On July 10, 1938, US's progressive magazine 'The Nation' published an issue of their magazine. It featured above all, an editorial called 'Death Trap for Jews', accompanied by a title featuring a big-lettered D word; Democracy. This front page of the issue marked what would be later used by the west as a quest for democracy, merely replacing the identity of 'Jew' in their title then to Arabs and Bosnians. Democracy then, becoming merely a filter to prevent such identities into falling into the death trap by the west. The catch? The filter is made out of paper.
Forester is not a lone worker in this paper-making company (not based in Scanton, Pennsylvania), it was a trend for such essay writing intellectuals to tell the world about what they believed, particularly before the events of World War II. Forester is only one such of essayists who took the opportunity to use an exploited identity to endorse his beliefs. But aside from being opportunists, this concept has been used to explain one's beliefs. This list includes; Russell, Einstein, and obviously Forester. Even after the war ended, in the early 1950's, a five minute program called 'This I Believe' was created for famous and everyday people to write short essays about their personal motivations.
This I Believe became a cultural phenomenon that stressed individual belief rather than religious dogma. Its popularity both developed and waned within the era of US Senator Joseph McCarthy and the Cold War.
This belief was the same belief that Forester tries elaborating. And to understand it better, the backdrop mentioned in the introduction is necessary. The year is 1938, the events of the year foreshadow a deadly genocide to come. The Nazis have marched into Austria, and Ambedkar in India has organized a strike of untouchable workers against an anti-labor act. Most of the major events of that year, and the years preceding it highlight a major issue; attack against humanity. That is, genocides on the basis of identity and differentiating humans due to their caste; done purely out of 'Belief'. Forester's essay in a nutshell denies such a segregation, and denounces belief, and religious dogmas all together, presenting his alternate system, called 'Humanism'. And by doing this, he disregards fascism, while using it as a comparative model for his concepts.
In support of his concepts, he signifies; (a)the importance of eternal goodness, (b)force, and avoiding the use of it, (c)the concept of civilization, (d)hero-worship, and its harms. For all of the following problems, he presents his alternate as the solution. Moreover, he presents creativity as a bonus of following humanistic philosophy; perhaps forgetting that art in a bound environment has always been cherished more (its greatness over free-art is however debatable). But humanism serves as merely a philosophical solution to Forester's problems, his political solution is another one. Them being; an aristocratic approach, or a savior of the future.
His aristocratic approach fulfills the basic values of democracy; liberty, and freedom. He emphasizes how an aristocrat is gentle enough in the welfare of people. One of the reason being their calculated upbringing and education. Forester believes that aristocrats are well trained from the beginning to understand and help people better. His idea of aristocracy is a bit different from the realistically many-a-time failed one.
His second political solution is a debatable one, that is, Individualism and of a miraculous savior. Sure, his emphasis on one's own good will is fair enough, as one has to be better themselves, to have a stronghold on one's individual affairs, so that they are not a herd rather a 'person'. But his savior lies on the thin line of what he ironically has been opposing all-together. Is relying on a 'savior' not partially against individualism? Was it not a 'savior' that had portrayed himself so in Europe when Forester wrote this essay? Forester's solution is quite a temporary one, for it then morphs into the exact political framework which he is against. That begs for a question mark; aristocracy turning into autocracy and savior turning into a hero, is that even a cheers for democracy?
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