in blood and cruelty. What should have come out as love comes out as
hate. In this connection it is interesting to hear my oId pupils. They are
all in it, fighting, on ships, in the army, the navy, in the air. They do
well, but they are conscious of the inner meaning of it all. They are not
fighting with any hate at all; their attitude is: here is a job that must be
done and we must do it, but they see beyond the German soldier, beyond
Hitler, beyond the war. They are all intensely interested in the life to
foIlow the war, and if they live, they wiII do weB in the reconstruction.
They feel the tragedy of having to destroy when all they want to do is
to build. I wonder how the German soldier feels? What future does he
hope for? Surely not a Gestapo one. How does he see the new German
State? I wish they would ask one to write the propaganda they drop over
Germany. I would get at their hearts not their heads.
When shaIl I be able to cross the Atlantic to see you again? It is a
great wish, one that can't be fulfilled for a long time, I fear.- I •
Oquossoc, Maine
August 5, 1941
My dear Neill:
In the main statement [in the letter of July I] you are, of
course, completely wrong. Your breaking away from psychology and
your turning over to nature is completely in accordance with our own
way of thinking, being and working. I myself am digging more and
more into the field of biology, and we can expect many enlightening
results for psychology from this realm. So you don't have to be
"expelled" from the Society and I privately believe that you have done
more for the matter of sex-economy than many others in the field.
All your remarks about the slowness of the masses and the expecta
tions of the young soldiers are very true. If only someone could be
found who would connect and organize all those forces, then many of
these problems could be easily solved.
Did you receive my latest private pamphlet about "Work Democracy"?
I worked fine now for a few weeks in a littl e place on a lake which I
bought a year ago. The experimental work is counterbalanced properly
by working in the woods. So you see, I am not far from where you are.
- I •