more comfortable things to believernthan this.rnWatson’s own hope seems to be that, withrnthe demise of socialist theory, we will allrnrediscover the humane, skeptical liberalismrnwhich he has found in writers likernTocqneville and Mill.rnOther, probably gloomier conclusionsrnmight be reached. The bad philosophy,rngoofy pseudoscience, and sheer neurosisrnthat powered the worst socialist regimesrnof our Hme became a habit of mind, andrnthe toxic effects, for which “amnesia” is arnkind word, are still with us. Moreover, inrnits capitalist form, centralized economicrncontrol is still destroying civil libert}’, andrnbv methods subtler than any devised byrnthe socialists. Eugenics, which the socialistsrnwelcomed so enthusiashcally asrnan adjunct to their exterminatory fantasies,rnis flourishing as genetic sciencernand now threatens nature itself, as well asrnhuman nature. As for truth, with the concentrahonrnof the ownership of almost allrnmodes of communicahon in the hands ofrna few giant corporations virtually s)nonymonsrnwith government, it would bernnaive to expect an outbreak of truthtellingrnsimply because one rather clumsyrnsource of lies has become unfashionable.rnThe activities of a James Carville makernGoebbels himself look like an amateur.rnAs for the willingness of a ruling elite torndispose of elements it judges unassimilable,rnour huge prison population, not tornmention the events at Waco and RubyrnRidge and onr ruthless bombing of poor,rnvirtually defenseless countries, tell us allrnwe need to know about that.rnAs the first critics of socialism argued,rnand as Richard Pipes and James Bovardrnhave argued again in recent books, privaternproperty is the onlv guarantee ofrncivil liberty and the humane culture itrnunderpins. The average American wageearner,rnwith half a dozen loaded creditrncards and a mortgage, living in a townrnwhose schools are funded by taxes andrndebt, owns less than nothing. That isrnwhy, in Bill Clinton’s America and TonyrnBlair’s Britain, the argument for privaternproperty, whatever the fate of socialism, isrnstill to be understood, let alone made andrnwon. Watson, focused on the histor)’ ofrnthe socialist idea, leaves the reader withrnthe impression that socialism has beenrnthe onl’ serious threat to life and propertyrnin modern times. In its day, it mayrnhave been the worst, but it is not the onernwe have to contend with now — not, atrnleast, in its original form, and under itsrnown names. It is interesting, for instance,rnthat although Watson introduces JulianrnHuxley among his mistaken socialists, hernhas nothing to say about Julian’s far morerncreative brother Aldous’s vision, in BravernNew World and Brave New World Revisited,rnof the longer-term tendencies ofrnWe.stern ciilization.rnAnother missing witness from Watson’srnbook is G.K. Chesterton. The greatrnopponent in his day of Shaw and Wells,rnhe, too, foresaw and would have understoodrnour difficulties. Chesterton, whornargued against the elitism of the socialistsrnall his life, knew that private propertv’ wasrnthe ordinary citizen’s only securityrnagainst the illiberal tendencies of bothrnleft and right and devoted his later yearsrnto an attempt to make the argument a politicalrnrealitv. Chesterton’s partv mayrnhave failed, but the need that promptedrnits creation is still there. Either AldousrnHuxley or Chesterton would have maderna better concluding witness for Watson’srnbook than Orwell, whose J 984, after all,rnis one of the more spectacularly mistakenrnprophetic dystopias. The complete absencernof Huxley and Chesterton fromrnthis otherwise lively and fascinating accountrnof current forgetfulness is a signrnthat this book, too, is not fully awake tornthe destructive realities of its own times.rnHELP THE ROCKFORD INSTITUTE • . . HURT THE IRSrnThere is often a tax advantage in making a gift of appreciatedrnstocks or bonds to The Rockford Institute. When you do, therernare two winners: you and The Rockford Institute. The onlyrnloser is the wicked and greedy tax collectorrnHere’s how it works:rnWhen you sell appreciated securities, you are taxed on the capitalrngains. However, if you contribute appreciated stocks or bonds to ThernRockford Institute, the gains are not taxable. In fact, you will receiverna charitable deduction for the full, fair-market value of the securities asrnof the date of the gift. To qualify, you only have to have held the stocksrnor bonds for more than one year. Your securities broker can even wirernthe shares directly to The Rockford Institute’s investment account.rnFor more information, please call or write:rnChristopher Check,rnExecutive ‘Vice President,rnat (815) 964-5811rnThe Rockford Institutern928 North Main StreetrnRockford, Illinois 61103 0 I ^”-rnOCTOBER 1999/29rnrnrn