Category: Imported

121 CHRONICLESnBeyond this, more than a million so-called NeighborhoodnWatchers were recruited to serve without pay, or evennofficial identification in most cases, to serve quite literally asnspies or monitors upon their own neighborhoods; this, ofncourse, to pick up any possibly disloyal remarks from thenneighbors. As Samuel Morrison writes, it “was a wonderfulnopportunity to bring patriotism to...

rather a sense that whatever was happening was a part of angreat destiny that was unique to America and not to benopposed lightly.nThe war gave immense impetus to this conviction.nBefore the war was even finished, there was a national sensenthat the Americans, Our Boys, Over There, were the truenwinners of the holy war against the...

141 CHRONICLESnfound its civil religion, in sports and in icons of the Ruths,nCobbs, Dempseys, Granges, and others — names whichnseem still to come trippingly off the tongue.nI turn now to another aspect of the 20’s, one that I shallnstay with for the rest of the lecture. This was the decade innwhich the political intellectual, what...

cates of a corporate state, a socialist state, a nationalncommunity more abundantly than did the tracts andntreatises from Europe on these matters.nIt is interesting to see how synchronously the literary andnthe philosophical sections of the 20’s cultural efflorescencenworked together in the quest for national community. It wasnalmost as though an invisible conductor presided with batonnover...

American welfare state and, more particularly, the dream ofnthe Great Community in America.nSeemingly nothing disturbs the growth and momentumnof the crisis machinery of the welfare state. Not economicnprosperity; some say the welfare state grows as fast undernboom as recession. A fourth crisis came along in the 1960’s,nthat of the war in Vietnam and on the...

ized, unitary bureaucracy we live by. I believe, although Incannot be sure, that more and more responsible people arengiving thought to alternative patterns, not driven by the spurnof crisis.nI am struck too by the continuing rise of interest innintermediate groups, associations, and patterns of indirectnrather than direct authority. Such interest was largelynlacking in this country...

18 / CHRONICLESnTYRANNY BY SLOTH by George GarrettnWhen I say that I thank you for asking me here tonspeak to you, that I thank you I am here, I have tonconfess that I am flying in the face of the latest status ritualnpracticed by many of my colleagues in the scribblingnprofessions. The latest thing, as...

Well. Towne has got a point. It is pertinent. I mean if JoenBiden had been an actress instead of a U.S. Senator, henmight have sounded exactly like that. . . .n”Surely you don’t plan to talk about literature and then(pardon the expression) literary life,” Towne argued.nI agreed. Partly because in one aspect of one thing...

201 CHRONICLESnPublic Radio, you know that the flute and the acousticnguitar are the instruments of compassion and that compassionnis a virtue exclusively reserved for the left and especiallynfor those who most publicly assert that they have compassion;neven the care and cure of dread diseases are politicallynweighted. Fabrics, clothing, and hair styles, bottles of beernand soda...

terrorist targets) warfare as an instrument or extension ofnnational policy, even the policy of self-defense is no longernreally feasible.nUnthinkable is, I believe, the correct adjective. That therenare wars going on, here and now, within and between mostnof the nations of the earth is a fact beyond the interest ofnmost of these advanced thinkers.nI am reminded...

221 CHRONICLESnany ammunition to the skeptical opposition. I can recall thatnonce upon a time we laughed at science under Stalin, neverndreaming that most of its practices, if not all of its excesses,nwould come to pass here.nIn literature there are such inhibitions as the prevalentncritical notion that even for the sake of verisimilitude,nfictional characters must not...

Garrett: Basically not. It was like an open book exam, butnyou’ve got time as a factor. Insofar as the book has anynsingular living quality, it is the quality of being reallynremembered. Okay. It is really remembered, because I amnstraining my memory trying to recall what I read about SirnWalter Ralegh. The urgency of my memory...

241 CHRONICLESnpyramid. The only problem with that is it seems that wenforget as much at the other end as we are learning at thisnend. The sum total of knowledge does not increase, which isnone of the things which makes it so difficult for us ever tonhave enough information to properly imagine the past.nBell: Starting into...

Scribner’s wanted it also, and I added one thing to theirnmanuscript that wasn’t in Spottiswoode’s. It took about fivenminutes. Three pages of manuscript—you’ll see it in thenbook, if you open it up: Roman numeral I, beginning (and anlittle epigraph); about midway through, II, middle; and innfront of the last 20 pages, III, end. When they...

