~inA thoughtful and often cheekynmonthly^’ whose “‘chompionnis Pope John Poul H/’ — HewsweeknYes, that’s the New Oxford Review! Wenstrongly support the Polish Pope’s valiantnefforts to protect Poland from the Sovietnimperialists and to enhance social justice,nboth in Poland and throughout the world.nMoreover, we unabashedly champion thenPope in his struggle tosave Christian ortliodoxynfrom Hans Kung and all...

a good recording on DG 138954)nFour recent releases of modernnAmerican music range from great tonmiddling interest. The finest of the fournis a rescue operation by Composers Recordings,nInc. They have reissued anninexplicably absent Columbia recordingnof Harold Shapiro’s ”Symphony fornClassical Orchestra'”! 1947). The albumncover (CRI-SRD 424) is marked “AmericannHistoric” (good heavens, even Inwas alive in 1947 and...

terrible, shocked audiences in 1927 withnhis “Ballet Mecanique,” scored for airplanenpropeller, siren, elearic bells, etc.nThe notoriety of this early music has unfortunatelyneclipsed interest in his later,ntamer efforts. My only acquaintance withnhis music came from an Everest recordingnof his Symphony No. 4 (1942), nownapparently deleted. The Symphony No. 5nI enjoy not quite as much, but grownfonder...

some who produce the material needsnthat she will share with others. Gilder,nin his several studies ot modern society,nhas acknowledged that true wealth dependsnupon more than material riches.nDespite their common threads.nMother Teresa and George Gilder arencut from very different cloth. PresidentnReagan speaks easily and publicly thenlanguage of supply-side economics,nmuch of which has been coined bynGeorge Gilder....

heart and mind, and that the “God” ofnTorquemada or Khomeini fits our notionnof the Supreme Being and His willnto which we are all subject. PresidentnReagan and Secretary Haig may graspnthe notion of human rights at this stagenof our history—how it should serve ournfreedom, our welfare and our missionn—but we wish that their understandingnwere rooted in...

From our observation point near the end of the 20th century,nit looks as if the economic vision of the future is goingnto be determined not by a struggle between the haves and thenhave-nots—a widespread belief 100 years ago—but by anmore complex and perverse, tripartite conflict between haves,nhave-nots and have-somes. It will be a murky contention...

stands that Penthouse is not merely a successful businessnventure but also a source of capitalism’s demise, and that profitnmade on selling deadly technology to the Soviets is not profitnat all—will we be able to discuss the renaissance of capitalism.nClass consciousness did not work for the worker, but it maynwork for the businessman.nSome would label such...

i OPINIONS & Vii;ws^nNixon Is the One or The Giant Clash of EthicsnGodfrey Hodgson: All Things to AllnMen: The False Promise of the ModernnAmerican Presidency; Simon &nSchuster; New York.nby John C. CaiazzanJL his is an interesting, informed andnwell-written book about the problemsnthat beset the American Presidency; unfortunately,nit is also a myopic and tendentiousnbook, amounting to...

that liberal ideology with the conservativenone fashionable in Washington today.nNeither liberals nor conservatives,nhowever, want to recognize that thenbreakdown of the old and the triumph ofnthe new took place not in 1980, but inn1968, for it was in that year that thenghost of Franklin Roosevelt was laid tonrest at the Democratic Convention innChicago —dividing the DemocraticnParty...

few passing references to “the twilightnof authority” and “the crisis of legitimacy,”nhe does not press the point. Thenroots of the pervasive crisis are buriednSalvation by, of & for the SelfnMary Gordon: The Company ofnWomen; Random House; New York.nIris Murdoch: Nuns and Soldiers;nViking Press; New York.nby Stephen L. Tannern-/ he Company of Women is MarynGordon’s second...

