Dean Reed, an open letter to the scoundrel and the liberal Solzhenitsyn

It's amazing how these words are relevant today. The letter was written 40 years ago, and so far it has not lost its relevance. None of the writers of the Soviet era has caused so much damage to the reputation of the USSR, as Solzhenitsyn. All of Europe read books where the Soviet Union presented itself as one big prison. It was the books of Solzhenitsyn who made a considerable contribution to the collapse of the country, for which he received his Nobel Prize.



However, in capitalist America there were people who knew how to look through the prism of lies and see the very essence. Dean Rin - American singer, film actor, film director and public figure, in the distant 71 year published an open letter to A. Solzhenitsyn, in which the actor called all charges of Solzhenitsyn against the Soviet Union false.

Text of the letter:
Dear art colleague Solzhenitsyn!

As an American artist, I must answer some of your accusations published by the capitalist press all over the world. In my opinion, they are false accusations, and the nations of the world should know why they are false.

You denounced the Soviet Union as "a deeply sick society, hurt and injured by the law." You say that the Soviet government "could not live without enemies, and the whole atmosphere is imbued with hatred, and again with hatred that does not stop even before racial hatred." You must be talking about my homeland, not yours!

After all, it is America, not the Soviet Union, that is waging wars and creating a tense environment of possible wars in order to enable our economy to act, and our dictators, the military-industrial complex to acquire even more wealth and power on the blood of the Vietnamese people, our own American soldiers. and all the freedom-loving nations of the world! Sick society in my homeland, but not you, Mr. Solzhenitsyn!

It was America, not the Soviet Union, that became the most violent society that it ever knew. story of humanity. America, where the mafia has more economic power than the largest corporations, and where our citizens cannot walk at night through the streets without fear of being attacked by a criminal.

After all, it was in the United States, and not in the Soviet Union, that their own fellow citizens killed more people in the period from 1900 than the number of all American soldiers killed in battles in the first and second world wars, as well as in Korea and Vietnam! It is our society that considers it convenient to kill any and every progressive leader who finds the courage to raise his voice against some of our injustices. That is what a sick society is, Mr. Solzhenitsyn!

Next you talk about racial hatred! In America, not in the Soviet Union, the killing of blacks who are held in semi-slavery has remained unpunished for two centuries. In America, not in the Soviet Union, the police indiscriminately beat and arrest any and every black man trying to make a stand for their rights.

Then you say that “freedom of speech, honest and complete freedom of speech is the first condition for the health of any society, and ours as well.” Try to spread these thoughts among suffering peoples who are forced to fight for existence and live against their will under the yoke of dictatorial regimes held in power only thanks to US military aid.

Tell about your thoughts to people whose “health” is only that half of their children die at birth, because they have no money for a doctor, and they suffer all their lives due to lack of medical care. Tell this to the people of the capitalist world, whose “health” is that they spend their whole lives in constant fear of unemployment. Tell American blacks how much they have been helped by the “health” and “freedom of speech” in the process of their just struggle for equality with whites, when after two centuries of “freedom of speech in an American way” in many parts of the United States they believe that to kill a black man is it's like hunting a bear!
Tell the working people of the capitalist world about your ideas about “freedom of speech as the first condition of health,” if, due to lack of money, their sons and daughters cannot develop their mental abilities in school, and therefore can never even learn to read! You talk about freedom of speech, while most of the world's population is still talking about the possibility of learning to read words!

No, Mr. Solzhenitsyn, your definition of free speech as the first condition of health is incorrect. The first condition is to make the country healthy enough morally, mentally, spiritually and physically, so that its citizens can read, write, work and live together in peace.

No, Mr. Solzhenitsyn, I do not accept your first condition of public health, and especially in your definition and context. My country, known for its “freedom of speech,” is a country where police are attacking participants in peaceful campaigns. Peace campaigns are allowed in my country, and at the same time the ongoing war has a detrimental effect on the lives of the Vietnamese people, for demonstrations, of course, do not alter the government’s policies in the least. Do you really think that the military-industrial complex, ruling my country and the floor of the world, cares about the “freedom of speech” ?! Its rulers are aware that they, and only they, have the power to make decisions. Truly, freedom of speech in words, but not in deeds!

You also state that the Soviet Union does not keep pace with the twentieth century. If this is true, it is because the Soviet Union always goes half a step ahead of the twentieth century! Do you suggest that your people abandon their role as leader and vanguard of all the progressive nations of the world and return to the inhuman and cruel conditions that exist in the rest of the world, where injustice is abundant in the atmosphere of almost the feudal conditions of many countries? Mr. Solzhenitsyn, the article further states that you are a “long-suffering writer from the Soviet Union.” Apparently, this means that you suffer a lot because of the lack of moral and social principles and that your conscience torments you during quiet night hours when you are alone with yourself.

It is true that in the Soviet Union there are injustices and shortcomings, but everything in the world is relative. In principle and in deed, your society is committed to creating a truly healthy and fair society. The principles on which your society is built are healthy, clean and fair, while the principles on which our society is built are cruel, self-serving and unfair. Obviously, there can be mistakes and some injustices in life, however, there is no doubt that a society built on fair principles has more prospects to come to a just society than a society based on injustice and the exploitation of man by man. The society and government of my country are behind the times, because their only goal is to maintain the status quo all over the world. It is your country that is striving to take progressive steps in the name of humanity, and if it is imperfect in some ways and sometimes stumbles, then we should not blame the entire system for these shortcomings, but should welcome it for its courage and desire to lay new paths.

Sincerely, Dean Reed

Light No. 5 (2274), 1971
Literary newspaper number 5, 1971