From Here to Eternity_ The Restored Edit - Jones, James [197]
Holmes laughed convulsively. “But thats stupid.”
Jake Delbert cleared his throat, and set his own glass down.
“Of course its stupid,” Sam Slater smiled thinly. “Its a logical absurdity. But all our great industrialists, and most of our present senior officers, still play that role. That same fatherly Britisher role. You can see what it has done to their efficiency of control.
“Social fear is the most tremendous single source of power in existence. The only source, in fact, now that the machine has destroyed the corollary positive code. Yet they waste this power by directing it against such asinine trivialities as the advisability of virginity at marriage, which nobody believes in anyway, and which is like training a firehose on a burning sheet of paper.”
Holmes laughed again, so powerfully this time it was almost a seizure. Then he thought of his wife, again, and the laughter dropped out from under him leaving him feeling absolutely nothing, except a startled amazement in the absolute truth in Sam Slater’s argument.
“It isnt funny,” Sam Slater smiled. “Their absurd false morality causes even greater inefficiency and harm in other ways. When they direct their power on really important problems, problems that need immediate solution, like whether to go to war or not, it is made so diffuse by conflicting sentimentalities of public opinion (such as patriotism versus the love of ‘peace’) that it does absolutely nothing, it neutralizes itself completely, so that, in the end, we, with all our industrial power will sit back and vacillate (when everybody knows war is inevitable) until somebody or other attacks us and makes us fight—and incidentally gets a great big drop on us.”
“Thats worse than a logical absurdity,” Holmes said angrily. “Thats . . .” he could not say it.
Sam Slater shrugged.
“It makes my blood boil,” Holmes said.
Jake Delbert cleared his throat again. “Gentlemen,” he said.
“It cant continue to go like that, though,” Sam Slater said. “Dont think that in Russia and in Germany the consolidation of power and its control are not being utilized to their fullest. We either have to get rid of our moralists ourselves and replace them with realists, or the Russians and the Germans (not to mention the Japanese) will do it for us, see?” he said, vehement for the first time since he started talking.
“Gentlemen!” Jake Delbert said again. He charged up to his feet. “Ah—” he said. “Your glasses are empty, gentlemen. Dont you think its about time for another drink. Jeff isnt back yet. I’ll—ah—do the honors. Eh?”
Nobody laughed.
“This is a party, gentlemen,” Jake joked insistently, “not a convention, you know. Eh? Dont you think we ought to perhaps possibly maybe ah . . .” Both of them were looking at him blankly, and gradually he ran down like a phonograph and tapered off into a nervous silence.
“I’m thirsty,” Jake said desperately, finally.
Sam Slater smiled at him, openly contemptuously, and Jake felt a spasm of nameless fear.
“Of course, Jake,” Sam Slater said soothingly. “Let us have another. Let us all have another.”
“But what I dont see,” Holmes said suddenly. “What do you suppose makes them all afraid like that? I’m not afraid, not of the truth.” And he meant it truly. He looked deep inside himself, there was no fear there.
Sam Slater shrugged. “Environmental training, I suppose. Psychologically, its a sort of subjective association of oneself with the external object. Some boys cant shoot birds because they put themselves into the place of the injured bird. Same thing.”
Holmes was irritated. “But thats stupid.”
“Gentlemen,” Jake Delbert said urgently. “Your drinks, gentlemen.”
“Thanks, Jake,” Sam Slater said soothingly. Somehow, Jake thought, Sam’s solace is always omi