108 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
108 lines
5.5 KiB
Plaintext
* You Love State Socialism (You just don't know it)
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Tom Jennings 1:125/111
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The essay below speaks for itself. It's not an exercise in�
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commie-bashing, in case you were wondering. Taken from a book of�
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essays written by Miklos Haraszti, a Hungarian dissident, it is�
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on the surface a harsh criticism of state socialism, told in�
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terms of western capitalism.
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(The manuscript for the book was smuggled out of Hungary, to be�
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published first in France as "L'artiste d'Etat" then as "The�
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Velvet Prison: Artists Under State Socialism" in the U.S. (Basic�
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Books Inc, New York).)
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* * *
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"Outside the capitalist corporation's walls there is still an�
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ideal free market where total freedom of opinion and speech, the�
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right to assembly, and the freedom to organize flourish. Everyone�
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goes his own way and can become a proud and independent artist,�
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free of censorship. But inside the company it is a different�
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story. There; the employee must reckon with a microcosm of�
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socialism. His human rights are severely circumscribed -- except�
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of course, his right to work. He cannot go outside the walls,�
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cannot wander at will around the factory, cannot say, write or�
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organize whatever he wants. In these matters, it is the firm's�
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interests, conveyed by its owners and managers, that determine�
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right from wrong within the corporate culture. The employee may�
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love his work, but he cannot do what he likes *unless* his ideas�
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have first been approved by his superiors. His skills have no�
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value in themselves; they exists to sustain the fiscal health of�
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the corporation. His relations with other members of the company�
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are not strictly private; they are defined by the hierarchy of�
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professional skills. If he does not live for his work, the�
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company will let him go. As long as there are other corporations�
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for whom he can work, he is all right, even if he is fired. He�
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could even, if he wishes, leave of his own accord!
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"How is this (admittedly simplified) state of affairs different�
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from state socialism? Only one aspect is truly different: the�
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existence of other companies. Under socialism it is the same�
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giant firm everywhere.
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"Suppose that the company for which you work buys and sells art.�
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The board of directors, faithful to the owner's wishes, seeks�
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free and independent art. Anyone can come in from the street. If�
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his art is marketable, the whole company will work for him; no�
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one will intervene in his business. If his artistic freedom is�
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curtailed, he can threaten to leave the company and look for�
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another, or he can choose to become self-employed.
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"Now consider the free artist who is asked by the company to�
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paint a portrait of the owner, or to create a sculpture that�
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symbolizes the company's ideals, or simply say something nice�
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about the firm on television. The money he is paid is not a part�
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of profits; it is renumeration for having complied with the ideas�
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of the firm's management. Creative freedom has undergone a subtle�
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change: the more successfully the artist has identified himself�
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and his ideas with the interests of management, the more creative�
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freedom he can retain. He has become a *directed artist*. He has�
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become a company artist.
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"How is this state of affairs different from socialism? Only to�
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the extent that, under capitalism, the artist is free to resign�
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and go to another company. On our part of the world artists can�
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only find employment with the artistic department of the national�
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company or with one if its branches. All artists are the firm's�
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employees, and their colleagues (the other employees in other�
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departments and branches) are their audience.
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"The distinction between directed and free artists, between�
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directed and free art, disappears at a stroke. The artists'�
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existential uncertainty is over. A steady paycheck is assured.�
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The rent will be paid, food on the table, and a roof overhead.�
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But artists' creative freedom is also over. Nevertheless they�
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have gained a great deal: by becoming state employees they are�
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given special attention. Their position is not competitive but�
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hierarchical: they gain a measure of control over the consumers�
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of their art in exchange for being controlled themselves by the�
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coordinating authority of the state. The company's neutrality in�
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the thorny question of aesthetics is over.
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"The ethics of state socialism resemble the ethics of a large�
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company. Its discipline and freedom are like those of the�
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company's workers. Further, if you will imagine the greatest�
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possible "industrial democracy" that such a concern might achieve�
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within the constraints of its corporate culture, you will have�
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arrived at an almost exact model of freedom in today's modern�
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socialist society.
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"Is it censorship that guarantees that the employees of Twentieth�
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Century Fox will create movies that serve the interests of the�
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entire company? Do relationships within the film studio require�
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censoring? Is the unavoidable process of creative compromise and�
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self-correction properly called censorship? Voluntary discipline,�
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identification, and devotion are essential elements in the�
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professional's acceptance of the company as his own/ Is this not�
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freedom? After all, didn't someone once observe that freedom is�
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simply the recognition of necessity?
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"It does not matter whether the answer is yes or no: we know what�
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this is all about. This form of censorship is far more effective�
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than a negative, externally imposed restriction of private�
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freedom. It is quite irresistible when it bathes the employees of�
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the socialist supermonopoly -- the nation -- in its amniotic�
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warmth. Don't forget: under socialism, there are no longer any�
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owners."
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