victims of discrimination but economicnsuccess was still theirs in a growing,nlargely open economy. And in America,neconomic success overcomes nearlyneverything else. But it wiil take morenthan growth. Blacks will have to be freento grow with the economy. Williamsncites numerous examples of how regulations,nlicense requirements, union apprenticeshipnprograms, the minimumnwage, and other entry restrictions servento keep people out...

He liked to think of himself as a poet ofnAmerica and of liberalism. He liked tonthink that he represented both the Musenand Tom Paine. This led him to underestimatenboth Pound and EUot as criticsnof poetry and of society. Since their Ideasnwere so evidently UUberal and retrograden—^they acknowledged human depravity,ndespaired of human Institutions, deniednthe idea of...

good, but his ideas were not as useful asnhis actions. He thought of poetry as if itnwere a kind of medicine. Cheerfully,nstoutheartedly, doing measurable goodnas he went, MacLeish kept pounding outna mission that flourished and shouldnBenign NeglectnDon DeLillo: The Names; Alfred A.nKnopf; New York.nby Joseph SchwartznJ-iike his previous work, Don Delillo’snseventh novel. The Names, willnreceive...

not prayer or chant or slaughterednrams. Our offering is langu^e.nMany readers will puzzle over such anseemingly portentous thought. It mustnmean something deep, they will say tonthemselves. It is provocative. How provocative?nAnd then one wonders. Is it asnwinsome as all that? And then there’s this:nWhat ambiguity there is in exaltednthings. We despise them a little.nWe can...

a final editing down. It’s the drowningnout of false voices.nThe final distillation of being has somethingnto do with “language is the deepestnmeaning.” Be yourself; that is whatncounts. Get free; become ecstatic. Histrionicsncaused by ecstasy. “A blindnmight” shakes things, and there is no onento blame or credit for the “worst of thenterror.”n1 he terror James Axton...

from the presses. There is one thing thatnoperators in the Marx industry tend tonhave in common: an inability to writenclearly. Most of the interpretations arenso opaque that anyone who spends evennthe shortest amount of time with themnis driven baclc to the source. Upon arrivingnat, say, Kapital {Grundrisse is gainingnpopularity lately), one finds notnsomething resembling a...

taken up by the lower two strata. This isnnot to make a qualitative distinctionnoverall, for it is true that techniques fromnthe lowest stratum (in areas of agriculturenand medicine, for example) havenproven themselves to be most valuable.nBasically, then, what exists is a statenwherein there are producers and facilitatorsnon the top, consumers in thenmiddle, and those more...

course, bad books tend to flop, but theynare not a part of this discussion). Eventually,nthe messages conveyed to the elitesnby these books will make their way downnto the middle and possibly ftirther. Thus,neventually, the plastic market is molded.nIf a writer seeks employment, then it behoovesnhim to go to a publisher withnwhom he is—or can be—in...

Traveling By Stationary BicyclenCharles Hatch Stoddard: LookingnForward; Macmillan; New York.nLouis Galambos: America at MiddlenAge: A New History of the UnitednStates in the Twentieth Century;nMcGraw-Hill; New York.nby John C. CaiazzanA. law school professor I know oncenopined that what the law in the UnitednStates could really use was completeneradication so that it could be startednover. He was...

of the other two. The effects of the existencenof hundreds of these triocracies innthe Federal polity is that almost all Federalnlegislation and policy is pressured innthe direction fevorable to the interest ofneach triocracy singly rather than to theninterest of the nation as a whole, andnthat major change in a triocracy’s area ofninterest is very difficult...

