11 - Waugh

Summary

‘Only once was there anything like a Fascist movement in England: that was in 1926 when the middle class took over the public services: it now does not exist at all except as a form of anti-semitism in the slums. Those of us who can afford to think without proclaiming ourselves “intellectual” do not want or expect a Fascist régime. But there is a highly nervous and highly vocal party who are busily creating a bogey: if they persist in throwing the epithet about, … they may one day find that there is a Fascist party which they have provoked. They will, of course, be the chief losers but it is because I believe that we shall all lose by such a development that I am addressing this through your columns.’

Evelyn Waugh to the New Statesman 5 March 1938 pp. 365–6.

‘I believe that man is … an exile, and … that his chances of happiness and virtue [on earth] are not much affected by the … conditions in which he lives … I believe … that there is no form of government ordained from God as being better than any other … I believe that inequalities of wealth and position are inevitable and that it is therefore meaningless to discuss the advantages of their elimination … I believe in nationality … I believe that war and conquest are inevitable … […]