ular romance? Or is she a skillfulnpopular writer producing high-gradenHarlequin romances? Maybe such questionsndon’t need to be answered. ThenHouse of Fiction is large and has roomnfor blended forms. In any case, Murdochnis a fascinating storyteller, inventivento a remarkable degree and uncommonlynintelligent.nThe nuns and soldiers of the titlenare metaphorical, with one exception,nAnne, a woman who has...

in or commitment to it, their relationshipnis portrayed as redemption throughnsymbohc baptisms, ritual ordeals, repentancenand being true to an inextinguishablenhigher self. It is as thoughnMurdoch recognizes the power and appealnof religious impulses and patternsnand uses them without concern fornwhether God really exists. Whethernthere is a God or not, the enduringnframework of religion—its patterns,nvalues, conflicts—provides the...

tions, commonsensical as they may be,nhave called down showers of abuse uponnGilder. But Gilder provokes even greaterncontroversy when he unveils the centerpiecenof his vision for national renewal.nQuite simply, Gilder believes that risk,nchance and choice form the bedrock ofnthe existence of free men. Freedomnbrings anxiety, for the free man mustnface unflinchingly the bewildering andnofttimes frightening exigencies...

bold vision and coruscating brilliancencapable of dazzling and inspiring anwhole generation of young Americans.nBut at the risk of dampening the jubilationnthat swirls about this book as itnmakes its rounds in conservative circles,nI must raise an objection or two,nif for no other reason than to help Mr.nGilder keep his feet firmly planted innreality as he reads...

American history. Amidst the babblingnof the doomsayers and in the face of anmassive failure of nerve among liberals,nGeorge Gilder has emerged as a boldnvisionary, unafraid of the future andnconvinced that the American experimentnlaunched two hundred years agonhas not yet played itself out. We neednmore George Gilders, men who grapplenThe Melancholy of IdealismnMonica Furlong: Merton: A...

misery in Latin America and decidednthey were doing God’s work. He sawnevil, in short, and pronounced it wrong.nBut never, once he began dispensingnmoral judgments on political questions,ndid he consider that nuclear war wouldnnever be possible if the Soviet Unionndid not threaten it, or that Marxistsnmight prove to be cruder than any set ofnLatin oligarchs when...

his journey to the East, where he died,nhis death surrounded by mystery and ambiguity,nbut also, to his admirers, bynpeace. Thomas Merton was a humble,nloving man who was in some ways misunderstood,nand who misunderstoodnsome things himself. His bequest of misbegottenncauses has been promulgatednand mutated until it is unrecognizablenas the wistful thinking of a meditativenman in the...

peals to ascetic and scholarly ideals andnthe liberal culture’s hedonism, Epsteinnnotes a thematic continuity betweennthem. They all attack the allegedly dehumanizingneffect of men’s ceaselessnstriving for worldly advancement andnsingle out their own country for specialnblame. Because of a success fixation,nAmericans, it is claimed, have ignorednhigher cultural values and have lostnsight of any nobler end beyond “makingnit.”...

to see. A woman ostensibly placid andnobedient, whose obeisance could be describednas “the spineless calm thatnsometimes accompanies doing what isnexpected of one.” A woman cognizantnof her husband’s involvement with thennazis yet choosing to maintain the treasurednfamily illusion that father is anlocksmith, though he works too manynhours of the day and night for such anprofession and...

of evil, etc., etc., have floated away,ndrifted away after the first third of thenbook to be replaced by stories of work atnthe office, Andy’s Bar Mitzvah andnmother-daughter reunions. All of thisnwandering away from topics or themesnof any significance makes Ghost Waltzna flawed and limited work. Rather thanna reflection on history, human valuesnor human motivations. Ghost...

