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Asia, which we are not equally in rapport with, and our
problem is to ally ourselves with the forces of the
future in Asia, which I think we can do. The peasant,
for instance, is there to be organized, revolution is
there to be 1ed, and our problem is to relate ourselves
to these movements in Asia, not try to do the job alone,
and that is the specific aspect of Mr. Stassen's remarks
that seemed to me to be difficult. Many things he
mentioned would be things that we would be trying to do
alone. We would be trying to take a leadership which
might not carry people along with us.
MR. STASSEN: In what respect? I didn't mean such
an aspect to it.
MR. FAIRBANK: For example, setting up a headquarters
in Bangkok might be difficult, and a headquarters anywhere
might be a target which the Communists could bedevil us
with and we wouldn't get out of it as much as we would
lose by it. For instance, the suggestion of an air service
with the American Flag might antagonize the nationalist
feeling of countries and make them feel threatened more
than it would impress them and bring them to our side.
And, similarly, the manner of our doing it, it seems to
me, is most important It has to be done in a way to
conciliate, persuade, and push the Asiatic forward. The
further factor in all of this, I think, is the world view
on which we operate, and I bring that up because we are
up against Marxism. The Marxists have a world view and
they sell it and it is being accepted, and as Mr. Kennan
pointed out, so much of it is phony and yet it succeeds or
works along at least for a while. The Chinese intel-
lectuals are accepting Marxism; they are accepting the
Russian world view that we are imperialists, and for
certain reasons which we cannot help. This Marxist world
view is an explanation of the world's evils, it is an
explanation of our activity, it is an explanation of how
we can be such good people individually and have the good
intentions which Governor Stassen has mentioned, and yet
be imperialists. It is all consistent in this Marxist
world view. We have to recognize that we are working not
to get control over territory or supplies or anything else,
but to get the allegiance or the alliance and get into our
camp the minds and beliefs of these Asiatics. Well, now,
it seems to me we have not competed on the side that
Marxism is so successful on -- the ideological side. Our
difficulty is that, as has been said, Asia is so different
that the things that seem obvious to us do not seem obvious
to
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"ocrText": "S.\n\"INATIONAL\n-48-\nARCHIVES AMD\nRECORDS\na\nSERVICE\"\nsomeone\nAsia, which we are not equally in rapport with, and our\nproblem is to ally ourselves with the forces of the\nfuture in Asia, which I think we can do. The peasant,\nfor instance, is there to be organized, revolution is\nthere to be 1ed, and our problem is to relate ourselves\nto these movements in Asia, not try to do the job alone,\nand that is the specific aspect of Mr. Stassen's remarks\nthat seemed to me to be difficult. Many things he\nmentioned would be things that we would be trying to do\nalone. We would be trying to take a leadership which\nmight not carry people along with us.\nMR. STASSEN: In what respect? I didn't mean such\nan aspect to it.\nMR. FAIRBANK: For example, setting up a headquarters\nin Bangkok might be difficult, and a headquarters anywhere\nmight be a target which the Communists could bedevil us\nwith and we wouldn't get out of it as much as we would\nlose by it. For instance, the suggestion of an air service\nwith the American Flag might antagonize the nationalist\nfeeling of countries and make them feel threatened more\nthan it would impress them and bring them to our side.\nAnd, similarly, the manner of our doing it, it seems to\nme, is most important It has to be done in a way to\nconciliate, persuade, and push the Asiatic forward. The\nfurther factor in all of this, I think, is the world view\non which we operate, and I bring that up because we are\nup against Marxism. The Marxists have a world view and\nthey sell it and it is being accepted, and as Mr. Kennan\npointed out, so much of it is phony and yet it succeeds or\nworks along at least for a while. The Chinese intel-\nlectuals are accepting Marxism; they are accepting the\nRussian world view that we are imperialists, and for\ncertain reasons which we cannot help. This Marxist world\nview is an explanation of the world's evils, it is an\nexplanation of our activity, it is an explanation of how\nwe can be such good people individually and have the good\nintentions which Governor Stassen has mentioned, and yet\nbe imperialists. It is all consistent in this Marxist\nworld view. We have to recognize that we are working not\nto get control over territory or supplies or anything else,\nbut to get the allegiance or the alliance and get into our\ncamp the minds and beliefs of these Asiatics. Well, now,\nit seems to me we have not competed on the side that\nMarxism is so successful on -- the ideological side. Our\ndifficulty is that, as has been said, Asia is so different\nthat the things that seem obvious to us do not seem obvious\nto"
}