VIEWSrnThe Third CompartmentrnImmigration and the American Fitnrernby Chilton Williamson, Jr.rn”Truths would you teach, or save a sinking land?rnAll fear, none aid you, and few understand.”rn—Alexander Pope, “An Essay on Man”rnAlthough the raw figures from Census 2000 have l:)eeu inrnthe pubHe domain for nronths aheadv, the Ameriean pubhe’srnresponse to the latest deeennial surve is shll not...

California, Here We ComernKat}’, Bar the Doorrnby Roger D. McGrathrnIt lias happened. Whites hac heeii redueed to a miiioritv inrnCahfornia. By whites, I mean, of eourse, “non-His|3anicrnwhites,” beeanse most of the iUegal ahens nho have pouredrnaeross the border from Mexieo during the last 30 ears tornchange dramaticalK the eomposihon of California’s popnlahonrnare mestizo, a mixture...

VIEWSrnNobody but the Peoplernby Samuel FrancisrnIn the “Prologue” to his massive biography of Sen. Joe Mc-rnCarth’, historian Thomas Reeves describes a scene that tookrnplace in Milwaukee, in the senator’s home state, in November,rn1954, onlv a month before his colleagues voted to condemnrnhim and thereby effectively to terminate his career. The scenernwas a mass eelebrahon of...

No More Nonsense About Elitesrnby Claes G. RynrnAfisli starts rotting from the head, it is said. That a societ}’rnstarts rotting from its head needs to be much better understood.rnBlaming the dechne of Western societv on a “re’olt ofrnthe masses” absolves elites, who must bear the brunt of thernblame. Catering to popular tastes is not the...

An Aristocracy of Warriorsrnby Roger D. McGrathrnI n liis seminal work. Democracy in America, Alexis de Toct|rnueville noted that the nobilit)’ of medieval Europe reckonedrnmartial valor to be the greatest of all the virtues. The feudal aristocracv,rnhe said, “was born of war and for war; it won its power byrnforce of arms and maintained it...

VIEWSrnReal Diversityrnby Roger D. McGrathrnBy Tre, Pol, or Pen ye may know most Cornishmen.”rnThis simple rhyme was known to nearly everyone inrnthe mining camps of the Old West and probably to much of therngeneral population in America during the 19th century. ‘I’reloar,rnTrevelyan, and Tremaine were especially common namesrnon the mining frontier, as were Penrose, Penhall,...

Empires of FaithrnIslam and the Academyrnby Philip JenkinsrnAstory long popular in London tells of a foreign visitor losingrnhis bearings while walking along Whitehall and politelyrnasking a passerby, “Excuse me, sir, which side is the Foreign Officernon?” Hearing the visitor’s accent, the Brit despairinglyrnreplies, “Yours, probably.” This story comes to mind when wernread the histories of...

VIEWSrnMissed Manners and Creeping Lawsrnby Philip JenkinsrnAl societies regulate personal behavior: That is part of whatrnBakes them societies, instead of mere aggregations of isolatedrnindividuals. Societies differ enormously, though, in justrnhow they perform this regulation, how much they rely on lawrnand the state, rather than informal or private means. If I walk intorna crowded room wearing...

Never Mind Your Mannersrnby J.O.TaternHaving been invited to address tlie topic of manners, I canrnonl’ do so with a certain embarrassment, for I have beenrnknown to liave l)ehaved deplorably, hidccd, I was once evenrncalled “reprehensible” by a woman of repellent aspect, remotc-rn1 connected with education, bnt, all things considered, I feltrnmore honored than not. I...

VIEWSrnTo Hell With Culturernby John LukacsrnChroniclesrn’sfBiUe iFM . .1J i . . . 1. : •; • :it> •- 1 •:•• • . . . ! . ”inrnAFTER LITERACYrnEDUCATION INrn^M^rnw^ ^rni, HPII’I |8lw”^^5^^^i?^^S^rnThe corruption of man,” Emerson wrote, “is followed byrnthe corruption of language.” The reverse is true, and arncentury later Georges Bernanos had it...