What do The Lincoln Review, Saturday Review,nContinuity, Education, Harper’s,nThe American Journal of Jurisprudence, Renascence,nModern Age, Interpretation, The Cultural Watchdog,nPolicy Review and Manufacturing Engineeringnhave in common?nTheir editors contribute to Chronicles of Culture.’^nSome of our most frequent contributors are editors of a variety ofnrespected publications. They bring to our pages their views on a culturenthey have made...

the community” rather than merely bynpower, including majorities that mightnbase their rule on power rather thannright.nPublius has been given sufficientncredit for the “new science of politics”nthat he developed following the guidancenof David Hume. In passages thatnhave commonly been cited as examplesnof political physics, Publius showed thenmethod of separating powers betweennthe branches of the legislature (andnWills...

lieve that the American founders soughtna physics that would make democracyndesirable, even for a vicious people.nOur founders were idealists; they werennot dreamers. The Federalist No. 55,namong other papers, noted that republicanngovernment, more than any othernform, presupposed the domination ofnthe decent instincts of the people.nWills avoids the superficial mistakesnthat have flawed most discussions ofnThe Federalist. He...

fore Wills.nWills’s theme unifying the assessmentnof Jefferson’s Declaration of Independencenand this analysis of ThenFederalist is an argument that the politicalnthought of the American foundingnis more properly traced to the “commonnsense” philosophy of the Scottishnenlightenment than to the natural-rightnphilosophy of John Locke. The Federalistnclearly reflects the influence of somethingnbeyond John Locke, but thatnsomething is not limited...

politics, and he evades questions of internationalnconduct. This is to say thatnthe concentration on the local necessarilynleaves less time for the national.nBoyte’s omission of international politicsnmerely indicates that the concernsnof the large republic are beyond the spannof those who address the concerns ofnthe small republic. If Americans organizenfor decent purposes, they might sustainnthe civic virtue...

socialist ideal treats us as a nation ofnkibitzers and contends that those whonhave been making decisions owe thenkibitzers a respectful hearing on thenoccasions that they do not get involved.nSuch openness to kibitzing presupposesna future without much accomplishment.nWith each proposal for actionncomes another round of debate, anothernround of studies, a consideration ofncounterproposals and a new decision,nfollowed...

Counterfeiting Scholarship & IdealismnWilliam Appleman Williams: Empirenas a Way of Life; Oxford UniversitynPress; New York.nby Charles R. KeslernJ-ast August The Nation devoted anspecial issue to William Appleman Williams’sn”astonishing analysis” of thencourse of American imperialism. Thenissue was distributed to delegates tonthe Democratic National Conventionnas a “history lesson” proving that bothn”internal reconstruction” and a “democratic”nforeign policy require...

nial peoples to rise up against an imperialnpower. A people has a right tonindependence not because of a nationalnright to self-determination but becausenof the natural rights of men—rightsnbased on the fundamental truth “thatnall men are created equal.” This rightnestablishes that the just powers of governmentnderive from the consent ofnthe governed and exist to secure thenrights...

Kiddycult & NewsensenMaurice Girodias: The Frog Prince:nAn Autobiography; Crown Publishers;nNew York.nJohn Mosedale: The Men Who InventednBroadway: Damon Runyon,nWalter Winchell and Their World;nRichard Marek Publishers; NewnYork.nby Gary S. VasilashnThe facts of infancy may be vitalnwhen they refer to a prodigy such asnMozart, interesting when relevant tona rebel such as Shelley, valuable whennthey show the growth of...

of women would like to emulate them.nIn effect, then, the Brooke Shields adnholds her up as such a model. She isndecidedly not a 15-year-old here, fornwhat adult woman would take the advicenof a 15-year-old about anything othernthan the efficacy of an acne medication.”nThere is something not quite rightnin a society that increasingly turns itsnattention to...

year-old like a 24- or 34-year-old (thenblurring of kiddycult). He gives Mauricena copy of Celine’s Journey to thenEnd of the Night to read, then followsnthat up with the galley proofs of HenrynMiller’s Tropic of Cancer. Perhaps Inhave a low gag level, but a novel aboutnMiller’s anatomy, which seems to havenmore in common with the Alaskan...