2B j CHRONICLESnhierarchical club like the Iowa or Breadloaf circuit, and evennif you are not one of their stars, if you stay patiently and donwhat we used to call “pull wool” down South sufficiently,nyour time will come. They can’t leave you unrewardednforever. Queen Elizabeth could, but the Iowa Writers’nWorkshop can’t.nBell: You’ve taught at a lot...

friend to socialism, declared in his Capitalism, Socialismnand Democracy (1943) that free enterprise could notnsurvive in the West, adding that his verdict was “in itselfncompletely uninteresting,” being widely held among experts:nmany who hated the prospect of things to come stillnsaw the death of capitalism as utterly inevitable. GeorgenOrwell, shortly before, had remarked that nobody believednin...

the poor—but not every sort of privatization. That is anlesson the British Labour Party, unlike its counterpart innNew Zealand, is still reluctant to heed. But in 1987, after itsnthird election defeat, it opened a campaign called “Labournlistens.” (And if it really listens, it is certain to be told thatncompetition is what ordinary people want. It...

starvation of the Ukraine. That of “ladies and gentlemen ofnso-called independent means” is already almost complete,n16 years after the October Revolution; and Shaw fantasizesnhappily about exterminations already under official considerationnin Britain and the United States. He calls urgentlynfor the killing of incurables, which is where Hider’s programnwas to begin six years later, and goes on...

321 CHRONICLESnaren’t in this structure, nor are the businesses based innKorea, Japan, Europe, and countries all over the world.nThere are also organizations which do not relate to business,nsuch as the International Cultural Foundation. The ICF isnan American-based tax-exempt educational and charitablenorganization whose board members are church leaders fromnall over the world, with Moon as chairman....

the first time in a large roomful of men and women onneither side. International and interracial marriages are encouragednand involve thousands of persons. There is a strictnrequirement of celibacy before marriage. In 1970 Moonnmarried 791 couples; in 1975 it was 1,800 couples; in 1982nthere were 2,075 couples in Madison Square Garden andn5,800 couples later that...

reactionary, but he believed in man’s freedom. This wasnalso the conclusion of a long interview, conducted by DernSpiegel in 1966 and published 10 years later after his death.nSo much nonsense put forth by eager whitewashers mustnhave a reason, particularly since among these pious embalmersnthere are many Jews (George Steiner) and manynnon-Jewish Nazi-hunters like Rudolf Augstein,...

381 CHRONICLESnmemories; Plato is a prototype of thinkers wanting toncelebrate the marriage of ideas with political rule. This isnalso what the intellectuals sensed in Heidegger: politicsntending to metapolitics, an unveiling of the genuine Logos.nWhat they admired was exactly what religious thinkersnlike Etienne Gilson, Hans Jonas, Cornelio Fabro, and othersnhave condemned. Gilson speaks of Heidegger’s “metaphysicalnimmaturity,”...

The Mystery of St. MylornDateless, quite weightless, the Holy BoynHovers alone in frosty light.nHis naked tomb fringed with the goldnOf winter furze and aconite.nHis silver hand, his brazen footnAre fire against a sky of slatenAnd now are flesh and bone, and bynA miracle, articulate.nHere it was the virgin earthnOpened her side where he might lie.nDrew...

it is not a book. It is a muscle-boundnmonologue that has been wrestled by an”collaborator” into a heap of paragraphs,nmost of which begin with “I,”nand all of which are assumed to benfascinating by virtue of the subject’sncelebrity. The volume displays thatndistinctly inert prose found in alln”talked” books. You see, the words justnaren’t there. Donald Trunip...

among Christian readers, for he citesnmany sources that attempt to uncovernattacks on the Jewish communityneverywhere, even in the benevolentnand the benign — in all Christianngoodwill expressed toward Jews andnJudaism, and in Christian translationsnof the Hebrew Bible. John MurraynCuddihy follows with a fascinating argument:ntoo often, he contends, Jewsnare depicted as “morally blameless.”nToo often the question is...

44 / CHRONICLESnLetter From a Statenof Mindnby Jacob NeusnernThe Religion of NeoconseivatismnDid you ever wonder why Jewish neoconservativenthinkers never arguen”from” Judaism, in the way in whichnMichael Novak argues from RomannCatholicism, and Richard Neuhaus arguesnfrom Lutheran Christianity? Thatnis to say, Judaism never forms a point ofndeparture and never defines a court ofnappeal. For the Jewish neoconservativesnJudaism...

ciate. Not only so, but the book purportsnto answer the question of whynscience did not develop in Judaism,nthat is, a typical question in the greatntradition of Max Weber: why no capitalismnin China or India or Judaism?nExplaining why he could not benbothered to read the book, Hook repliednto me, “With respect to Jewish ornJudaic learning and...

