28 / CHRONICLESndo the same.nThe Soviets lag in technology andnneed time to acquire/copy advancesnmade elsewhere. Gorbachev’s desiresnto “stabilize” the arms race and blocknnew systems like SDI while pursuingninternal economic reforms and increasedntrade make perfect sense as anstrategy to maintain Soviet power.nRather than welcome Gorbachev’snprogram and offer to aid it, every effortnshould be made to disrupt it. Justnbecause the Soviets have problemsndoes not mean that the U.S. cannrelax—the USSR “will not take declinengracefully,” and Moscow still hasnmilitary capabilities that only the U.S.ncan match.nBut a negative policy towards thenUSSR is not enough. The industrializationnof the Third World, particularlynChina, India, and Brazil, poses newnmultipolar challenges. The U.S. mustnadopt policies to expand its own eco­nTitlennomic base to meet these challenges.nIn Kennedy’s framework resources cannbe used for military strength, investment,nand consumption (including socialnspending). Mercantilists place consumptionnlast as a reward for thensuccessful provision of the first two.nHowever, a decadent America hasnplaced consumption first and relegatednthe other two to picking up the scraps.nThe only real debate has been overnhow much consumption will be publicnas opposed to private. This is a prescriptionnfor decline.nUnlike the liberals who rush tonquote him, Kennedy cannot find anynplace from which it would be safe fornthe U.S. to withdraw. He predicts thatnthreats to American security will increase,nparticularly south of the border.nAnd to survive in the long run, a statenmust first survive in the short run.nInstead, he argues for greater helpnfrom allies in the Western coalition andnGreat Topics, Great Issues!nCatch up on the CHRONICLESnyou’ve missed by orderingnfrom the following collectionnof recent back issues.n• Ethnic Conflict May ’88—Harold O.J. Brown tells why Swiss ethnic pluralism works; Eriknvon Kuehnelt-Leddihn stresses the historical reasons for South Africa’s state of affairs; andnSamuel Francis looks at Martin Luther King Jr. and the civil rights movement. $2.50 ,nn Homage to T. S. Eliot April ’88-Octavio Paz, Josef Pieper, James “mttleton,nThomas Molnar, Fred Chappell, and Thomas Fleming pay their respects to the greatnmodern poet. $2.50n• Who’s in Charge? March ’88—Editor Thomas Fleming discusses the private diplomats’nand pubhc scoundrels’ fight over the corpse of the American empire; Samuel Francis asks,n”If Presidents have a free hand in foreign pohcy, who needs a Constitution?”; and JacknDouglas wonders if it may be time to elect federal judges. $2.50n• Back to Nature Feb. ’88-The Greening of America, Part 11, by Allan C. Carlson; Mutinynin Paradise or Sexual Freedom/PoUtical Slavery by John Chodes; and Jigs Gardner examinesnrepentant radicals—conservative” and doing well. $2.50nQ Institutionalized Writing: Are Universities the Last Stop for New Leftists and Burnt-nOut Writers? Jan. ’88—Bulgakov—a White Survivor of the Red Terror; plus handguns innFlorida, the homeless in North Dakota, and Lloyd’s of London’s new Tinkertoynhome. $2.50n• liestoring the Constitution—Seizing Power From Judges, Congressmen, and OthernUsurpers Dec. ’87—Clyde Wilson asks, “What have they done to our laws?”; BarryShainnon Conservative Commons and Kyle E. McSlarrow on judicial editing and congressionalninaction, plus much more. $2.50n•Postage and handling included in issue price.nName_nCityn_ Address.nTotal amount duen_State_ . Zip_nQty. Amt.nChronicles • 934 North Main Street • Rockford, IL • 61103 CBI588nnnnotes that in times of decline “patriotsncall for renewal.” Kennedy is concernednthat it seems politically impossiblento get U.S. defense spending aboven7.5 percent of GNP, a figure slightlynhigher than the most ambitious effortnof President Reagan and $50 billionnmore than the current budget.nWhat is needed is better leadershipnand wiser policies, neither of which cannbe expected to come from liberals. Thenlesson of history is that all Great Powersnhave had problems and faced challenges.nVictory goes to those who findnthe best solutions. If Kennedy appearsnpessimistic about the ability of thenAmerican political system to respond,nit is a sentiment with which conservativesncan sympathize.nRecovery means reducing consumptionn(both private and public) ornholding it steady, so that resourcesnobtained from the present slow rate ofneconomic growth can be invested backninto the system to stimulate fasterngrowth in the future. Taxes on consumptionnshould be substituted forntaxes on investment and production.nBudgets should be balanced and debtsnpaid down. Curtailing imports to redirectndemand back into the domesticneconomy would be a major boost tonindustry. Kennedy notes “that Japanesenfirms have a virtual guaranteednhome market” as a base while U.S.nfirms do not. This must change. Anprotectionist policy would also encouragenforeign firms to locate within thenU.S., thereby not only increasing capacitynwithin American territory butnalso bringing technological advancesnmade elsewhere into the Americanneconomy.nThe future United States will notnhave the power to play “world policeman”nas it did immediately after WorldnWar II. But that was a foolish desirenanyway — most of the world is beyondnredemption and is best left to stew in itsnown juices. The U.S. can, however,nmaintain itself as the strongest of thenGreat Powers, with a share of worldnwealth not far removed from England’snat the height of its empire and restingnon a more secure base. But this will notnhappen automatically; it will have to benworked at. America will need all thenstrength it can muster to defend itsnnational interests in a hostile world. Fornconflict will mark the 21 st century, as itnhas all the centuries before.n