Author: The Archive (The Archive)

CORRESPONDENCErnLetter From Englandrnbv Christie DaviesrnOur Shortsighted RulersrnLaser beam surgcrv has now made it possiblernto eorrect man common eve defectsrncaused b irregularities in the shapernof the lens of the eve relative to the sizernof the ccball. For those with scvcrcK’rnimpaired ecsight, this means a welcomernescape from a serious handicap. However,rnfor children who are onlv mildlvrnshortsighted, the...

ipating in athletics or other extracurricularrnactivities. To her credit, boardrnmember McFerren deemed the currentrnstandard—at least a eumulatie “D” averagernbefore the start of the academicrnquarter—insufficient to varrant a ])upirsrnparticipation. Under the terms of herrnproposal, this cumulative standard wouldrnbe raised one letter-grade, to a “C” average,rnand the student’s performance inrneach class would be monitored weeklyrnduring the quarter...

eed) students to more effective districts.rnConscc[uentl, the educrats have beenrnscrambHng to their last Hnc of defense:rndepreciate tlie results and significancernof specific testing instruments, such asrnthe SAI’ and PE, and objective, quantitatirnc grading s’stems in general. Therngeneral name for this is OBE, “Outcome-rnBased Education,” which seeks torndispense with Carnegie curriculum unitsrnaltogether and institute in their placern’ague...

VITAL SIGNSrnThe Art of AdolfrnHitlerrnby Mark WarrenrnIn reading the Charles Manson story,rnllelter Skelter, I was struek bv a briefrnpassage about Manson’s admiration forrnihtler. Manson believed he had thingsrnin eommon with Hitler, and there werernsimilarities in their lives, howeer tri ial:rnboth were vegetarians; both had an incrediblernability to influenee others; andrnboth were frustrated, rejected artists.rnHitler—a frustrated,...

sentence in his biograph- of Hitler tornmusing about this verv subjeet: aboutrnwhat the world might have been sparedrnif Hitler had been accepted by thernacadem. An examiner rejected his portfoliornbecause of a lack of head drawings.rnThe examiner did not see the portfoliornthat contained head drawings goodrnenough for cntr into an’ art academwrnhi a ragged copy of...

he in the camp of those who pander tornthe newly mihtant ethnic and victimbasedrnconstituencies. Rather, Haiderrnand his party stress a politics of culturalrncohesion and national pride that aimrnless for a purely economic Europeanrnunion than for one incorporating bothrnregional and federal systems, a possibilityrnyet to be seriously addressed by thernBrussels and Maastricht accords.rnHaider possesses leadership qualitiesrnnot...

in Europe, to communal autonomy. Itrnusually seeks to restrict immigration intornregions and nation-states in order to preservernthe cultural cohesion necessar forrnself-goernment. But the French NewrnRightist Alain de Benoist, showcased inrna recent issue of Telos, has moved awayrnfrom other European New Rightists byrncalling for the equal protection of allrnethnic communities in France. All peoples,rnBenoist explains, have...

structureless masses. Vermassung, orrn”enmassment,” is another name for thernsame process. Families, churches, neighborhoods,rnlocal communities, and traditionalrnpatterns of work with all theirrnhuman particularities are underminedrnin an effort, not always intentional, tornproduce the faceless, abstract, “free individual.”rnThe cancer appears in many forms.rnWhile Roepke spends a great deal ofrneffort tracing the nuances of the disease,rnit will suffice here...

harmon’ not as a result of a welding ofrntwo disparate parts but as a natural flowingrnof its organic nature. Roepkc’s ThirdrnWav is not fusionism, but it does fulfillrnthe needs that fusionists want to satisfy.rnBut for every benefit there is a cost.rnFor conservatives in general, the harmoniousrnintegration of private property andrnfree markets into the vision of...

LETTERSrnRememberingrnCleanth Brooksrnby William MillsrnCleanth Brooks, one of the giants ofrnliterary criticism, died last May 10.rnHe was 87 years old. He taught thousandsrnof us how to read a poem or arnstory. Some he taught over a halfcenturyrnby way of the classroom, some inrnhis numerous public lectures across thisrncountry and abroad, and many of usrnthrough his textbooks....

