Category: Imported

IB / CHRONICLESnHe may have meant life is a mug’s game. A universalnillusion-disillusion is central to all Eliot’s verse. He faces notnonly modernity’s forced reappraisal of the West’s nowstaggeringnheritage (that man is a perfectible creature ofnreason, say, making “progress” in a coherent moral creationnpresided over by a caring and available Creator) but alsonfaces an interior...

appear precisely in the context of that mysterious quality ofn”empty” that the poet cites — not in despair (as we persist innmisreading) but in hope.nWhat we want to believe Eliot said, that the vision of eyesnin the rose is empty men’s only hope, is not at all what henhas said. What he has said is...

apples don’t fall off apple trees because space-time assumesnthe undistorted, or “flat” form of Minkowski space-time.nWhen Einstein proposed the general theory of relativitynin 1916, science, technology, and mankind’s exploration ofnthe universe were still so primitive that there was almost nonoverlap between the theory’s predictions and observation. Innfact the only point of contact was a peculiarity...

20 / CHRONICLESnof the spirit; what we see as the flow of time is anconsequence of our spirits’ flight through time. When wenconsider the external world as a four-dimensional proposition,nthen time’s flow and associated conventions, such asnpast, present, and future, evaporate. (No criticism of humble,nand often easily dismissed, convention is intended.nRather, it is suggested that...

an agonized sleeplessness beyond sedation.nMost survivors were devastated. All sorts of neurotic andnpsychotic disorders, including extreme and exaggeratednforms of Parkinson’s disease, dogged them. The neurologistnOliver Sacks, who has devoted himself to the clinicalnobservation, care, and treatment of these people, describesntheir postepidemic fate: “The illness started to cool orncongeal, and states of immobility and arrest. Parkinsonian,ncatatonic,...

22/CHHONICLESnit exists, in the succession of events over which He rules sonthat not a sparrow falls to the ground without the Fathernknowing?” He amplified that if, perchance, he were to wakenup in God’s presence, he would say: “Lord, you didn’t givenme enough evidence.”nA world in which God’s design were intellectuallynaccessible, a world where the Siberian...

24/CHRONICLESning positions at obscure Arnold Housenand Aston Clinton. During this period,nWaugh reluctantly began his writingncareer with his well-received biographicalnessay on Rossetti.nAt this point in the book, Stannard’snbiographical design crystallizes. Waughnstudied briefly at Heatherley’s ArtnSchool, and though not a vocationallynfruitful endeavor, it helped to providenhim with what was to be an enduringnaesthetic foundation, namely, the artistnas...

28 / CHRONICLESnParty. “The electoral efforts of fundamentalistnleaders on behalf of conservativenRepublican candidates and theirnsuccess in moving the white born-againnconstituency into the Republican foldnhave, paradoxically, created tensionnwithin the previously staid GOP . . .nbetween the blue blood Republicannestablishment . . . and the conservativenreligious populists. … In the calculationsnof fundamentalist leadersnthe Republican party needs thenevangelicals...

28 / CHRONICLESnexcellent use,” says Roger Williams,n”to walk often into Golgotha, and tonview the rotten skulls of so manyninnumerable thousands of millions ofnmen and women like ourselves, gonenforever from this life.” For manynmoderns, especially those in the “socialnChurchbustersnConsidering the nearly blind eye thenWest turns toward the plight ofnChristians in the Soviet Union, onenhas to wonder:...

“piety at its best is public as well asnprivate. It embraces the lived world asnwell as the secret realm of the heart.”nMore important, “it can inspire a broadnrange of service to God and humankindnas well as encourage a deepernpersonal religion.”nFor the Puritans here included, thennotion of “private faith” was a contradiction.nPiety meant acting responsiblyntoward God...

population. No matter, the Idea Elitenhas slapped a scarlet F on them: “fundamentalists.”nThey are the last groupnwhich can be publicly defamed withnimpunity. If this be doubted, try takingnone of the hysterical “religious right”nscare stories such as Holy Terror ornGod’s Bullies and substituting “Jew”nfor “Christian” or “fundamentalist.”nThese attacks constitute the anti-nSemitism of the New Class, whichnviews...

the human mind automatically fallsnwhen left to itself”nThroughout the book, Molnar spotlightsnthe metaphysical chasm betweennpaganism and Christianity, leaving nonroom for syncretistic fancies about “perennialnphilosophies” (Aldous Huxley)nor “primordial traditions” (HustonnSmith) that somehow unite all religiousnexpression. Molnar demonstrates justnthe opposite and often adds apologeticnpunch to the exposition: “Human beingsnare not part of the substance ofnGod, nor do...

that would be this insight from thenforeword: “If there is a single threadnthat runs through these essays, it is thenrecognition of a universal order thatntranscends the flux of human life andngives meaning to it.”nThis book aside, it is difficult tonrecall any current criticism which olfersna clear-cut alternative, either to idealismnor materialism or logical positivism.nThe options...

