THE true socialist state is reactionary by nature. It returns its citizens to the pre-Protestant world of Mother Church, to all the comforts of authoritarian theology. Its closest affiliation is with its apparent rivals, Roman Catholicism and Islam; and if all three were ever to join up or come to terms, it might well signify the demise in the West of individualism, which with hindsight would then seem a comparatively short-lived liberal and democratic experiment...

The author remains as pessimistic as Orwell about the long-term future. State socialism is here to stay, and its present benevolence (one piece is entitled ''The Magic of the Artists' Retreat,'' referring to the delightful country houses where poets and novelists lead an idyllic existence free of charge) is no guarantee of future policy. Soft may change to hard overnight. But in the meantime, artists, especially not very good ones, can enjoy a much more tranquil and more privileged existence than their opposite numbers in the West. And they are well aware of this, which makes them the less inclined to disturb the status quo... Art has lived by showing us the worm inside the apple. Mr. Haraszti is not hopeful for the future. He thinks that all that will be left of art will be the apple inside the worm.