Crime StoryrnThe Godfather as PoHtical MetaphorrnBehind every great fortune there is a erime,” wrote Honorernde Balzae in a cynical sentiment that Mario Puzornchose as the epigraph of The Godfather. The hne at once estabHshesrnthe metaphor that dominates the book as well as thernfilms and carries us into the essentially Machiavellian worldviewrnthat per’ades them and to...

New York vs. New Yorkrnby Bill Kauffimanrn”The feeling between this city and thernhayseeds.. .is every hit as hitter as thernfeelings between the North and Southrnbefore the War…. Why, I know a lot ofrnmen in my district who would like nothin’rnbetter than to go out gunnin for hayseeds.”rn— George Washington PlunkittrnTammany Hall, 1905rnChroniclesrnPlunkitt lived in the...

VIEWSnThe Avenging Deity as anRational Projection of the Wounded EgonThe locus classicus of all informed discussion on tiie subjectnof the political essence of totalitarianism is the followingnpassage from Plato’s Republic:nIf you are caught committing any of these crimes on ansmall scale, you are punished and disgraced; they call itnsacrilege, kidnapping, burglar)’, theft and brigandage.nBut if,...

How often we must refleet today that the salt hath lost its savor.nAt a “reading” at Queens College not long ago, I sawnand heard Norman Mailer reading “poems” to his audience.nHe showed all the innocent delight of a child, and he was wellnreceived. But Mailer, rich and approaching his 80’s, had littlenneed to show up...

Former Vice President Al Gore distinguished himself by annumber of colorful claims, including his invention of the hiternet,nhis status as inspiration for the plot of Lxive Stor’, and hisncrime-busting investigations that pulled the covers off LovenCanal and the villainy of both the internal-combustion enginenand flush toilet. During last year’s presidential campaign, wenwere treated to lurid...

VIEWSrnRome As You Find ItrnAmerican and British Writers in the Eternal Cityrnby Chilton Williamson, Jr.rnFor Englishmen, the Roman Forum was nearly as much arnpart of their polihcal heritage as the Tower of London orrnWestminster Abbey. Since Colonial America was a part ofrnBritish culture, educated American colonists shared in thernBritish reverence for antiquity. Eighteenth-century EngHshnienrn(and those...

Faith in the Hour of TrialrnLessons From Rome in the Age of Martyrsrnby Aaron D. Wolfrnthe I J ehold,” said the Lord, “I send you forth as sheep inrn- U midst of wolves.” With tliis statement and bv the Testamentrnof His Own Blood, Christ inaugurated the Age of Marhrsrn—the first 300 vears of the Chrisfian...

Roman Spies and Spies in Romernby Srdja TrifkovicrnIn the summer of 1943, as Allied forces reached Italy, U.S.rnArm)’ counterintelligence warned GIs, “You are no longer inrnKansas City, San Francisco, or Ada, Oklahoma, but in a Europeanrncountry where espionage has been second nature to thernpopulation for centuries.”rnThat “second nature” extends all the way back to early...

VIEWSrnFor Keeps!rnA Christian Defense of Propertyrnbv Scott P. RichertrnTom Ditzler, a veteran, buys 30 acres of rural farmland. Forrn50 years, he and his wife, Jan, live there, rearing tvvo children,rnCassandra and Christina. Tom comes to know the contoursrnof his propert- bv heart—the creek tiiat runs across hisrnland, the wedands surrounding the creek, the hills and...

Civil Rights or Property Rights?rnby Justin RaimondornThe interplay of race and economics in America has producedrna new variant of political economy that we mightrncall “miilticnltnral capitalism,” a system in which propert)’ is,rnfor the most part, privately owned, bnt its ownership is condi-rnHonal on the race, sex, and —in some cases—the sexual orientationrnof the owner, hi...

The Virtues of PropertyrnRestoring the Framers’ Constitutionrnby Stephen B. PresserrnSomewhere deep in their bones, Americans recognize lliatrnpropert}- is the paramount civil right—perhaps the paramountrnhuman right. Anyone who seriously studies Americanrnhistor}’, particularly that of the late 18th centur)’, will discoverrnthat property, along with virtue, provided the foundation forrnAmerican government, hideed, the preservation of properly isrnarguably the...