Runyon and Walter Winchell, it reallynisn’t. Second, although Broadway figuresnin the title and runs through thenbook, it is only a convenient thoroughfare.nMosedale does provide a fairnamount of information about the twonmen. Actors, actresses, gangsters, thenStork Club and other fixtures of Broadwaynare all there. But the men, thenstreet and the people are in the foregroundnof the...

pion Athletics runless for eight wonderfulninnings at the Polo Grounds yesterdaynafternoon. . . .’ “) and versen{” ‘Never his like again—/Never anhandy/Guy like Sande/Bootin’ themnbabies in!’ “) But Runyon didn’t staynon the sports page. He didn’t leave it,nbut he was assigned to straight newsnstories, too. For example, when GeneralnJohn J. Pershing went after PanchonVilla, Runyon...

potboiler meant either to praise or toncondemn. It is, rather, a cold-bloodedninquiry closer to a dissection than eitherna dissertation or a diatribe. The firstnpage of the preface states: “When Inbegan my research in August of 1976,nthere were no listings for Jimmy Carternin the Library of Congress card catalogue.nThough stories about Carter’snpast and his character had...

Of Randomly Savage Human MoleculesnJoyce Carol Oates: A SentimentalnEducation; E. P. Button; New York.nby Betsy Clarkenxiducation of any kind would seem tonbe the last thing Miss Oates’s charactersnneed. By and large extensively degreed,neven at the beginning of these six storiesnthey have already experienced their sharenof emotional trauma. Middle-aged ClairenFalk, a Friends-of-the-Symphony type inn”Queen of the...

It puzzles me why reviewers complainnthat Miss Oates’s characters allnsound alike. Obviously, to Miss Oates,npeople are all alike. She frequently revealsnthis theory by ironic juxtapositionnof social classes. In the title story,nDuncan’s mother, a doctor’s wife, callsnthe police to her Maine summer home toncomplain about local vandals. ” ‘As fornthe girls,’ Mrs. Sargent says later tonfamily...

NEXTnin The Rockford PapersnOne of the results of the IndustrialnRevolution in a free society suchnas characterized much of the Westernnworld was a rapid rise in the standardnof living. Specifically, this meant angrowing abundance of goodsnand services at reasonable andneven cheap prices. This .. • •ngrowth of material welfarenwas even more remarkable innthe setting of the...

before him, as a leader who createdn”no lasting spiritual or institutionalnforms,” the reader tends to wonder whynDjilas nevertheless proclaims him tonhave been a “politician of staggeringnproportions and of great independence.”nPerhaps a partial answer to thatnquestion lies in a linkage between thesentwo books indicated by the title of AnQuestion of Reality: the relationshipnbetween art (Brandys’s narrator...

consistent position on this issue thannBrandys. On the one hand, he arguesnthat “without power, ideas are Httlenmore than a pipe dream”; he also recognizesnthat the symbiotic relationshipnbetween ideas and reality means that an”monopoly of power inevitably imposesna monopoly of ideas.” He freely admitsnthat during the period when he assistednthe communists in the consolidation ofntheir rule,...

of an antinazi network which he hasnconstructed to keep a zealous but untrustworthynwoman away from the genuinenresistance is the cause of an actualnmurder. Fictions may have serious consequencesnin reality. But reality maynalso turn out to be more stubborn thannthe “idealists” believe. Brandys’s heronbitterly criticizes the regime’s monopolynover information, but recent Polishnexperience demonstrates that peoplenmay retain...

us a questionable and damning interpretationnof actual historical figures.nUnlike Josephson, the author ofnPower and Morality believes that anhierarchy of moral development existednamong the era’s business titans. Withnadherence to the law as the minimumnstandard of morality, Engelbourg identifiesnseveral patterns of behavior.nAmong the lawbreakers, he distinguishesnthose who acted illegallynwhenever it was desirable and safe fromnothers who did...

