Karel Hvížďala: Here in the West, I sometimes see the Czechs or the Poles accused of provincialism; at other times l’ve seen you touted as one of the most important fighters for peace, but I don’t think l’ve ever read of anyone’s accepting your basic idea about the threat to human identity and then going on to ask whether this identity is also threated in West Germany, in Sweden, or in England. The mass media here never seem to admit the possibility that the problem you raise might be a general problem. Doesn’t that bother you sometimes?
Václav Havel: I’m not an important enough intellectual authority that everyone should have to deal with my ideas. But I know that people in the West in general tend not to admit that humanity is in a state of crisis and that therefore their own humanity is in a state of crisis too. Whenever I have a chance to talk to Westerners, I try to raise this matter.
Here’s a small recent example of this Western shortsightedness: For years now, the entire West has known that Khadaffi is a terrorist, and for years the West has bought oil from him and helped him extract it from the ground. So, in fact, the West has cultivated him and continues to support him. To this day, they haven’t been able to put together a decent embargo against him. In other words, Westerners are risking their security and their basic moral principles for the sake of a few barrels of crude oil. Particular interests take precedence over general interests. Everyone hopes the bomb will not fall on him. And then, when the situation becomes untenable, the only thing anyone can think of doing is bombing Libya.
That was 40 years ago. Havel’s interview with Hvížďala, or “long-distance interrogation” — the questions were sent in batches from West Germany and mailed back from Prague as audio recording — took place between 1985 and 1986.