrinks in the hand of a dispassionate science is today the site of a momentous conflict as each side attempts to prove to the world the superiority of its position the conflict is fought with the words of diplomats with gestures of friendship and help to uncommitted countries even with cultural demonstrations it is fought indeed on every level of man's experience for the stakes are high as one of the adversaries in the conflict we see a challenge as great as any in our historic past a challenge not we hope to be met and joined in battle but to be faced and fought in the hearts and hopes of men it is the challenge of ideas [Music] [Applause] I am Edward r Marlowe for a little while I would like to review with you the great conflict of our times one which demands and must get the attention and the involvement of each one of us this conflict is the reason why most of you are in uniform and some of you will be going overseas servicemen families of servicemen and civilians working for the Department of Defense because of this conflict many of you are already abroad more than a million Americans in 91 foreign countries first and foremost of course Americans are overseas to help preserve the peace by maintaining an alert readiness to meet the threat of aggression America's armed forces in concert with those of its allies are serving as a deterrent to war some of you may wonder how directly involved in the contest you are or will be perhaps your active duty is behind you or soon will be and with it you may believe your involvement in the contest ends but the truth is that involvement in this conflict is far ranging indeed it touches not only members of the Armed Forces and their families but everyone who supports the mission of the Armed Forces every defense worker every taxpayer who foots the bill who in fact is not involved and the conflict itself how can it be defined well let's look at it this way the communist bloc would like to see the entire world under communist domination over the years as the strength and determination of the free world has gradually convinced communist leaders that aggressive war would be a reckless and costly gamble they have begun to talk more and more about their ability to win from us in the arena of ideas this of course is fine with us while we are people with a traditionally great faith in our ideas the ideas that have moved mountain and created wealth and shaped us as free men and we are confident that history can do no other than award us the victory and any contest in which ideas are the weapon what I would like to say this confidence by itself without effort does not win contests victory in this conflict depends on much much more than confidence it is a contest unlike any we have ever faced in our history as a nation it is total competition with an antagonist who is putting into it everything within his capability it is not a conflict between people's but between basic values and systems of government between the principles of life each believes in when we talk of these conflicting values we are obliged to speak of that special quality which we call for want of a better phrase individual liberty and when we talk of this Liberty in America we talk with many voices for we are a diverse nation and there are perhaps as many concepts of what America is as there are people among us but although we look at America through different eyes there are many insights into the essence of our moving and growing nation that we share I'm John Wayne is there any better or equal hope in the world Lincoln asked than the ultimate justice of the people we Americans believe there is not the stonework of our national life is made of this belief we believe in many things but this belief that man is a responsible being bears out our own unique stamp as a nation as a people we are active and often noisy we are industrious oftentimes to the Battlement of ourselves and our friends we relax as hard as we work we are proud we are sentimental [Music] beauty is of national concern to us for some of us it's pursued as a deadly serious pastime rest of us simply enjoy the results [Music] some of our national spurred shows up in the monuments we erect the large ones and the small ones it rings through the music which animates us [Music] Terry knows that full rainstorm [ __ ] stole my phone still I wanted to scream should have killed him cause he's so down me [Music] Oh [Music] we have on occasion some difference of feeling at other times we are united we are all these things and many more but above everything else we are free believe in the ultimate justice which we as free men can create our heritage of freedom is our most priceless possession and before us have died to keep it alive and many in our times have done the same but although men have died to preserve it may die again the glory of this heritage is the vision of life that it has given us life of dignity and nobility of spirit such as men have never before been enriched by in the long march through the history they have recorded there is a phrase which recurs in our national documents the literature of our story as a people which points to the source of our belief in individual freedom and defines perhaps better than any other the nub of the conflict between the opposing systems of values which sweep the world today that phrase is this nation under God that phrase and others like it set the standard of our concept of man as a creature of God men is being with dignity and conscience were the ability to determine right from wrong and the obligation to act on that right from this belief in man as a responsible being below the beliefs in his other qualifications which we accept usually even without bothering to think about them as parts of that vague condition which we call the American Way his ability indeed his right to explore the truth in all things his ability to govern himself and his ability to handle his own economic problems the opposing point of view in this conflict rests on a fundamentally different vision of man as a creature not of God but of the state in this system the value of individual man diminishes sharply and the state is all-important the state will run his life for him his political life his business life its social life what we oppose fundamentally is the aggressive nature of the communist thing it's unceasing effort to expand wherever it can't to grow bigger to take over to supplant this deadly impulse toward aggression we oppose as a continual threat to peace these are the contrasting points of view between the major antagonists in the conflict which has become known over the last decade as the cold war for an appraisal of this continuing and protracted conflict we can go to a reporter who has watched the growing conflict with the perception of a trained military observer I am Hansen Baldwin I have here the policy statements of each of our services on the contest we're engaged in with the Communists what they boiled down to is this is a contest for the minds and hearts of people around the world all