VIEWSrnHistory as Paranoiarnby Andrei NavrozovrnThere are many conservative, intelligent people who willrnhappily tell you that there is no such thing as the absoluterntruth of histor)’, only difFerent, mutually complementary versions.rnHistory, they will say, is a mutable, fluid continuum,rnwhose multiple truths are constanfly undergoing revision andrnrevaluation in one another’s reflected light, as well as in thernlight...

A Room With a ViewrnDebunking the Whig Theory of Historyrnby E. Michael JonesrnOnce, before giving a speech in Cincinnati, I met thernchairman of the history department at Xavier University.rnI told him that I was going to talk about the sexual revolutionrnand how it had been used to destroy Catholic political power inrnthe period following World...

The International Jewish Conspiracyrnby Paul GottfriedrnAny conversation about conspiracy theories inevitably turnsrnto “the Jews.” On one hand, the critics of “internahonalrnZionism” claim that U.S. foreign policy (or the world’s resources)rnare being devoted to promoting Israel’s interests; on thernother, there are those who warn against an “international Jewishrnconspiracy.” The second group can be traced at least...

Athenian Hegemony and Its Lessons for Americarnby Srdja TrifkovicrnS^ ii ‘ ‘ ^ ^ ‘ ” i i ^ , , ^^ ^’V. ^^Pt^^.rni«mM«rnf i ^ * ; – – – – ^ ^ – * – If*- tfS? iterfj^-arn*/« -at*- ‘* W,*??rnfe’i’W’rno Lir common European civilization — of which the oldrnAmerican Republic is an...

VIEWSrnTradition, Old and Newrnby Harold O.J. BrownrnWhy do ye also transgress the commandment of Godrnby your tradition?” (Matthew 15:3). Jesus had manyrnnegative things to say about the dangers of placing excessive emphasisrnon tradition; in the passage quoted above, he goes on torncite the prophet Isaiah, “In vain do they worship me, teachingrnfor doctrines the commandments...

Ethiopia Lifts Her Handsrnby Philip JenkinsrnIn a classic book of humor entitled The Experts Speak, we findrnan impressive collection of failed prophecies and wildly inaccuraternpredictions: Television would never catch on, nobodyrnneeds a personal computer, and so on. I occasionally thinkrnthere might be a place for a parallel volume of religious forecastsrngone stunningly wrong. Such an...

Calvinism and Culturernby Steven Wilkinsrn’^^^^^^^^^^BIBSHrn& ‘h^^i^^mrnKgHEF^” ^fl^^^lrn^’W^C^^^rn^^jf’r^^h L’^Hrn’f ‘ ‘^dtz^’^imkrn^^-^sB^EjB^larn’^•” ‘*ok^larn^^rnIs-kv^^^rn^^flHHHrnKWT ^ •^r 1/A FrnT%-4^^ rnJ r^swviirn^^wrl^^^^rn’•• •”.•^fc^^^flMBKL, ‘X Vrnsrn^^C^rn^^rnVrn” ” ; ^ »rnii^HlHi^irnPflPBP^TT^^rnHistorian Christopher Dawson writes that “It is clear that arncommon way of hfe involves a common view of life, commonrnstandards of behavior, and common standards of valne,rnand consec|ncndy a cnltnre is a...

VIEWSrn’Tm Liberated; Free at Last!”rnA Talk With Pat Buchananrnby Bill KauffrnanrnPat Buchanan has taken more punches than Chuck Wepner,rnhut unlike the Bayonne Bleeder, Buchanan has a good rightrnhook (or is it now a left?) of his own.rnThe year began with Buchanan defending his feist}’ anti-interventionistrnmanifesto A Republic, Not an Empire; hlot since therndays of Arkansas...

Sleepwalking in AmericarnBuchanan and Nader Seek the Balance of Powerrnby Greg KazarnF or the third time in our generation, independent votersrncould he the halanee of power in this year’s presidentialrnelecHon. hi 1968, Alabama Gov. George G. Wallace, standardbearerrnof the American hidependent Part), received 1 3 percentrnof the popular vote, a sum greater dian the difference...