The Hundredth Meridianrnby Chilton Williamson, Jr.rnEnclosurernLate in the afternoon of tlie day beforernthe final day of elk season I parked therntruck and trailer above Blue Jay Creekrnnorth of Krall’s ranch and rode into thernmountains against a cold wind and thernlowering sun.rnhi spite of having been kicked on therncannon bone in her off rear leg fourrnweeks...

compactly as activated grains of beachrnsand, and the cold drives with the forcernof an ice ax. When the storm moves outrnit leaves behind a landscape as white andrnglaring as the Antarctic beneath anrnozone sky, with only the feathered ti|5s ofrnthe tallest sagebrush showing. Winter isrnthe sole defense a brave countrv knows.rnn winter, when the only...

”The best primer on political reality, Beyond Politicsrnwill revolutionize your thinking^ — PETE DU PONTrnBEYONDrnPOLITICSrnMarkets, Welfare andrnthe Failure of BureaucracyrnWiUiam C. MitcheUrn& Randy T. SimmonsrnForeword by Gordon TullockrnThe Independent I n s t i t u tern”An outstanding job, Beyond Politics explains the continuum ofrnpublic policy battles and why bureaucratic institutions are unable torndeliver on...

now “the mostrndangerousrnconservative?”rnThe New York Times is uuorried:rn”has he gone too far?”rnIntelligence and Class Structurernin American LifernHouu to getrnthis massivern8a7-page,rn$ 3 0 volumernUp to $30 inrnstores – yoursrnFREErnWhy? Because Murray and the late RichardrnHerrnstein prove something threatening tornPolitically Correct Liberalism:rnIntelligence – not environment, povertyrnor education – is at the root of our worstrnsocial problems. And...

EDITORrnThomas FlemingrnMANAGING EDITORrnTheodore PappasrnSENIOR EDITOR, BOOKSrnChilton Williamson, ]r.rnEDITORIAL ASSISTANTrnMichael WashburnrnART DIRECTORrnAnna Mycek-WodeckirnCONTRIBUTING EDITORSrnHarold O.]. Brown, Katherine Dalton,rnSamuel Francis, George Garrett,rnE. Christian Kopff, Clyde WilsonrnCORRESPONDING EDITORSrnBill Kauffman, Jacob Neusner,rn]ohn Shelton Reed, Momcilo SelicrnEDITORIAL SECRETARYrnLeann DobbsrnPUBLISHERrnAllan C. CarlsonrnPUBLICATION DIRECTORrnGuy C. ReffettrnPRODUCTION SECRETARYrnAnita CandyrnCIRCULATION MANAGERrnRochelle FrankrnA publication of The Rockford Institute.rnEditorial and Advertising Offices:rn934 North Main Street, Rockford,...

doing exactly this; when asked whetherrnhe favored what is presumably thernreligious right position on creationism,rngetting the state to impose it on localrnschools, North responded that he believedrnlocal school boards should decidernphilosophical questions for themselves.rnNorth also distinguished himself fromrnthe religious right by what he didn’t do:rnnot compare Roe v. Wade to Dred Scott,rnnot sentimentalize Martin Luther...

If abandoning the defensive warrnagainst homosexual rights was a ploy tornwin votes, Mr. Bennett ought to reflectrnthat he is running the risk of offendingrnfar greater numbers by criticizingrndivorces.rnDivorce is harming more childrenrnthan homosexuality. It is also true that,rnin the race for public acceptance, divorcernhad something of a head start onrnsodomy. But homosexuality seems tornbe catching...

shared history. Though Lasch was willingrnto accept variations on this model,rngiven the present shattered condition ofrnthe real article, he rejected academic redefinitionsrnof what community is about.rnLeast of all did he view it as a collectionrnof itinerant yuppies and sexual deviantsrnlooking for an idol to replace the godrnthat failed.rnA certifiable Brahmin, he nonethelessrnappealed to those uncorrupted...