people the areas in point on this map represent the part of the world composed of ourselves and those who share our beliefs the Communists seek constantly to win an advantage in the minds of the people here and to separate us the black portion of the map is the communist dominated part of the world controlled by the Soviet Union and the Chinese communist regime and of tremendous importance is that part of the world which is attached to neither camp the uncommitted nations of the world represented in grey on the map for the most part these nations are absorbed with their own problems either they are newly independent after years of domination by a foreign power or they are still seeking independence a strong tide of nationalism sweeps over this part of the world and with it a mistrust of anything they feel is associated with the old way of colonialism they are not committed to either side in the conflict our own policy toward them has been one strictly of watchful non-intrusive friendship giving help when help is asked for but otherwise keeping hands off their internal affairs the Communists have been more direct their local party members have not hesitated to exploit to their own advantage the passions that smolder in these new states and to identify themselves in the minds of the people there whenever possible with anti-colonialism and us with its opposite it is part of their worldwide technique how do our military services adapt themselves to this conflict in which perhaps no gun may be fired by recognizing that the activities and performances of all their members in every foreign country in which they are stationed will either add to or detract from the goodwill our nation needs in this contest for the respect of the peoples of the world the president of the united states has called developments of good relationships between united states citizens abroad and members of their host countries basic to the full attainment of our foreign policy objectives and the services have responded by promoting such good relationships as part of their overall policy [Music] the Communists initiated the Cold War for the same reason they would have started a hot war had that been feasible or would now should they ever decide that the free world was weak enough for them to risk it whatever the degree of tension they create it is a substitute for hot war another means of achieving their end and their end of course is world conquest short of war if possible world conquest by actions short of war actions that are political economic and ideological how do the Communists apply these three methods first we will consider the political method and the techniques the Communists use when they attempt to acquire their objectives in this way we would do well to consider the success the Communists have had by using the political method alone as you will see from the black area on this map they have expanded between 1940 and 1954 took over 15 countries totaling 714 million people since 1954 there have been major internal disruptions in nine additional countries outside the Iron Curtain now how do they go about applying this political method the communist coup in Czechoslovakia in 1948 provides us with a blueprint of the ideal formula for political contests which includes taking over a country without outside intervention destruction of its parliamentary form of government murder of its democratic leaders when necessary rigged election with only the communist candidates on the ballot once the penetration is complete all this is backed by the naked force of military occupation by such devices the Soviet Union turned its neighboring states into satellites political and economic puppets in China political action was pruder but no less exactly here it was political action by conflict [Music] and so overwhelming as this political conquest been that the Communists have been able to propel Red China to a position of major influence in the eastern world the political force method includes the suppression of freedom in a country already under communist control without outside interference inside the Iron Curtain there were revolution without help from the outside in East Germany in 1953 Poland in 1956 Hungary in the same year and Tibet in 1959 all of them brutally suppressed and finally there is the International Communist Party dedicated to the subversion and overthrow of every still free government [Music] where the political method may not prevail there is always the economic method I'm Frank McGee let's consider for a moment this matter of the Communists use of economic methods to achieve conquest and how it's done the present masters of the Soviet Union have said to us peaceful coexistence until we bury you they propose to officiate that our internment by catching up with us industrially and then surpassing us they're working hard at it today the two hundred million inhabitants of the Soviet state bend their backs and their talents to the Kremlin's will and Sputnik and smooth mix successors have proved conclusively enough the ussr's proficiency in the area of technical ability throughout the vast stretches of this Empire you find new industrial cities plants assembly line the most modern equipment Soviet products of every description awaiting delivery and reaching industrial a backward areas of the non-communist world teams of Russian technicians are available to operate this machine this is economic penetration paving the way for political take over the hand of Soviet friendship which usually precedes an attempt at economic penetration has been reaching into every part of the world which shows the slightest inclination to receive it recently we've seen it extend into our own hemisphere and to turbulent Cuba grant was embraced as a triumph of Soviet policy a few statistics will demonstrate how serious this threat is becoming to the free world of the entire annual Soviet economic capability their gross national product seventy percent or if may run as high as eighty percent is devoted to the area of heavy industry the US and free world share of gross national product devoted to the same area is certainly not much more than twenty percent in terms of volume applied to this area of gross national product the Soviet Union is beginning to surge ahead finally the communist attempt ideological penetration perhaps their strongest efforts go into this kind of penetration into the free world before we talk about ideological penetration itself let's take a look at the reasons why this form of penetration is so important to the Communists for one thing communist aggression has alarmed many free nation and produced their United will to resist these nations have implemented their will to resist all other forms of Soviet penetration through a number of trade agreements the United States and other industrially strong nations of the free world are actively promoting better living conditions all over the world this has the effect not only of helping these countries to improve their industrial and economic position but also