^ mnm^nThis jourii;il of opinionnis bcini! brouyhl lo youn})y ‘Ilic Kocl Add to Favorites

between freedom and totalitarianism.nIs this, then, what the shape of modernitynwill be, our government an arterioscleroticnbehemoth standing precariouslynin the middle of a wasteland ofndecay and rubble, across which the hotnwinds of mass movements furiouslynblow, our shores washed by a bitter totalitariannsea? Such a picture is bleak,ndesolate of hope or human features, butnmuch still depends on...

he was personally engaged in secretnnegotiations for the release of the hostages,nand he helped to direct Carter’sncampaign for reelection. Although henprovides copious details on these activities,nJordan fails to provide much analysisnor even to deal with broad issues. ButnCrisis does provide insight about thenCarter Administration’s foreign-policynoutiook, though it is often more revealingnby what it doesn’t say...

down, saying: “I want to tell you thenstory of my life.” He proceeded intonthe early hours of the morning, longnafter the wine was gone and my interestnwith it, reciting a series of eventsnstrung together with too many “andnthens.” These mindless and morbidnprobings are distasteful enough innour everyday life; they become morenso w^hen they find their...

ject assiduously, and she presents hernfindings in a dry, academic tone andnlong-winded style; As one could onlynwonder about Porter’s choices of husbandsnand lovers, all of whom let herndown and treated her poorly, one alsonwonders about her choice of biographer.nShe might have done better.nC>ompared to Porter’s life, WilliamnCarlos Williams’s, as delineated bynPaul Mariani in William Carlos...

spare ChangenGail Mhert: Mtttters of Chance; G. P.nPutnam’s Sons; New York.nMarguerite Yourcenar: A Coin innNine Hands; Farrar, Straus & Giroux;nNew York.nLina Wertmiiller: The Head ofAbnse;n^K^lliam Morrow; New York.nExtended Outlooks; Edited by JanenCooper, Gwen Head, Adelaide Morris,nMarda Soutfawick; Collier Books;nNew York.nby Betsy Clarkenriction today at once promises morenthan it delivers and yet delivers a mumbonjumbo that...

also dramatized. Fascism, however, isnnever confronted, or even examined, innany broad, aggressive manner. “Mentioned”nwould more accurately describenits treatment. Perhaps this aspect of thennovel only seems timid because ofntoday’s literary climate in which almostnevery writer claims to be making a grandnpolitical expose. The numerous contemporarynauthors who dwell on Hitiernand Mussolini are becoming irksome:nwhere are courageous novelists...

Mismanaging War & MoralsnWilliam H. McNeill: The Pursuit ofnPower: Technology, Armed Force,nand Society since AD, 1000;l]tuversitynof Chic^o Press; Chicago.nJames F. ChUdrcss-.Moral Responsibilitynin Conflicts: Essays on Nonviolence,nWar, and Conscience;nLouisiana State University Press;nBaton Rouge.nby Thomas FlemingnWar, as much as peace, is among thenarts and blessings of civilization. On thisnpoint Hobbes was mistaken. The state ofnnature may be...

cent of his income was spent on servicingnold debts. The Spanish national debtnled direcdy to a reduction in the numericalnstrength of the Spanish army: fromn300,000 in the l630’s to 50,000 by 1700.nDuring this same period efforts toncontrol the manufacture of arms innplaces like Liege commonly caused disruptionsnin operations. The only way thenKing of Spain could...

by Nietzsche, Sorel, and even terrorists.nHe seems to assume that the Christiannethic is both nonviolent and an acceptednmodel for all mankind. However, thenscriptures of the New Testament are—nat best—^uiconclusive. All that John thenBaptist required of soldiers was thatnthey refrain from extortion. Some earlynChristians did find the Gospel incompatiblenwith a military profession, butnthere is no sign...

are effectively nonnovels because of thenutter poverty of their contents and becausenof the shabbiness of their style.nWho is responsible for this melancholynstate of aflfeirs? The writers themselvesnare, of course. But the publishers toonmust assume a large share of the blame.nThe health of the American publishingnindustry is not good, and the prognosis,nbarring some radical change for...