38 / CHRONICLESnLetter From Albionnby Andrei NavrozovnApril in ParisnThe banging was first heard somewherenin the Alsace countryside, an hour or sonafter the train left Basel. For somenreason, local worthies invariably pronouncenthe city’s name the French way,nmaking it sound like the pagan deityndenounced by the Hebrew prophets.nThe temples of Baal, in this unconsciousninterpretation, are the ubiquitousnbanks,...

posal) when he made himself the mostnimportant miHtary commander ofnWorld War II, and there is no reasonnwhy Trump could not do him onenbetter, indispensable as his leadershipnwas in the Franco-Prussian, the Russo-nJapanese, and the Boer wars, not tonmention the Korean action and thenVietnam conflict. A war museum,ncrammed with Trump memorabilia,ncould be erected on the site,...

40/CHRONICLESnBut it was so far that we saw nothing.nThe next day we took the socialistnsubway, built on the Paris model butnfunctioning somewhat unsocialisticallyn—that is, very well. We got off at thenfifth stop (the third was thenGottwaldowa cultural center, a cementnwedding cake) and found ourselves in anFlorence of the North! This Prague is andormant princess—a German...

decency but logic is allowed to fall bynthe way. It’s incredible but true that ancandidate may say that he believes bothnin sanctions against South Africa and innfree technological trade with the SovietnUnion; that homosexuals are to benafforded special rights and the unbornnno rights; that we can enable women tonbe liberated from caring for their childrennby...

42 / CHRONICLESndoes corrupt, and while no President innrecent history has had absolute power,nwhat they have is close enough forngovernment work. It will be business asnusual for any President after the firstnyear, and no business at all for the lastntwo years. We won’t even grumble; wenexpect it to be this way. The President’sncronies will be...

The first major goal of most applicantsnpursuing an academic career atnB.U. and other universities is to securentenure. The most important criterionnon the tenure track is publication. Butnbeing published in the academic worldnis not necessarily a good indicator ofncompetence for university faculty appointment.nMany scholarly journals arenlittle more than outlets for academicsnwhose work is so marginal as...

44/CHRONICLESnabout their students, there are alsonmany others who teach only for thenmoney. More than once I found thatnfaculty members took an interest in menonly if they could use me or my worknfor their own interests or publishingnefforts. It was understood when I camento B.U. that I was engaged in majornstudy of special interest groups involvednin...

THE ACADEMYnThe NewnObscurantismnby Nicholas DavidsonnSantayana’s commonplace observationnthat “Those who cannot remember thenpast are doomed to repeat it” is notnpopular with professional historians,nwho suffer from chronic disagreementnabout what the past means, or whethernit means anything at all. Such embarrassmentnis understandable: Since thenFirst World War, the most salient lessonsnof the past have been systematicallynobscured in the academy,...

iB / CHRONICLESnstandard superstition of the late 20thncentury that the causes of events arenobscure and inscrutable — so complexn”we may never know what really happened.”nIn the course of the pastngeneration, concepts like “facts,” “evidence,”n”human nature,” “truth,” andn”reality” have fallen out of fashion andnout of use. In the social sciences innparticular, a scholarly line of reasoningnis...

ready saturated with syphilis and gonorrhea,nhepatitis A and B, and variousnparasitic infections. Studies in Los Angelesnrevealed that 93 percent of malenhomosexuals were infected with cytomegalovirus,na variety of herpes linkednto cancer. Epstein-Barr virus, anotherncancer-causing microbe, was pandemicnamong them. These infections werenmarked by latency periods duringnwhich infectious carriers looked andnfelt well, often long before they exhibitednclinical manifestations...