of providing a defense against communist entry which flourishes in depressed economic areas the military potential of the free world has been revived by such neutral defense pact as the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Europe the South East Asia Treaty Organization to counter aggression in this part of the world the ANZUS treaty and the Rio treaty to provide Hemisphere defense all over the world our allies are now setting up their own defense bases with the technical know-how to operate them this kind of military help by us is not by any means a one-sided operation relations involved contribute as heavily as they can no less valuable are the morale and friendly relations being generated between servicemen of all a participating company in joint training program demonstrating their respective skills to each other they crossed the language barrier to comradeship disbanding together by nations with a common purpose as produce strength not only in the military and economic field but in the level of moral and spiritual values as well at a meeting of the NATO Atlanta Congress in 1959 a statement was adopted which called attention to the moral unity binding the member nations this document recognizes respect for human dignity as the inalienable basis of civilization among the fundamental rights of man specifically named our respect for the sanctity of human life [Music] the right to freedom of speech of conscience and religion of opinion and believe the right of every man to work and to receive his just reward the right of the family to stability and the right of parents over their children and their education in all these ways economically militarily morally the world outside the Communist orbit slowly draws itself together the practical communists appraise this consolidation of free world defenses that confronts them with a serious deterrence to their world ambitions hence they must destroy allied unity or at least weaken it how well here we return to the subject of ideological penetration for if all other forms of penetration don't work if the United strength of the non-communist world makes political penetration unfeasible and economic penetration unsuccessful if cultural penetration does not do the job the Communist can always hope to succeed by resorting to ideological warfare against their strongest opponent meaning us Americans go home wallstreet warmongers down with american imperialism peace yes Pete their propaganda screen on communist terms naturally [Music] inside the free world of Communists and their sympathizers seek to foment suspicion and distrust of our motive even attempt to influence our allies to eliminate our overseas bases which are protecting them as well as us their mediums of mass communication are tireless in vilifying us as a nation and as individuals such as depicting you as a brute and a ravages is there a chance that the Communists will succeed is there a possibility that our allies will accept this malicious perversion of us and everything we stand for in large part that is going to depend on how thoroughly we understand this conflict and how dedicated we are to victory understanding is a continuing process and it embraces many different aspects of our day-to-day living it is at root a function which involves the flow of information I am Lowell Thomas we live amid the greatest abundance of information any people has ever had but survey after survey reveals an astonishingly low informational level among us to be sure the right to remain uninformed is one of the privileges of a democracy but in a contest such as the one we're engaged in it is one of the surest ways of losing our freedom being informed does not mean only keeping up-to-date on current events important though that is it means also being aware of developments within our own nation and the forces that move through it its weaknesses as well as its strengths we all too often dishonor our freedom and demean it but that's not the whole story if it were our system would have collapsed long or this the full story is in the progress we consistently make through law and through education the way freemen must the Communists would like to have you as well as people in every country in the world believe otherwise and once they have succeeded in letting the idea take root that our deficiencies are our chief characteristics once they have managed to erode our faith in ourselves at least a little that much of the battle is lost a snake of a whisper is abroad that Americans have lost touch with their past is it true it can't be if we are to survive and win if we understand the conflict then we understand the need to keep America strong in our greatest challenge by keeping alive the standards and the traditions which have been heard glory what are the bulwarks of our past upon which our society has been built there are many and we have discussed some of them our spiritual heritage our belief in individual liberty but there is yet another as important as any of these I am Helen Hayes many of us who are living now will never see the end of the conflict which dominates our lives leaders change and leadership passes from one generation to the next but four generations or certainly for many years the challenge which confronts us will continue so it becomes not just a hope but an urgent condition for a peaceful future that those who are catapulted into the problems of maturity with every passing year will understand the challenge and devote themselves to it even as you and I must interest cannot lag efforts cannot cease it will require the sternest kind of dedication bread as it were into the American character the training grounds in which this discipline will be planted and perfected are the institutions which have shaped our society particularly the home which has always been in our culture the nucleus of society itself the home is the wellspring of the strongest qualities of citizenship and it must remain so if we are to preserve a toughness of moral fiber which is our strongest heritage a toughness of moral fiber a belief in the right as God gives us to see the right as Lincoln put it in words which are carved into our national soul these are the sinewy threads of our past keeping America strong this is our calendar keeping the vision of Liberty right keeping the threads of our past the strands of moral toughness with which our history is bound moral toughness the quality which made men work instead of weak on the hostile shores of New England which bled mortally yet never died on a hundred fields and oceans stretching out from Valley Forge which moved strong men west bringing with them first only their pride then their railroad which build cities and governments and created wealth and above all made freedom the birthright of every man that quality must still live within it or without it we are surely lost and it will live so long as we keep faith in our future and faith in our past this is the challenge as compelling as severe as crucial as Americans and any age have ever faced [Music]