Drifting Quickly Toward World War III

The Causes of World War III may not be the most important book of the century, but that is not to say that it shouldn't be. The propositions advanced by C. Wright Mills are so important and most of them seem so obvious that it is surprising that someone did not write this book earlier.

Mills thinks that the prevention of World War III is the most important task of the present day, but he also thinks that "The drift and thrust toward World War III is now part of the contemporary sensibility--and the defining characteristic of our time." He believes that all significant problems of contemporary man and society bear upon the issues of war and peace.

In this nuclear age, war is no longer a feasible choice, says Mills; we must have total peace. He holds that the history of modern society can most readily be understood as the story of the enlargement and the centralization of the means of power. Mills is not appalled by this centralization of power in Russia and America; he thinks that it makes rational decision of world problems easier.

Even though no one in either America or Russia wants war, he says that the immediate cause of war is the preparation for it. Without hydrogen bombs and ICBMs, there would be no possibility for the accidental war.

Mills calls the justification for the military establishment the "military metaphysic", and the justification for the preservation of this establishment--"crackpot realism." He has the ax out for the "Power Elite" he described in his earlier book of that name--the intertwined combination of the military, the businessmen, and the politicians. Military and businessmen partake of the "military metaphysic" for reasons of self-interest, claims Mills, for the politicians, it "provides a cover under which they can abdicate the perils of innovative leadership; it provides a cover for their use of military bureaucrats--the only large pool of professional civil servants available."

His accusations, however, are somewhat tempered: "The thrust toward World War III is not a plot on the part of the elite, either that of the U.S.A. or of the U.S.S.R." But "Military necessity . . . has become a cover term by which those who proclaim and who decide in the name of the nation hide their incompetence and their irresponsibility. The only realistic military view is the view that war, and not Russia is the enemy."

In Mills' estimation, no balance of terror is possible. He directs his plea not so much to the military or the politicans, but to the intellectuals. Mills thinks that the intellectuals, if they exert their capacities politically, can be more powerful than at anytime in world history. He implores American intellectuals to devise programs enabling us to compete in the industrialization of the underdeveloped countries of the World. Industrialization is the master theme of our time, but we have failed to export our capitalistic system to Africa and Asia. Moreover, he warns, "the continued attempt by the U.S.A. to defend the economic and political status quo of today will end in war."

Agreeing with Thomas Mann that modern man defines himself in political terms, Mills vehemently asserts that "This world is political." He demands political thought and activity from intellectuals: "In slowly drifting periods of man's history, it was possible that leaders be mediocrities and no one know it or care: "What great difference did it make? But in periods which are neither slow nor necessarily drifting, the fact is that leaders may very well make the difference between life and death."

Mills' specific suggestions to alleviate the thrust towards World War III, while eminently worthwhile, are less dramatic than his original thesis. He thinks that the United States should withdraw from all overseas bases, cease production and testing of nuclear weapons, encourage European disarmament, relax restrictions on scientific work, prohibit arms shipments to the Middle East, establish greater cultural exchange with Russia, provide a trained civil service, and reestablish civilian control over the military. However, the more important of Mills' recommendations are made less meaningful by his inclusion of seemingly trivial suggestions such as the foundation of a fleet of airlines for intellectuals.

The strength of Mills' thesis is also lessened by the iconoclastic, irreverent tone that characterizes his writing. By now, we realize that he dislikes the "Power Elite", but making them into tangible villains often seems to be a perversion of reality.

Not only does Mills have little affinity for the elite, but he also takes swipes at groups he need not offend to prove his point. This is best demonstrated in his anti-Christian "Pagan Sermon." If Mills really believes his ideas must be implemented to save the world, he is morally irresponsible to alienate any group of possible adherents.

Despite Mills' faults, his book is thought-provoking. It is to be hoped that there will be many more of like subject. As Mills himself says, "Surely war and peace are now the most important issues men anywhere can reason about."