461 CHRONICLESnernment was raised to the level ofnfundamental law by the consent of thenpeople, and not by the desires, dreams,nor visions of our national elite. EvennMadison himself observed that:nAs a guide in expounding andnapplying the provisions of thenConstitution, the debates andnincidental decisions of thenConvention can have nonauthoritative character. Howeverndesirable it be that they shouldnbe preserved...

ists, and atheists, venal bourgeois materialistsnenormously overattentive tonthe rights of the individual, with almostnno concern with the ethical goals onlynthe community can effect or valuesnother than those instrumental to thenmaintenance of a bourgeois regime.nIn almost all ways their values ornlifestyles were antithetical to thosenexpected to be found in authenticn”republicans.” But the most legitimaten”republicans” then and...

481 CHRONICLESnshould be advised that the Poppersndefine the Great Plains as a regionnwhose “eastern border is the 98thnmeridian,” which runs straight upnthrough the hearts of Texas, Oklahoma,nand Kansas and the eastern thirdsnof Nebraska, South Dakota, and NorthnDakota. Denver, Colorado, on then105th meridian, roughly marks thenregion’s western edge, which meansnthat that state, Montana, Wyoming,nand New Mexico...

into leaf” (the book opened at random)n”Like something almost beingnsaid.”nA few issues back, incidentally,nChronicles fulfilled that ancient ambitionnof mine by publishing Rilke’sn”Autumn Day” translated by AlbannCoventry. Apart from one or two forgottenntranslations by Ludwig Lewisohnnin the 1940’s, this is the onlynRilke poem that will live happily evernafter in the English language. FromnLewisohn’s “Angels” (as I...

501 CHRONICLESnLetter From ‘ThenMajor’s’nby James E. TrehernFor God, Country, and KatenSmithnTo that select few who have frequentednits precincts, it is simply “The Major’s.”nIn reality it’s the “Globe and Laurel,”nalong Virginia’s Route One near thenmain gate to the U.S. Marine CorpsnBase, Quantico, Virginia. Its proprietornis a sandy haired, crewcut, toothbrushmustached,nimmaculately turned out,nretired Major of the U.S....

STAGEnThe GreatnDeceptionnby David KaufmannIt’s only too easy to be cynical aboutnAndrew Lloyd Webber’s Phantom ofnthe Opera, and particularly about thenexcess and emptiness it stands for.nWhile lavish money and attentionnhave been spent on all aspects of thisn$8.5 million production — in ways thatnare guaranteed to impress the child innevery adult — its packagers forgot thenone ingredient...

521 CHRONICLESnEven to call them musicals is insultingnto the genre they claim to be part of.nFollowing the box-ofEce success ofnJesus Christ Superstar and Evita — hisntwo breakthrough musicals of then70’s—^ Lloyd Webber’s penetration ofnBroadway has accelerated, spearheadingninfiltration by other British musicalnproducts. Lloyd Webber’s Cats (1981)nand Song and Dance (1982) seemednto pave the way for Me...

musical “seeks to impress an audiencenwith financial rather than creative powers,”nand “achievement . . . lies . . .nin the idea of extravagance itself,” whatncould be a more fitting epitaph for ournera?nThe excess of Phantom begins andnends with its staging. Like LloydnWebber’s last few arrivals, it is a vulgarncircus — the latest reminder of whatnmoney...

541 CHRONICLESnFor those who still feel that antheatergoing experience should benabout something, it’s difficult to avoidnresenting the situation. The masterfullynexecuted design of the show appearsncalculated to divert attention fromnwhat should be the raison d’etre of anynmusical: its score, its lyrics, and itsnbook. If those fortes were all that thisnPhantom had going for it, it would...

OPINIONSnRevolution in Technology, the Arts, and Politics 34n— Shifting Gears: Technology, Literature, Culture innModernist America by Cecelia Tichin— The Futurist Moment: Avant-Garde, Avant Guerre, and thenLanguage of Rupture by Marjorie Perloffnby James W. TuttletonnThe Rubble of Reconstruction 36n— The South as It Is, 1865-1866 by John R. Dennettn— The Legal Fraternity and the Making of...

