Enter the new fascists
Sir: Lord Monson has misunderstood me and, I think, the student rebels (Letters, 22 Novem- ber). I said that they approve of 'violence against the rich and strong rather than the poor and weak,' because this is one of their original positions. From this they move to supporting the Vietcong against the Americans in Vietnam. And from this it is all too easy to fall into the trap so well prepared by Lord Monson.
But they don't approve of the atrocities the Vietcong have perpetrated on the Vietnamess people, any more than those who support the Americans approve of the atrocities they have Perpetrated on a great many more Vietnamese. People. (Fascists and Nazis, on the contrary, did approve of the atrocities perpetrated on the Ethiopians and the Jews.) The student rebels have simply moved from being hero-wor- shippers to becoming fellow-travellers--but not fascists, which was my point.
I may say that I don't share their original position. He who wills the means wills the end, and he who approves of violence against any- one ends by approving of violence against everyone.
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