P.S. I'm 61 now and have had S'hill 25 years. I wish I could have
another 25. Why is life so damnably short? You are just beginning to
learn about life when it is time to put your toys away and go to bed.Orgonon
Rangeley, Maine
My dear Neill:
- I •
July 2, 1945If you don't mind, I would like to bother you with an organiza
tional maUer, an issue arising from the fact that the contact between
me and the Scandinavian workers of the Institute has been disrupted for
so long. Here is the trouble:
When I left Scandinavia, Philipson automatically by his skill as a
teacher took, so to speak, my place in the Scandinavian organization.
But he did not succeed in keeping this organization together, and, as
you know, great troubles arose with the Scandinavian group. I decided to
write to Philipson and to ask him what happened. To that I received a
nasty letter. He and other members of the Institute are of the opinion that I
at once disavow anyone who attempts to work on my theory. He assumes
that I would sabotage or prevent a congress. (After I had suggested it
myself.) He mistakes the work-democratic principle as the abandon
ment of any necessity to keep each other informed, in other words, co
operation is not necessary. I am supposed to have the responsibility for
the international work, without having the right to expect that a scientific
worker, who is lea ding a national section, keeps me informed of where
he lives, and what is going on in his sec tion. I hate to be a director, but
I must know how things stand. You are in a far higher position than he
is, and I too, and yet you were kept informed by me about the progress
of the work here, and though I did not see you for more than 6 years, I
know from your letters roughly how you stand and what your school
is doing. Such co-operation is so matter of course that I regret to have
to point it out.
To be frank, and I am sure you will understand my viewpoint, I
refuse to play organizational politics. I refuse to be a director. I can
exist, and I really believe even better so, without any organization apart
from the organization needed to carry on my research. I am far beyond
the state of development of 19 39. I am ready and willing to give my
advice if somebody wants it, but I am not ready to do all the dirty work,