Editing 78-09-B4 (section)

= Alex. Solzhenitsyn =

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=== Transcript ===
Remembering the anti-Vietnam war sentiment of the late '60's and
early '70's, some might find a bit of irony in the fact that Alexander
Solzhenitsyn was this June's Harvard University graduation speaker.
It is always good to see ourselves as others see us, so I'd like to
quote just a few paragraphs from his address which dealt uncompromisingly
with, what he called "the decline of courage in the West".

He saw that decline in all of the Western world; in each country,
each government, each political party and in the United Nations. He
said, "It is particularly noticeable among the ruling groups and the
intellectual elite causing an impression of loss of courage by the
entire society." He made plain, however, that possibly there was
courage to be found among our people, but they were not making their
influence felt in government.

He said, "Political and intellectual bureaucrats show depression,
passivity and perplexity," ... "in their actions and in their statements
to explain how reasonable and even morally warranted it is to base
state policies on weakness and cowardice." He went on to say that
they can be inflexible and even angry when dealing with weak countries.
But "they get tongue-tied and paralyzed when they deal with powerful
governments, aggressors and international terrorists".

He reminded his Harvard audience of our own Declaration or
Independence; that "when the modern Western states were created they
proclaimed that governments are meant to serve man and man lives to
be free and to pursue happiness".

Saying they are "meaningful warnings which history gives a threatened
and perishing society", Solzhenitsyn described the fight for our planet
earth, physical and spiritual, as of cosmic proportions. And, he
said, "it was not a vague matter of the future; it has already started.
The forces of evil have begun their decisive offense, you can feel
their pressure, and yet your screens and publications are full of
prescribed smiles and raised glasses." Then he asked: "What is the
joy about?"

For those who think hopefully that Angola might become the Soviet
Union's Vietnam or that Cuba's adventuring in Africa can be stopped
by being polite to Castro, he has an answer. He describes their failure
to understand the Vietnam war as, "the most crucial mistake. Members
of the U.S. anti-war movement wound up being involved in the betrayal
of Far Eastern nations in a genocide and in suffering today imposed
on 30 million people". And he asked, "Do they understand their
responsibility today? Or do they prefer not to hear?"

This is Ronald Reagan.

Thanks for listening.
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=== Details ===
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<TR><TD WIDTH="150">Batch Number</TD><TD WIDTH="150">{{PAGENAME}}</TD></TR>
<TD>Production Date</TD><TD>06/27/[[Radio1978|1978]]</TD></TR>
<TD>Book/Page</TD><TD>[[Radio_Commentary_Books#Reagan.27s_Path_to_Victory|RPtV-326]]</TD></TR>
<TD>Audio</TD><TD></TD></TR>
<TD>Youtube?</TD><TD>No</TD></TR>
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===Added Notes===

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