castrated or whole. The language is gushynand overdone or just bland journalese.nRice’s unrestrained reliance upon hyperbolenhas the effect, ultimately, ofncausing the reader simply to withdrawnhis belief. The novel fairly floats on sensationalism,nbut sensationalism liinctioningnas a distracting ploy. It doesn’t work.nThe Prognosticator’s ShvifflenJohn Naishitt: Megatrends: Ten NewnDirections Transforming Our Lives;nWarner Books; New York.nby Herbert I. LondonnJjlegatrends...

emphasis on representative governmentnand a corresponding desire for participatoryndemocracy; 8. a change from organizationalnhierarchies to networking;n9- a geographic exodus from the Northnand Midwest to the West and Southwest;n10. a proliferation of cultural choicesnfrom few to many. These trends are men-n”How seriously stiDiiltlwi.’ t:iki-ali llii>V Not er. I wxmkl s:i-.ntioned as morsels to be devoured withoutncareful...

plotting of this feature. Action is broad,nfast, moronic. There must be a “hook,”na would-be plot. Unlike a smoker,nEating Raoul doesn’t concentrate onnproviding film footage of skin—^thoughnit’s not inconceivable that an uneditednversion is appearing in select shopsnA Crock of RocknGuy Peellaert and Nik Cohn: RocknDreams; Rogner & Bemhard/Al£rednA. Knopf; New York.nby Stephen MacaulaynWhen John Lennon was...

wrote a memo dealing with Lennon’snalleged pharmaceutical habits didn’tnknow “that ‘downers’—barbiturates—nare not narcotics.” To quote the tide of anLennon song: Imagine.nThe author points out that 20,000npeople had protested during the DemocraticnConvention in Chicago in 1968,nthat 250,000 congested Washington fornthe Vietnam Mobilization, and thatn500,000 grooved at Woodstock. Givennthe facts that musical entertainmentnwasn’t a drawing card in...

num foil. As mentioned, those who grewnup listening to Lennon and who were inntheir late 20’s and early 30’s at the timenof his death were then, presumably,nholding jobs. Some of those who hadnsuccumbed to that siren’s song (the gendernis, admittedly, incorrect, but theneffect isn’t) were upwardly mobile, professionalnpeople—^salesmen, accountnexecutives, teachers, journalists, etc.nTaste is an ever-changing...

(•()KKi:si»()M)i.N( i:nLetter from Europe: Blending MayonnaisenWhile Europe Crumblesnby Allan C. CarlsonnTo state that the Atlantic Alliance isndeeply troubled raises few eyebrowsntoday. Yet a firsthand look at the wearinessnbesetting the West is still unsettling.nConversations in Rome, Paris, and Londonnthis March with European journalists,nacademics, and politicians left thenimpression that the forces dividing thenAlliance—economic nationalism, thenscramble for the...

In face of these internal difficulties,nmany Europeans find the United Statesnto be a convenient scapegoat. Reflectingnweak economic education, a pitiful levelnof economic reporting, and the perceptionsnof American political life projectednby the International Herald Tribune,npopular opinion in France and Italyntends to blame the Reagan Administrationnfor virtually all woes. Reaganomicsnis regarded as a policy aimed at crushingnthe...

Rewei’s Neither Marx Nor Jesus and JeannMarie Benoist’s Marx is Dead, remainnthe intellectual avant-garde. The FrenchnMinister of Culture’s widely publicizednFebruary conference on French culture,nwhich took an abusive anti-Americanntone, became an object of ridicule amongnthe men and women of ideas. In GreatnBritain, philosopher Roger Scrutonnnoted that it was no longer socially necessarynfor a university scholar to...

baser nature. (In fact, after the “culturednnazis” and pacifist terrorists of the 1960’s,nI suspect that reason and culture are thenfirst things to surrender to militarismnand egotism.)nI believe that besides investing innGod-consciousness instead of selfconsciousness,nconservatives support anmore “connaitre” kind of knowing asnopposed to the inlimte academization ofnsecular expertise. Perception of truth isnthus achieved via myth, art,...

basic assumptions remained virtuallynthe same through the years. “In thencourse of his development towards culture,”nFreud stated, “man acquired andominating position over his fellowncreatures in the animal kingdom. Notncontent with this supremacy, however,nhe began to place a gulf between hisnnature and theirs. He denied the possessionnof reason to them, and to himself henattributed an immortal soul,...