48 / CHRONICLESnturn, and in the brain were added tonthe growing list of AIDS-related complications.nThe blood banking industry comesnunder heavy fire from Shilts, and deservedlynso. Evidence had accumulatednby late 1981, indicating that AIDSnwas a blood-borne infection that couldnbe transmitted through blood transfusions.nIn 1982 the CDC reported casesnof hemophiliacs infected with AIDSnvia contaminated clotting factor. Yet,nthe...

not informed about the condition ofntheir patients. Nor, where such guidelinesnare in force, do doctors have thenright to refuse to operate on a patientnwith AIDS. This situation is leadingnmany health-care workers to consider ifnthey want to continue in medicine.nAlthough the case for applying traditionalnpublic health measures to thenAIDS epidemic grows stronger by thenweek, the likelihood...

B/CHRONICLESnFathers are striking back in thencultural war over abortion. As a slogan,n”abortion rights” has translated intonthe woman’s absolute prerogative tonabort her unborn child. It is not onlynthe interests of the child that are brutallyncrushed by this “right”; the desires ofnfathers — even married fathers — havenalso been brushed aside as irrelevant innabortion decisions. But this...

blacks, and studying the menus in thencafeterias to include ethnic food.nThese extortionist sit-in methods,nhowever, are nothing compared to Mr.nDufFey’s reaction. Duffey said the studentsnwould not be punished for theirnactions. He described the confrontationnas a “good education for them,nand me as well. I would have liked tonthink these are things we would havendone [in any case].”...

8/ CHRONICLESnPERSPECTIVEnCITIZENS OF THE WELFARE STATEnby Thomas FlemingnLike most Americans of my generation, my experiencenof poverty has been self-inflicted. “Twenty years ofnschooling and they put you on the day shift.” Dylan’s littlenfantasy of “Maggie’s Farm’ takes on grim reality when thenscholar-gypsy turns to waiting tables or substitute teaching,nbeing in general what my parents were unkind...

opinion. Of course, it is easier to be optimistic when therenare parents and friends who will pick you up and dust younoff, no matter what you’ve done. “When you have to gonthere, they have to take you in.”nIt is one of the marks of family and community life thatnindividuals are not judged chiefly on their...

is our civil obligation to them? Exactly nothing. As humannbeings we may well wish to relieve their sufferings, but as ancivil government it would be wrong, very wrong indeed tonconfer upon them the blessings, but not the obligations, ofncitizenship.nIn the United States we have pursued a rather differentncourse from the Athenians, as we have showered...

of poor families. But instead of taxing and spending, thenemperors followed the example of private benefactors whonput a fixed contribution on their estates. By the newnplan—managed by local governments— landowners werengiven loans, which they had to pay back at a fixed rate; theirnpayments went to pay for poor children (one to a family) innthe local...

most West European societies had rapidly falling birthrates,nwhich were attributed to the economic uncertainties ofnfamily living. Security for families, the nationalists argued,nwould restore national birthrates, building what SwedishnPrime Minister Per Albin Hansson once called “the people’snhome.”nThe welfare state constructed on these impulses did havenan identifiably traditional cast. The state took it upon itself tondefend particular...

14 / CHRONICLESnwelfare policies have made traditional family life almostnimpossible. As late as 1965, 75 percent of Swedish mothersnwith small children were full-time homemakers; today, 90npercent of them are in the labor force. Sweden’s marriagenrate fell over 50 percent between 1966 and 1973. Thenproportion of cohabitating, unmarried couples did rise fromn1 percent in 1960 to...

16 / CHRONICLESnwhere I slept three weeks earlier. Also, a ferocious knife fightntook place on the steps of the Mission while I was standingnthere. My notes of the brawl say that the brawlers were toondrunk to fight dangerously but not too drunk to kill eachnother with knives (that is, unknowingly).nStreetniks are also doing time —...

2,900 calories; 300 more than necessary to maintain hisnrelatively inactive 170 pounds.nWillie wore a very colorful ski cap, a T-shirt advertisingnCoors, two long-sleeved shirts, a brown nylon jacket withnfour big pockets (in one of which was a pair of blue cottonngloves), two pairs of pants, three pairs of socks, and a pair ofntwo-toned leather loafers...

No one looked my way. Then quietly and without turningnhis head, the most bearded and the most tattooed of the mennsaid, “Free.” End conversation.nMost Willies are white. But in Nashville, at least, therenare also many blacks. Again, no surprise. You would expectngroups to be represented on the street in proportion to theirnshare of poverty and...