BI CHRONICLESnIn the recent firing of “Jimmy tlienGreek,” CBS explained its action in an”terse statement,” decrying racism.n(What they meant by this is anyone’snguess. I ban the word racism in mynintroductory sociology class, not becausenthere are no barriers to blacknadvancement but because the wordnitself is a barrier to the serious thoughtnthat is required in any struggle...

ball league, 80 percent of whose playersnare black), JTG could make a goodncase in claiming discrimination againstnblacks on the coaching and managerialnlevels.nNo one would claim that Jimmy thenGreek is a beacon of intelligence ornmaster of tact. But if these were requirementsnfor television, we’d still benlistening to the radio. The basic factnhere is that JTG was...

81 CHRONICLESnconference of the young Christian-nDemocrat and Christian-Socialist militantsnfrom all of South and CentralnAmerica. I never believed in Christianwhatevernpolitical parties, as in timenthe first adjective wears off and thensecond turns aggressive: socialist, democrat,nliberal, Marxist, national, whatnhave you. But there we were, guestsnin one of the headquarters of thenChristian-Democratic party of Venezuela’snPresident Caldera. The delegates,nabout 25...

models came under heavy criticism. Itnwas clear to the some 25 young men,nplus Leslie Manigat, the dean of thengroup, that my “model” was directednmainly against Marxists and Christianleftists.nManigat argued well and cogently,nand seemed to dislike Castro’snregime, while attaching hopes to Allende’s.nIn this too he was similar to sonmany South American intellectuals,nlabor leaders, and priests. Yet...

10 I CHRONICLESnPERSPECTIVEnAVOIDING DEMOCRACY by Thomas FlemingnDoes America exist anymore, or is the nation only anfantasy concocted out of old Frank Capra movies,ncivics classes, and pamphlets from the Department ofnEducation? The weight of the evidence suggests the latter.nTwenty years ago — ancient history by the standards of thenpress — a considerable number of young men...

subject nations? (No and maybe.) The biggest questionnturned, of course, on the status of blacks—both free andnslave.nIn a country where slavery was legal and embedded in thenConstitution and where only white immigrants could bennaturalized as citizens, the status of free blacks was a puzzle.nThe pieces were not really sorted out until fairly late, whennthe issue...

121 CHRONICLESngiven America so many of her greatest soldiers. Theynbelieved, again quite passionately, that no one can be a goodncitizen if he shirks his military obligation, avoids jury duty,nor shrinks from the sordid reality of public service.nThe Civil War and the 14th Amendment settled permanentlynthe question of slavery; it did not solve the problemnof citizenship....

14 I CHRONICLESnGerman, which is at least as different from German asnItalian is from Spanish. “Let’s go see if there is anything toneat,” in German is: “Gehen wir schauen, ob es etwas zunessengibt,” but in Swiss German: “Gommer goh luege, ob’snoppis z’aesse hett” (or something similar, depending on thencanton).nUntil recently, Switzerland had a slight Protestant...

the Swiss are just about as distrustful of all their neighborsn(except for Liechtenstein and possibly Austria) as Israel is ofnthe Arabs. The Swiss are in one sense very internationallynminded, but they resolutely put first things first. In 1986, inna nationwide referendum, the Swiss rejected by a substantialnmajority the proposal that Switzerland become a member ofnthe...

Proposals were made to reform the alleged bias in thencourse on Western culture by the injection of material fromnnon-Western culture, Third World countries, and fromnspokesmen for feminists and the various oppressed minorities.nThey elicited some relevant technical objections tontheir feasibility and desirability—limited time, inadequatenpersonnel, and their relative significance for the perennialnproblems of reflective life central to...

181 CHRONICLESnways in which a course in Western culture on the model ofnthe existing courses at Stanford contributes to enriching theninternal landscape of the student’s mind, regardless of thenindividual’s specialized vocational choice. Essential to suchna course is a common core of readings, modifiable fromntime to time, without which a coherent, unified program ofnstudies in Western...

teaching can introduce references to parallel or analogousnideas and institutions in cultures other than our own whennthe material requires them. This can be done without thenpretense that the course in Western culture can be transformedninto a course of world culture.nThe debate in the Stanford Faculty Senate over thenfuture of the course in Western culture is...

201 CHRONICLESnAnglo-South Africans were now expected to show loyalty tona mainly Afrikaans-speaking republic without ties to thencrown. They found themselves in a minority, in a democracy,nand did not like it one whit.nThe difficulties encountered by the Republic of SouthnAfrica were and still are a consolation to many Anglo-SouthnAfricans. The mood in the English-speaking communitynbecame characterized...