Camus at "Combat": Writing 1944-1947

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This collection of editorials which Albert Camus wrote for the French (clandestine till 1944) newspaper ‘Combat’ illustrates clearly his outspoken vision on mankind, politics, the organization of the State and the international community, the economy, the media and art.Albert Camus wanted a RevolutionFor Albert Camus the only true task of a man born in an absurd world is to be aware that he has a life to live, a life of freedom and revolt. The purpose of this revolt should not be power, but justice, not politics, but morality, not domination, but greatness.Revolt means fighting for a true ‘Revolution’, for a constitution where freedom and justice for everybody are totally guaranteed, for a ruthless destruction of all big trusts and the powers of money and for a foreign policy based on honor and loyalty.His socialism: freedom and justiceFor Albert Camus, every man should always have his fate in his own hands. He does not believe in absolute or infallible doctrines, but only in the stubborn improvement of the human condition. He wants to build a State where every individual has the same chances at the start of his life, and where the majority in a country is not exploited by a privileged minority. For him, freedom necessarily implies a political climate in which every human being is respected physically and mentally (free speech).Economics and the international orderAlbert Camus was a partisan of the combination of a collectivist economy with liberal politics. Without a collectivist economy in which a government can transfer the industrial proceeds from the privileged to the working class, political freedom is a deception. But without the constitutional guarantee of political freedom, the collectivist economy can kill in the bud every individual initiative or expression (art).For him, the mechanical civilization reached its highest degree of savagery with the atomic bomb. Now, we need to choose between mass suicide and an intelligent use of our scientific conquests. Albert Camus dreamed of a world organization which could ensure peace for all nations and where all nations great or small would have the same rights. He dreamed of a world economy where all raw materials would be a common good, where competition would be replaced by cooperation, where colonial trade would be open for everyone and where money would have a ‘collective status’.The media (the press), artFor Albert Camus, the freedom of the media (the press) cannot be guaranteed if they are in the hands of the powers of money for those would certainly influence directly or indirectly the content (the messages of these media) by promoting their own ideology and their own private interests.For Albert Camus, a true work of art by its mere existence denies the rhetoric of ideologies. Political action and artistic creation are two sides of the same revolt against all the hatred in the world. He doesn’t know a single great work of art whose concept is solely based on hatred.CommentToday, we are very far away from the 'ideal' world for which Albert Camus fought so fiercely: a world of peace, where poverty has been eradicated, a world without churches, spiritual or secular. Instead, we live in a world dominated by the powers of money with vast and insatiable appetites and by sectarian interests. These powers control the media through their long arms and gagged ‘journalists’. Where are the Albert Camus of today?These still very relevant texts of the greatest French writer of the modern era should be read by all men and all women of good will.