Eugene Lanti 1920
Source: E. Lanti, Vortoj de Kamarado E. Lanti. La Juna Pensa, Laroque Timbault, 1979;
Translated: for marxists.org by Mitch Abidor;
CopyLeft: Creative Commons (Attribute & ShareAlike) marxists.org 2005.
In 1914 there was a Socialist International.
At the end of international congresses it was customary to sing “The Internationale” in chorus.
The war broke out...All the socialists forgot that liberating song and broke out in The Marseillaise, Deutschland Uber Alles or other similar patriotic hymns.
“On to Berlin,” cried out the French; “On to Paris,” loudly said the Germans “We're fighting for culture!"..."We're fighting for rights and freedom!...”
In this way, sheep go bleating to the slaughter.
The patriotic fever was so great that even anarchists, anti-militarists and other -ists – mainly the old – extolled the “war of liberation” and butchery “up-till-the-final-victory.”
Now things are almost pacified again. There’s question of again establishing an International. Should the Second be revived? Should the Third, in Moscow, be joined?
Esperantists still want to establish a Red-Green International [1]
So we have given a little bit of thought to the matter
International supposes nations. This is a bad thing.
– Nevertheless, nations exist.
Sadly, this is so. Diseases and epidemics exist as well. Is it wise to conserve these evil things in order to make men healthy? On the contrary, a caring physician tries to do away with them, annihilate them.
Nations exist principally because of the different languages of the peoples. Esperanto gives humanity the ability to do away with this linguistic nationalism. So must we, like other non-Esperantist “- ists’ in the same way imagine forming an organization of people with the same goals in all countries?
I don’t think so. We should act as if nations didn’t exist...We must give birth to an a-national sentiment, put in the heart of every man the human quality, not the nationalist one. When in Esperantoland one speaks of English, French and German it should mean the same thing as when in France, for example, one speaks of Normandy or any other province.
Esperantists are men, first; second we are Britons, Italians, Chinese...
Here, then area few ideas worthy of reflection, that I submit for the discussion of all.
1. Green is the color of the flag of the Esperanto movement.