Future European War Will Find Soviet Russia In Role of Philip of Macedon, Declares Hopper

Prophecies that a future European war will find Soviet Russia in the role of a Philip of Macedon calmly profiting from the suicide of neighboring states were uttered last night by Bruce C. Hopper '19, assistant in Government, at the Herald-Tribune Forum.

With the exception of its movements toward international peace, he declared, the foreign policy of the state has become increasingly Russian and decreasingly international. This development he attributed to the rising nationalistic needs of the country. In Russian he foresees a mighty Asiatic power and a future counterweight in the balance of Europe.

Outlining the philosophy of communism, Hopper asserted that Russian society is based on human labor as the criterion of value. According to the Russian belief, he said, mankind will be able to reach unprecedented heights through sublimation of the profit motive.

The policy of the Russian government, he said, is to administer to each not according to his needs but according to his labor. The incentive, he pointed out, is no longer money, but rather power, privilege, and distinction in the state.

Russian communism is based on the Marxist materialist concept of history, which considers social changes as a result of changes in the made of production, the speaker went on to explain. He further pointed out that the development of the communist state involves three stages: the overthrow of the bourgeoisie and private property, the dictatorship of the proletariat, and the synthetic transformation into a classless state.

It is in the second of these stages that Russia now finds herself, Hopper explained. "Today," he declared, "the Soviet State is still the organ of the Bolshevik proletarian and enjoys a certain degree of democracy." He added that the proletarian state "shows not the slightest sign of withering away."