Globo-CoprnNo small irony attended the announcementrnby FBI Director Louis Freeh onrnJuly 4 of last year that his bureau was establishingrna “legal attache” office inrnMoscow, and not only because thernagency of the U.S. government historicallyrnresponsible for counterespionagernhad finally penetrated the capital cityrnof its old adversary. July 4, as antiquariansrnmay remember, is IndependencernDay, and what was being...

not-very-bright gangsters looking for arnquick buck who are more often at eachrnother’s throats than those of law-abidingrnAmericans or even congressmen andrnsenators. Yet it is convenient to presentrninternational organized crime as arn”monolithic threat” because only if it isrnsuch could an equally monolithic globalrnbureaucracy be created to handle it. It isrnjust such a transnational monolith thatrnpeople like...

PERSPECTIVErnCrime and WelfarernThe Immoral Equivalent of Star Warsrnby Thomas FlemingrnEvery few months the gentlemen of the press discover a newrnthreat to humanity that requires decisive government action.rnNot so long ago the United States Senate, alarmed by reportsrnof a comet striking the planet Jupiter, actually took up thernquestion of protecting the earth against a similar calamity.rnConservatives...

To remedy millennia of discrimination will obviously requirernsuch long-term programs as cannot benefit any childrenrnalready born. We hear, therefore, from liberals and conservativesrnalike, that a more direct crackdown on crime must be undertaken.rnDepending on their point of view—or who is payingrnthem—the experts recommend more police, more prisonsrnand stiffer sentences, “federalization” of crime control, and disarmingrnthe...

cannot get enough of what he wants from welfare, he can alwaysrnsteal or deal. By the time he kills his first victim, the timernfor reform has long since past, and the only profitable thing thatrncan be done with him is to put him out of his and our misery.rnLet us imagine the same youth 100...

a shawl reading her Bible, kept a house of ill repute. Even OliverrnTwist’s workhouse (or Fagin’s gang, for that matter) must bernpreferable to such a life.rn”Root, hog, or die.” Some of the men, as many white asrnblack, undoubtedly will, but death by gunfire or a drug overdosernis hardly preferable to death by starvation. Those whornwant...

All Things Consideredrnby Charles Edward EatonrnIf you aim at a target you may notrnHit the thing in mind but something else:rnConsider the color of that dahlia fed on apricot.rnYou have the flower but you do not have the fruit,rnThe thing you wanted, the luscious filling in the mouth.rnThe orange going down into the depths, the...

Antinomies for Vulcanrnby Charles Edward EatonrnPut a bronze nude in a room that is red,rnRed walls, red rug, carnations on a table,rnSo that it says to anyone too white of mind: Drop dead.rnNevertheless, the nude is in control—rnIf the room could move, it would turn around it like an axle:rnSomeone put the passion of his...

almost as many active serial killers in the United States in thernfirst three or four decades of the present century as there are today.rnHowever, the number fell sharply in mid-century beforernrising again from the late 1960’s on, and this increase hasrncaused contemporary perceptions of a “murder wave,” thernmodern “epidemic” of serial murder that has proved...

would never really get hurt at all in the vivid unreal laws of therndream . . . the pure primitive man of the dream world killedrnthese men.” Masters has noted how often killers see themselvesrnas a battleground between forces of good and evil, with thernhomicidal behavior being the work of an “inner me,” an “innerrndarkness,”...

sentences and the abolition of parole, for gun control and therninvoluntary confinement of the mentally disturbed. However,rnthese events also reinforce a lesson from the study of serialrnkillers, that at least a few individuals are not simply dysfunctionalrnor improperly socialized, that their crimes may resultrnfrom a profound schism with the ordinary run of humanity:rnperhaps from a...

man who would never have committed a crime had he not correctlyrnbelieved that in his territory one must kill to survive, orrnmurder by those who would not have become murderers hadrntheir lives not been formed in homes, neighborhoods, andrnschools plagued by violent crime.rnThese destructive forces are in part the result of the historicalrnAmerican attitude toward...

