one more display of a moral exhibitionismrnthat permeates American popularrnculture today, to the detriment of intellectualrnand personal integrity.rn—Amy KiemanrnDenver, COrnOn FlexibilityrnLet me get this straight. In the JunernChronicles, one W. Robert Hawkins opposedrnthe U.S. war against Serbia, dismissingrninterventionist congressmen asrnahistorical nitwits and likening the Serbsrnto Texans threatened with the loss of SanrnAntonio. Yet in the April 26, 1999, numberrnof the Weekly Standard, one WilliamrnR. Hawkins, “senior research analyst forrnRep. Duncan Hunter,” demands that wern”go in on the ground.” My hunch is thatrnthe non-interventionist W. Robert andrnthe chickenhawk William R. are one andrnthe same. What gives, Gumby?rnThe swaggering William R. asks,rnRobert McNamara-like, if we are “willingrnto pay the price of victory.” Ooooh. If Irnwere a girl (or a Weekly Standard editor),rnI’d swoon at this display of congressionalrnstaffer machismo. As an American, I’mrnmerely disgusted.rn— Cody AnnixterrnHome, PArnOn the Human ConditionrnMy grandparents both emigrated fromrnGermany shortly after World War I.rnGrandma hailed from a small town onrnthe plains of Lower Saxony, and Grandparngrew up in a smaller town in thernfoothills of the Bavarian Alps. Both camernfrom large families and left behind numerousrnbrothers and sisters and their offspring.rnAmong my second and thirdrncousins are small farmers, a young couplernthat runs a pizzeria, and a family thatrnowns a small electronics retail and repairrnshop.rnOn a recent trip to Germany, myrnbrother and I took a survey, asking ourrnrelatives what they thought of monetaryrnunion. The split in opinion followed predictablernpatterns. Those that worked forrnlarge corporations favored the euro,rnwhile those that operate their own businessesrnwere strongly against any furtherrneuro-integration. They realize that theyrnwill be squashed by foreign imports andrnencroaching chains such as Pizza Hut.rnDuring our trip, I discovered smalltownrnGerman virtue as I was joyfully welcomedrninto the homes of virtualrnstrangers. I ended up in places wherernGatholicism is openly celebrated and thernmayor had the gall to say a prayer in thernlocal public school (and the world didrnnot end). My observations confirmed myrnbelief that the people behind Chroniclesrnunderstand the human condition morerncompletely than those at any other institutionrnthat I know ofrnI support Chronicles and The RockfordrnInstitute because you have openedrnmy eyes to a world that I did not know existed.rnI am one of those typical Americansrnwho graduated from college withoutrnan education —someone who tossedrnaway religion in favor of popular culture.rnIn fact, I made it through college withoutrnha’ing read Shakespeare (or any other literaturernfor that matter) and without havingrnthe slightest idea that it might bernworthwhile to read Shakespeare. Becausernof your influence, I have nowrnscratched the surface of this strange andrnexciting world. In many ways, I do notrnlive up to the expectations I now have ofrnmyself, but with your help I at least knowrnthe right direction. In other words, I canrnnever really pay you back.rn— Peter McGrawrnSt. Paul, MNrnP.S. I work for a large anti-family bankrnthat is gobbling up every communityrnbank it can find. Shortly, I will resign myrnposition. When they ask me why, I willrnsay that I am going home to study Latin.rn5 MAIN STREET i;rnTHE MAIN STREET SPEAKERS BUREAUrnj’^narcho-Tyranny, the Balkans, Bullfighting, Crime, thernCulture War, Defense, Education, Federalism, Fertility,rnGambling, Creek, Guns, Homo Economicus, Immigration,rnthe Interstate Highway System, Islam, Judicial Tyranny,rnKosovo, Latin, Lric Poetry, Marriage and Family, MiddlernAmerican Rebels, Nationalism, the Old West, Politics,rnPrivate Justice, Quantum Mechanics, Revenge, SchoolrnConsolidation, Subsidiarity, the Tenth Amendment,rnTrade, the United Nations, Vouchers, Welfare, thernX-Files, Yugoslavia, zLoning . . .rnIs there anything Chronicles editors can’t speak on?rn(Oicay, we’re still looking for a physicist.)rnAUGUST 1999/5rnrnrn