228 THE BRITISH APPROACH TO POLITICS

society. To the Fascist the National State is the supreme political
unit, tpaintftirtjng its virility by rivalry with other such States;
to the Communist the real division of mankind is not into
nations but into classes, and he expects the classless society,
which is to end this division, to become international and
world-wide. Fascists and Communists alike show unbounded
enthusiasm; but the former is inspired by, faith in his Leader
and his State, the latter by conviction that the victory of his
cause is a historical necessity. Finally, Fascism accepts dictator-
ship as a permanent form of Government; Communism thinks
it a temporary expedient while the new order is being established.
Communists push this daim further; they hold that a Capitalist
democracy, such as prevails in Britain, is but the shadow of
real democracy, because of the inequalities of wealth, power
and, opportunity between citizens; and that they, by removing
these inequalities, are not destroying democracy but creating it.
If indeed the dictatorship be only temporary, the difference
between Communism and democracy would be much less;
for democracies can, without abandoning their principles, give
the Government supreme power for a time, when it has to face
foreign or civil war, or both, as Russia faced them after 1917.
What signs, then, are there that the dictatorship in the U.S.S.R.
is disappearing? Certainly, a Constitution has been established,
providing for universal and secret voting, and, in Stalin's phrase,
"whatever is best in western democracies"; discussion of some
questions—e.g., the efficiency of this or that factory, or the
marriage laws—is allowed and encouraged. But the great question
'Is Socialism a good system?" may not be discussed. The policy
of the Communist Party is rigidly enforced; against its opponents
are arrayed the secret police and the penalties of exile and death;

"The same arts that did gain
A power, must it maintain."

Any Government which deals with its opponents by killing
them turns die friends and relatives of its victims into implacable