Well, what are his ideas? He begins bynsaying that liberals “do not like psychoanalysis”n(his emphasis). Farther alongnin the article he seems to think it is conservativesnwho “do not like” psychoanalysis,nbecause they confuse the “warpednand politicized” views of R. D. Laing andnhis kind with psychoanalysis. He speaksnwith finality about the “reality principle”nas being at the core...

build, to create, to be responsible fornoneself. These goals are the opposite ofnthe narcissistic hedonism espoused bynthe self-actualization movements.nMr. Goble, the author of the secondnresponse, makes two major points. Hisnfirst point is that psychoanalysis promotesnimmorality, which he relates tonFreud’s criticism of religion. His secondnpoint is that the Founding Fathers had anpositive and hopeful view of...

What all three gentlemen seem tonshare are the notions that psychoanalysisnhas not changed in the last 50 years, andnthat if psychoanalysts aren’t totally innagreement with conservatives on allnpoints of doctrine, then psychoanalystsnare leftists. In attempting to undo thensometimes-pathological hypocrisy ofnVictorian times, the infency of psychoanalysisnwas relatively permissive; it isnno longer so. To the extent that...

A Honduran who was involved innplanning U.S. covert activities says thenUnited States has been giving weapons,ntraining and intelligence assistance innHonduras to forces that are fightingnthe Sandinlsta government in Nicaragua.nHis story, given in interviewsnover the last few days, largely wasnconfirmed by two senators on thenSenate Intelligence Committee and anhigh Russian administration ofiicial.nThe copy was provided by...

“I can’t live in the past”: this is one of the apparently meaninglessncliches that reveals so much about the way we look atnourselves. Of course, it would take a time machine to enablenus to live in the past and even then it would be someone else’snpast and not our own. What we really mean by...

reason or another, there are no more classics, no sets of booksnand principles that connect us—^not just with each other—nbut with our civilized ancestors. The results of our intellectualnfragmentation are far too serious to be summed up by glibnsuperficialities like “two cultures.” In fact, there is no centralnhumane culture binding the student of the Vedas...

OPINIONS & Viiw^T^nTrivialities & FlabbinessnAnn Beattie: The Burning House;nRandom House; New York.nJoyce Carol Oates: A BloodsmoornRomance; E. P. Dutton; New York.nby Stephen L. TannernAnn Beattie succeeds brilliantly innwhat she sets out to do. But what shensets out to do is trivial. And this trivialitynis symptomatic of what is wrong withnmuch contemporary fiction: style andntechnique outstrip...

accurate in surface detail, technicallynskillful and interesting, but divorcednfrom any center of values and devoid ofnany synthesizing interpretive or evaluativenvision. Wisdom, of course, does notnlie on the periphery. Indeed, neitherndoes accurate description that penetratesnto any significant degree belownthe surface of human experience.nAnyone who reads much contemporarynfiction knows that Seattle does notnlack company on the periphery....

vagaries and incongruities can be defendednas being part of the parody. Manynof them result from carelessness and ancavalier attitude toward artistic restraint.nThis novel is another manifestation ofnthe flight from center. The retreat of certaintynhas paradoxically generated a renaissancenof credulity. The implied reasoningnworks this way: Since we can’t bensure of anything nowadays, all things arenequally credible—^flying...

the “dregs of the earth” would “sully thenpoet’s memory” if it bore that designation,nand so the sensitive Herr Himmlerndecreed that it should be rechristenednBuchenwald, or Beechwood. And it isnby admiring the beauty of the solitarynbeech in the snowy field that Sorel successftillynaverts the murderous suspicionsnof the camp guard who pursues himnwith rifle at the ready.noemprun’s...

