Two Quotations about Decency, Separated by 75 Years of Capitalism
In Arthur Koestler’s Darkness at Noon, the protagonist Rubashov is arrested and jailed next to a veteran Tsarist officer housed in cell No. 402. Rubashov is an Old Bolshevik who still believes in the mission of the Party, despite the absurdity of his own arrest; his neighbor No. 402 is a reactionary critic of communism. By tapping in code through the prison walls, they develop a friendship that seems to transcend their ideological differences.
But when Rubashov decides to confess to his bogus crimes, for the greater good of the Revolution, the friendship breaks down in a bitter clash of creeds:
...smiling to himself, [Rubashov] tapped with his pince-nez:
I AM CAPITULATING
He waited curiously for the effect.
For a long while nothing came; No. 402 was silenced.
His answer came a whole minute later:
I’D RATHER HANG
Rubashov smiled. He tapped:
EACH ACCORDING TO HIS KIND
He had expected an outbreak of anger from No. 402. Instead, the tapping sign sounded subdued, as it were, resigned:
I WAS INCLINED TO CONSIDER YOU AN EXCEPTION. HAVE YOU NO SPARK OF HONOUR LEFT?
Rubashov lay on his back, his pince-nez in hand. He felt contented and peaceful. He tapped:
OUR IDEAS OF HONOUR DIFFER.
No. 402 tapped quickly and precisely:
HONOUR IS TO LIVE AND DIE FOR ONE’S BELIEFS
Rubashov answered just as quickly:
HONOUR IS TO BE USEFUL WITHOUT VANITY
No. 402 answered this time louder and more sharply:
HONOUR IS DECENCY—NOT USEFULNESS.
WHAT IS DECENCY? asked Rubashov, comfortably spacing the letters. The more calmly he tapped, the more furious became the knocking in the wall.
SOMETHING YOUR KIND WILL NEVER UNDERSTAND, answered No. 402 to Rubashov’s question. Rubashov shrugged his shoulders:
WE HAVE REPLACED DECENCY BY REASON, he tapped back.
No. 402 did not answer any more.
Seventy-five years after Darkness at Noon was published, Jeremy Corbyn was elected Leader of the Labour Party, becoming probably the most left-wing figure to lead a major Anglo-American political party in a generation. Corbyn celebrated his victory with these words:
Can I start by thanking everyone who took part in this election, this huge democratic exercise of more than half a million people all across this country. It showed our party and our movement, passionate, democratic, diverse, united and absolutely determined in our quest for a decent and better society that is possible for all...
During this amazing three months, our party has changed. We've grown enormously. We've grown enormously because of the hopes of so many people for a different Britain. A better Britain. A more equal Britain. A more decent Britain. They're fed up with the inequality, the injustice, the unnecessary poverty....
Our passion is intact. Our demand for humanity is intact. And we as a party are gonna reach out to everyone in this country to take us on that journey together, so no one is left on the side. Everyone has a decent chance in life and a decent place within our society. That's what Labour was brought about to achieve. That is what we're gonna achieve.
In all, Corbyn used the word “decent” or “decency” six times in a short speech, slightly fewer than “democracy” (8) but as many as “equality” (6) and more than “justice” (4) or “humanity” (4).
In 1940, “decency” was the self-evident property of the Right -- an intangible refuge of honor, besieged by the arrogant and inhumane hyper-rationalism of Soviet Communism. The Left could not value decency; the Left would never even understand decency. In 2015, decency has become the rally-cry of Left critics of capitalism from Jeremy Corbyn to Pope Francis. It’s amazing the difference that seventy five years of capitalism can make.