“symbiotic relationship” by community ecologists.nIt is the “critical mass” concept. Already there are peoplenbarely hanging on, as I pointed out earlier—but they arenhanging on. With the establishment of street services, socialnfusion would occur, pulling the weakest loose from thenfabric of the community onto the pavement. The stage is setnfor growth of the street persons to...

causes resentment, then helplessness, and finally, alienation.nIt is a process well underway.nIn theory all we have to do to improve the quality of ourngovernment is to elect better people to office. But votersnrarely evaluate the performance of their representatives withnclarity; congressional incumbents today have virtually lifetimenjob security. The Founding Fathers could not havenimagined anything so...

collapse inevitable. We in the United States and NorthnAmerican society in general have boasted far too much tonourselves and to others of what we can do with our ownncapacity. We are soon going to be faced with the experiencenof what happens to a society when it can no longerncommunicate by a common language and tradition....

24 / CHRONICLESnheld back by discrimination.nDiscrimination, given free rein and unchecked by anyntranscendent morality, may run to extermination, as it didnfor the Jews under Hitler. Is it permissible to suppose thatnthe contemporary, almost worldwide denigration of then”whites” — the Caucasians, “WSP’s,” or “Anglos”—nreflects a similar suspicion on the part of “minorities” thatnthe WSP is superior...

practical considerations that lie behind capricious designationsnimpossible to justify by any truly neutral or scientificncriterion. Stipulations that are openly unjust and discriminatorynare purportedly required to undo conditions deemedndiscriminatory, conditions that have resulted, perhaps innpart, from prejudice, but primarily from organic historicalnand cultural development. These stipulations representndeliberate incisions into the body of a culture, and it...

sify if a change in government led tonlarge increases in social spending (rathernthan productive investment), higherntaxation levels, a drop in business confidencenand a flight from sterling.”nThose on the left who favor isolationnand passivity in foreign policy and whonwant to shift funds from the militarynand business into the welfare state willnfind no support in Kennedy. If...

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...

30 / CHRONICLESnSupreme Court nominee Ginsburg attemptednfor Harvard Law. And if youndon’t trust Mark’s account of drugsnand sex in the MBA program, keep innmind that this is the book Harvardnrefused to sell in its own bookstore,ngiving banned in Boston a new meaning.nLurid prose and sensationalismndetract from Mark’s expose, but theyndon’t invalidate his point. The facultyncares...

single balloon payment at maturity.nInvestor yen for high yields fuels thenraider’s desire for arbitrage profits madenon the takeover. And if you want tonknow who buys junk bonds, just asknthose bankers who are so fond of ThirdnWorld debt—they have to make moneynsomehow! By turning greed into anfinancing weapon, investment bankersncan put their own targets into play...

32 / CHRONICLESnAnd when most of the antitakeovernprovisions were killed in conference,nthe market rallied from its lows. Portfolioninsurance, another programtrading-typengimmick, and massivenselling by mammoth overinvested mutualnfunds turned a greedy rout into anfull-scale financial panic. That panicnmay lead us directly to what Ravi Batrancalls The Great Depression of 1990nbecause the stock market crashed fromnwithin and without...

34 / CHRONICLESnhis apparent career. After Burgess’ andnMaclean’s flight to the Soviet Union,nBlunt was questioned by MI 5 about hisnloyalties 11 times in the next 13 years.nAgain, there was no hard evidence, andnBlunt kept his contacts and friendshipsnin British intelligence. Finally MichaelnStraight, an American who studied atnCambridge in the 1930’s, made authoritativenstatements about Blunt tonthe...

Western credits. The contention of thenpanel that Yugoslav consumer goodsnare shoddy can easily be verified by anlook at that nation’s crowning export,nthe Yugo, a plagiarized Fiat of quitenexceptional horror.nBut doesn’t the Yugoslav governmentnallow free emigration? Accordingnto Ljubo Sire, the outflow has “practicallynstopped,” and there are overn20,000 Yugoslavs who cannot get passportsnfor “security reasons.”nTo be sure,...

40 / CHRONICLESnLetter FromnStockholmnby Eric BrodinnThe Church in Sweden’s WelfarenStatenAs this is written, the annual Council ofnthe Church of Sweden is meeting here,nproceedings which will last to the end ofnthe month of August. As the namenimplies, Sweden has a state churchnwhich is Lutheran in confession. Itsnorigin, like that of the Church of England,nwas based on...

bership, the total of Swedish residentsnwho are nonmembers has increasednby 25,000 a year the last few years.nIn 1984 there were 7,963,696 statenchurch members and 420,572 nonmembersnin Sweden. That year 13,395nleft and 5,874 joined the state church.nBut even if you leave, you still have tonpay 60 percent of the church tax fornhandling civil registration.nThat most people...