Crime by a relatively few blacks is destroying the blackrncommunity. The criminals in this small group are not thernbreed of times past. While it is now fashionable to ridicule thernpsychological explanations of crime that gained favor in thern1940’s, it may well be that, in times of strong social values, powerfulrnpsychological urges are required to overcome...

result in their demotion, even though these outcomes are indubitablyrnright and proper.rnI should pause to say here that, much as I regret it, such contradictionsrnappear to be an unfortunate but unavoidable featurernof the thinking-reversal exercise I propose. Yet the experimentrnmust be seen through to the end if it is to be properlyrntested.rnIII propose isrnthat—as arntemporaryrnconvenience...

gible either to receive Pell grant money to pay for creativernwriting courses or to earn a college degree. Nor would he bernpermitted leave from prison to accept any humanitarian awardsrn(except those presented directly by the legislature or governorrnof the state where he is incarcerated). Any prisoner committingrnmurder or rape during a temporary release would automaticallyrnforfeit...

personal, beleaguered, despairing centrality.”rnAt other times, he denies thernenterprise was “a deliberate aestheticrnmove,” produced instead by “the naturernof the era.” This may well be, of course.rnIn his opening chapter on “The State ofrnthe Art in Boston, 1955,” and in his second,rnmore introspective chapter calledrnsimply “The Narrator, 1955-93,” Davisonrncompellingly evokes the Cold War tensions,rntenuous material prosperity,...

“brilliaM”rnArthur R. Jensen,rnUniversity of California, Berkeleyrn”[a] storehouse of wellintegratedrninformation”rnHans J. Eysenck, University of Londonrn”major synthesis of socialrnscience and evolutionaryrntheory”rnRichard Lynn, University of Ulsterrn”bold hypothesis”rnThomas J. Bouchard,rnUniversity of Minnesotarn”brilliant synthesis”rnBarry R. Gross, City University of New Yorkrn”has the simplicity and explanatoryrnpower that indicaterntruth”rnMichael Levin, City University of New Yorkrn”organizes well-establishedrngroup differences into arnmeaningful pattern”rnRobert A. Gordon,rnThe...

CORRESPONDENCErnLetter FromrnPraguernby Stephen P. HalbrookrnThe Firearm as arnSymbol of FreedomrnI am overwhelmed by the sight of thernsmall monument shaped like a gravestonern—inseribed Obetem Komunismurn(“Sacrificed to Communism”)—surroundedrnby flowers and pictures ofrnmartyrs from the 1948-1989 period inrnCzechoslovakia’s history. Looking up,rnone sees the statue of St. Wenceslas andrnthe Czech National Museum at the endrnof the wide boulevard forever...

Advertisement for gun shop.rngame.rnMy new friend draws a map of thernCzech republic showing tlie best liuntingrnareas. I show him a business card ofrnthe CZ firearms factory I am planning tornvisit. He draws a picture of a rifle cartridgernon the map to show where an ammunitionrnfactory is located. I then takernout the gun magazine I bought...

government had been required by thernFirst Republic, the heir to the Austro-rnHungarian Empire. Hunters were registeredrnwith the local police at Prague.rnFirearms prohibition was an essentialrnaspect of the repressive Nazi and Communistrnregimes from the Nazi occupationrnin 1939 through the Velvet Revolutionrnof 1989. Two world wars leftrnfirearms all over Europe. Do Czechsrnobey all the laws, or have...

joy the excellent cuisine—including therndelicious trout from the Pcinja River—rnand to meditate and pray at thernmonastery.rnBut troubles still abound for manyrnFRY citizens, particularly for the pensionersrnwho worked for many years inrnand Rumanians put their losses at four tornfive billion U.S. dollars each, the Ukrainiansrnat two to three billion, and whornknows how much Macedonians havernlost. All...

suade or even compel the leaders of thernBosnian Serbs to accept the ContactrnGroup plan and to try to improve thernmaps and the constitutional arrangementsrnthrough negotiation at a laterrndate. But is this realistic? Couldn’t (orrnwouldn’t) the hostile European-Americanrncoalition block any and all changesrnfavorable to the Serbs?rnDuring a press conference, the MontenegrinrnPrime Minister Milo Djukanovicrndiscussed the problems...

startled anew by the fact that largernchunks of London were not just nornlonger English, but were not even British.rnHuge numbers of people from entirelyrndissimilar backgrounds, countries, andrnraces, speaking different languages andrnpracticing different religions, immersedrnin cultures unlike any of those ofrnEurope, had permanently settled inrnEngland. The significance of this camernupon me at once; I suddenly realizedrnthat...