Taking StockrnThe Rise of a Canadian Third Partyrnby Kevin Michael GracernSir John A. Macdonald, the first prime minister of Canada,rnwas a Conservative. He is remembered chiefly for his lovernof alcohol and his hatred of free trade. Brian Mulroney, the lastrnelected Conservative prime minister, foreswore alcohol whenrnhe reckoned (correcfly) that he could surmount the greasy polern(just...

VIEWSrnRestore the Constitution!rnFree Association and Public Moralityrnby Joseph SobranrnIn recent years, American politics has been preoccupied withrnmoral questions, or what are now called “social issues”: sexualrnimmorality, sodomy, abortion, pornography, and recreationalrndrugs. Some conservatives want the federal government tornplay a role in opposing these evils. Many libertarians, on thernother hand, want the government, state and federal...

Speaking the Naked TruthrnStripping the Bill of Rightsrnby Philip JenkinsrnConnoisseurs of the odd bx’wavs of law rarel}’ find ricli materialsrnin the U.S. Supreme Court, where the deliberationsrnusually proeeed with dignit}’ and common sense. For trulyrnasinine judicial misbehavior, we normally have to look atrnstate courts. Yet this past March, the Supreme Court had beforernit a case...

Commercial Speech and the First AmendmentrnCigarette Companies and the Playboy Channel Have Rights, Too —Or Do They?rnby Stephen B. PresserrnFor sheer incoherence, incomprehensibiHty, and outrageousness,rnnothing beats the United States SupremernCourt’s First Amendment jurisprudence. The First Amendmentrnis a fairly simple piece of constitutional law: It forbids thernfederal legislature from restricting freedom of speech, freedomrnof the press,...

VIEWSrnAfter the AvalanchernThe Reemergence of Colleges in Christrnby James PatrickrnWhen C.S. Lewis wrote that there was more distance betweenrnus and Jane Austen than between Jane Austenrnand Plato, he was remarking on a cataelysm that colleges andrnuniversities had not escaped. The cliarters of colleges foundedrnbefore the Age of Jackson reiterated the claim that the purposernof an...

Going the DistancernHow Homeschoolers Will Change Collegernby Mary PridernHomeschooling parents are all too aware of the hazardsrnthey face in signing up a beloved child for four ears at IyrnU, Good Old State U, or even Used-to-be Chrishan College.rnEven if the institution in question does not hand out condomsrnlike candy during orientation week and does not...

Barbecue Shacks, Palmetto Groves,rnand Other SchoolsrnBetting on the Hedgesrnby Donald W. LivingstonrnThe smog of political correctness hangs heavilv o er mostrnAmerican colleges and universities. Since the politicallvrncorrect are intolerant, support onlv their own shle of research,rnand hire and tenure onK- their own kind, this condition ma-rnwell he with us for two generations. This has led...

VIEWSrnBirth of a Non-NationrnItalian History as Not Told in the Textbooksrnby Maurizio BlondetrnIn the United States, liberation from foreign domination andrnliberation from the past (the republican and democratic featuresrnof government) were largely the result of the AmericanrnRevolution, which was spontaneous in origin, successful, moderaternin its outcome, and —above all—supported by a considerablernpart of the population....

FDR and MussolinirnA Tale of Two Fascistsrnby Srdja TrifkovicrnMany Americans would be horrified at the thought of discussingrnFranMin Delano Roosevelt and Benito Mussolinirnas auy-thing but moral and political antipodes: democrat versusrndictator, peacemaker versus aggressive bully, good versusrnbad. Fifty-five years of bipartisan hagiography have placed FDRrnin the pantheon of American saints, roughly at number two betweenrnAbraham...

Why I Live in Italyrnby Andrei NavrozovrnIlive in Italy—in Venice, which I have on occasion describedrnas Italy’s Italy—for the deceptively simple reason that it is thernonly place in the world where I do not feel the urge to playrnroulette after dinner. I have actually thought long and hardrnabout this opening sentence of mine, trying to...