camps—^whether they bear familiarnGerman names or are lost in the Siberiannwilderness? Semprun/Sorel rejects then”disgusting” ostentation of BertoltnBrecht’s memorial at Buchenwald, withnits facilities for “oratorios, works fornmassed choirs . . . public readings andnpolitical appeals.” He recalls the splendidnmausoleum of Lenin and Stalin (as itnwas at one time) in Moscow, where thentwo mummies were “lit up...

found it impossible.nAn short, the ordinary Soviet citizen isna feirly decent person. As Semprun remarks,nthe commutiist rejection of thennatural order and the imposition of anlegal system based upon that rejectionnmake it impossible for “capitalist morality”nto function in the Soviet Union. Un­nhappily, either Simis or his editors didnnot understand this, or they would havenrefrained from equating...

American policy toward EasternnEurope was a mixture of naivete and resignation.nRoosevelt was sincerely opposed,nin the Wilsonian tradition, to settingnup spheres of influence—^British ornSoviet—in the Balkans. His hopes restednwith the United Nations and democraticnself-determination—a peace whichnwould be stable because it was just.nWhen it became obvious that the RednArmy was going to impose a differentnregime and that...

AfghaQ Interventions, and certainly innthe break with China.nSeveral of the contributors to ThenSino-Soviet Conflict: A Global Perspectiventrace the split betvi^een the twonlargest conunnnist states to Mao Tsetung’snbelief that he, not Khrushchev,nwas the true heir of the “socialist camp”nafter Stalin’s death. The Soviet Premier,nhowever, took for granted that thenU.S.S.R. was the dominant power. Thisnsplit, which ideologically...

Ihere is another danger, emphasizednby Hugh Seton-Watson’s concludingnessay. The Soviets are overextended asnan empire; there is unrest in EasternnEurope, Islamic revivalism to theirnsouth, the Chinese confrontation, and anstagnant economy. Further, the Sovietsnknow that it is within the power of thenU.S. to regain strategic superiority if theneffort is made. Seton-Watson fears thatnthe Kremlin will make the...

in “intellectual patterns… which simplyncannot assimilate such an event as an’miracle.'”nMost religionists, of course, professnmerely the title appropriate also to scientists,nthat of “believer.” However,nprophets and saints—including especiallynthose responsible for the scripturalnteachings which incubated Westemnscience—often claim certainty andnactual knowledge, a “more sure word ofnprophecy,” as the Apostle Peter called it.nAnd because such prophets aver directncontact with...

kowski demonstrates with subtle andnrigorous reasoning that if there is nonGod, there is no truth and everything isnepistemologically permissible. What thisnmeans is that empirical science is notnmerely a faith (“it is vain to hunt for angodless certainty”), but an empty faith atnthat, utterly without philosophical contentn”Science,” Kolakowski proves,n”does not deal with reality at all, itsnmeaning...

Reclaiming Neglected RemnantsnThe Horizon of Literature; Editednby Paul Hemadl; University of NebraskanPress; Lincoln, NE.nGerald L. Bruns: Inventions: Writing,nTextuality, and Understanding innLiterary History; Yale UniversitynPress; New Haven, CT.nRobert Scholes: Semiotics and Interpretation;nYale University Press;nNew Haven, CT.nby Gary S. VasilashnX he title of a lecture presented bynEdgar Wind in I960 as part of the Reithnseries and a...

century: the event comes to be knownnwith a biblical title, “the Hame Deluge”n(all quotations are from the BantamnBooks edition, 1961). The Deluge wasnfollowed by “the demons of the Fallout.”nMiller writes,nSo it was that, after the Deluge, thenFaUout, the plagues, the madness, thenconfusion of tongues, the rage, therenbegan the bloodletting of the Simplification,nwhen the remnants of...