Most Businessmen Have a Fairly Accurate Reading of Their CompetitionnHow About Their Opposition?nThe magazines and activist groups which mold and manipulate public opinion toward anticapitalistngoals are now big business. Their impact in recent years has grown more potentnthrough a network of multinational support groups. The last election has given this activity anvibrant new impetus, with...

COMMENDABLESnA RespectablenEffortnRobert Hughes: The Shocknof the New; Alfred A. Knopf; NewnYork.nIn that kitchen of pretentiousnbanahty in the West Fifties thatnis Time magazine, one mannstands out as a bona-fide criticnamidst reviewers who only callnthemselves critics. His name isnRobert Hughes, and he is a sortnof Australian sophisticate, whichnmany people would consider ancontradiction in terms. Amongnthe newest brand...

S( UI:I:NnPasolini’s RetrospectivenThe Decameron, Canterbury Tales,nArabian Nights; Written and directednby Pier Paolo Pasolini; UnitednArtists Classics.nby Eric ShapearonPier Paolo Pasolini was an Italianndirector who was murdered a few yearsnago in a sordid homosexual incident.nHe, his life and his work can serve asna sort of flattened emblem of what hasnhappened to art cinema in the clutchesnof European...

THE AMERICAN PROSCENIUMnEl Salvador or AnalogiesnThe El Salvador story brings backnmemories of Vietnam—so goes thenstereotypical ditty in countless commentsnby the minigurus that are massproducednby the American press. ThenReagan administration vehementlyndenies that either their reminiscencesnor their analogies have any validity. Andnboth sides do what they always do: theynignore the historical perspective andninstead pursue succinct simplificationsnin the...

quisite, fake objectivity, a gem withna factitiously “impartial” tone and cool,npseudoscholarly reasoning. It was writtennby a certain Richard J. Barnet,nco-founder of the Institute for PolicynStudies, an overtly procommunist publishingncenter in Washington, D.C. thatnhas for two decades engaged in the subtlenpromotion of Soviet geopoliticalngoals by means of allegedly apoliticalnactivities. Here is what Mr. Barnet attemptednto drive...

JOIRVMISMnApologia Pro Domo SuanWe at the Chronicles of Culturenhave repeated it from our birth. Perhapsnat the beginning of the century thenHberal in the universe of the Americannpress represented the pursuit of truthnand justice. But once he achieved power,nhe was on the moral skids until henhit bottom around the end of the 1960’s.nThat was the triumphant...

•^,Jniit . in’•l i AnTWO CULTURESn.it^n%n^-T’^^’-kfynp-‘j • f^ f’ifn.V-,n>nrn«.-<‘ •nTHE PEOPLEn••,£nVIn•Mnan• >n•>•’•n•>. •n«=. .V jj; • .^iiiin•-•i:*, . • •>nrfnirsn.,^’-n^S^n,>nA /nNORMALCY—OUR SIXTH SENSEn( Normalcy-Our Sixth SensenClirofiidcsn, in•J!.,-‘ ;f:nPOLITICS & HATREDn’^•-^r-li ;n^•^*’-‘i»V y^M-F*nHOUR OF TRIAL THE CONSERVATIVE PRINCIPLEnjj -*nTOWARD CONSERVATISMnWITH A HUMAN FACEn’ •’ t. (IiroiiiclesnCttliuren”04 .n”^n|[|| ((iN-,IKMHI CKIMir-irnON PATRIOTISMnw -.> ‘*»’ v^n^>n!ni*’!’ -s^inV :;•niiL^’ntf^fvMntfiLjn AMONG...

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On the third of January 1981, the great scholar EricnVoegelin passed his eighth decade. The event was discreetlyncelebrated by the “inside circle” and by a second Festschriftnwhich collects more than twenty essays in his honor. Yet,ndespite the general acclaim of his oeuvre, Voegelin is annambiguous philosopher, which is not rare among Germannscholars and thinkers: Hegel,...