Beyond Left and RightrnThe New Face of the Antiwar Movementrnby Justin RaimondornNovember 9, 1989, marked the end of the old polihcs andrnthe old alignments; on that day, as the Berlin Wall fell, sorndid the political categories and alliances of half a century. Thernend of the Cold War meant a lot more than the end of...

A More Perfect Union?rnBuilding the United States of the Worldrnby Philip JenkinsrnAt present, tlie United Nations closel’ resembles thernAmeriean nation under tlie Artieles of Confederationrn(1781-1789). The inherent problems with that system demonstratedrndie need for ‘a more perfect Union,’ which was duly accomplishedrnwirii the signing of the United States Consdtution.rnAnd just as Confederation led to true...

VIEWSrnDown the RatholernWliere Foreign Aid Goesrnby Doug BandowrnLast vciir, President Clinton, who has rarely found a conflictrnthat lie did not want to join, complained to the Veterans ofrnForeign Wars that Congress was cntting foreign aid, “the veryrnprograms designed to keep onr soldiers out of war in the firstrnplace.” He threatened to veto die foreign-assistance appropriationrnhills...

VIEWSrnA Vast White-Wing Conspiracy?rnThe Media and the Race Cardrnby Philip Jenkinsrn^^^^rn1Mrn/rn^^^SS^rn^^^^1^rn~SB^rn^rn/^Arn’Wi N^rnmrn^ ^ ^ ^ ^rn^•^^^^;-> -rn^ ^ ^rn rnI like reading about hate crime: It is such a cheering feature ofrnAmerican life. And while I am always happy to see the excellentrnnews about this kind of offense—ever-rising numbers,rnmore and more crimes in ever-broader areas...

Color Me KweisirnThe NAACP Marches hito Irrelevancernby William MurchisonrnFor a quick fix on how a particular organization sees itselfrnand its purposes, inspect its official name, especially if thernorganization dates from a more forthrigiit and transparent time,rnwhen assorted reformers wore their hearts on their letterheads.rnThe purpose, the raisoii d’etre, of the National Association forrnthe Advancement of...

VIEWSrnStorytellers and FakersrnHas Anyone Read Infinite Jest?rnby Tony OuthwaiternAv riter, asked during a litcran’ part)’ what her new novel wasrnabout, tnrned on the questioner with an expression combiningrnirritation, indignation, and pit’, and replied, “My novelsrnaren’t about things!” Some time later, this same writer wouldrndenounce Stephen King in print for hogging the marketplacernand for his alleged...

Literary Worth and Popular TasternTaking Proust to the Beachrnby Clay ReynoldsrnAs an academic trained in the study and appreciation of literature,rnI have spent the better part of my Hfe staunchly defendingrnthe ramparts of literary endeavor against the slings andrnarrows of outrageous pop-fiction lovers. I have steadily despairedrnof those who read Stephen King, Terr)’ C. Johnston,rnMary...

VIEWSrnNo More Perpetual WarrnA Foreign Policy for a Republic, Not an Empirernby Doug BandowrnWith Republicans increasing social spending and Democratsrnupping military outlays, Washington is devoid ofrnserious debate over any important issue. Despite the President’srnattacks on GOP “isolationism,” both parties largely favor foreignrnintervention. As a result, America finds itself entangled inrnalmost every international conflict and potential...

Post-Human AmericarnIt’s Not Just the Balkans…rnby Srdja TrifkovicrnIdeological assumptions that but two generations ago wouldrnhave been deemed eccentric, if not utterly insane or even demonic,rnnow rule the “mainstream.” The trouble is that normalrnpeople do not take madmen seriously enough. This works tornthe advantage of politicians—an inherently insane breed—andrntheir subjects’ attitude of “they can’t be serious”...

VIEWSrnIt’s a Girl’s, Girl’s, Girl’s, Girl’s Worldrnby Marian Kester CoombsrnAtelevision ad: Single girl “Heather” has come to be videotapedrnfor a dating service. Haltingly, she blnrts out factsrnabont herself—she’s got a Lab, a “great” job, an “ont-of-controlrnshoe fchsh”—while sipping the diet soda which is supposedlyrnthe mison d’etre of the ad. The interviewer comments, “Soundsrnlike a pretty...