Diary 1963 - Murshid Sam's Living Stream

Diaries 1963-2It is quite possible, according to Atoubi, that the social resolution will dominate both the “radial”war and political loyalties. Both the Algerian and Moorish governments are filled with spiesand quasi-traitors. The underground intends to “socialize” and this seems to be more to expropriateFrench holdings than anything else. There is quite an uncertainty about other forms of capitalistic orprivate ownership.What was quite evident in the conversation was a certain hesitancy between the Baath program(which I do not know) and the Nasser (which I do know down to details). Emotionally there seemsto be a leaning toward the formula, and this would dean a Castrovian rather than a Nasserian establishment.If so, it is better to be very careful.Crossing this—and this was due to Atoubi’s own statements, was a series of discussions onsoils and their improvement which will be written up in a separate to report. For I warned that theadoption of either the Russian or Chinese programs in North Africa would have similar results toCentral Asia and held my point.Our main difference—and here I seem to be with most natural scientists and against manysocial scientists, is that I am concerned with the increased productivity of the soil and they are concernedwith land-ownership. I have seen Bhave distribute tremendous areas of the most unproductiveland and even violent anti-Communists applaud him (because he is stopping (!) communism).Having listened to Prof. Johnson of the University of California talk on East Asia, and havingmyself visited many AFME lands, the reports are so totally different from what one reads in thepress that it is almost impossible to reconcile them. I have one program, note yet presented, for internationalalumni associations which would keep graduates in touch with their alma mater and thusform a bridge between America and other lands. You are helping in the education of multitudes butyou cannot maintain this form of organization which should, I feel, be established by each university.There is need for friendship on any basis.I have never heard any criticism of AFME (a little but not much of “Asia Foundation”), but ifsubversives should become too active, some precautions night be taken. The one great differencehere is the results between the Castro and Nasser revolutions. It is quite obvious where I stand, andfeel you may be in some agreement.Faithfully,Samuel L. Lewis(Sufi Ahmed Murad)