Mass Media, Mass Conformityrnby Erwin KnollrnItake a certain amount of gleeful satisfaction—the Germansrncall it Schadenfreude—in the schisms and divisions thatrnseem increasingly to bedevil the American right. The pitchedrnbattles between neoconservatives and paleoconscrvatives, betweenrnlibertarians and authoritarians, and, of late, between socialrnconservatives of the fundamentalist Christian persuasionrnand traditional economic royalists who care much more aboutrnunearned income than...

Triberalismrnby Terry PrzybylskirnAfter three decades in which the term “liberal Democraticrnmedia” has come to seem an almost complete redundancy,rnmany students of American journalism today are norndoubt stunned to learn that, prior to the 1960’s, this nation’srnprinted press was regarded by most prominent liberals andrnDemocrats as a bastion of conservatism and Republicanism.rnWhen it came to the...

The Unknown Civil Warrnby Alex N. DragnichrnThe use of NATO militar’ strikes against the Bosnian Serbs,rnat the urgings of the Clinton administration, camouflagesrnfor the moment a rift that has occurred in the Western alliance.rnSooner or later recriminations over “who lost Yugoslavia?” arerncertain to come. And though it may be a while before historiansrnrender a verdict,...

Russophiliarnby Ewa M. Thompsonrn• ^^H HrnPHHHHIHHII^^^^rn• ^Ji^ J^^^Arn1 ip J0<^^^ArnI M^^r ^ ^^m^Wj mrnH|^jp^rn^Kt^^^’^^^WirnWFjI^Mffr • ^^ $s^rn•i^^fSP^Mrn^rnr#’fC/ ^ 1rn^oj, t^ IrnfljK Hrn^ ^ HrnThe deluge of statements, articles, and books on Russia inrnthese turbulent (for Russia) times comes as no surprise.rnWhat surprises is the ingratiating and monotonouslv uncriticalrnterms of discourse in which American opinions about...

Technovandals and the Future of Librariesrnby Michael GormanrnThere are discussions at all levels of government about thernfuture of libraries. The federal government is proceedingrnwith plans for the I-WAY (otherwise known as the National InformationrnSuperhighway), blithely assuming that it will, at arntime and cost and in a manner unknown, supersede most if notrnall library services and...

All Such Filthy Cheatsrnby Theodore PappasrnWhen Vice Admiral Bobby Ray Inman announced onrnJanuary 18 his decision not to pursue confirmation asrnSecretary of Defense, he repeated Robert Massie’s old chargernthat William Safire is a plagiarist, saying this “does not, in myrnjudgment, put [Safire] in a position to frame moral judgmentrnon any of us, in or out...

The Politics of Education and thernMetaphysics of Emptinessrnby Stephen A. EricksonrnThe president of a prominent liberal arts college recentlyrnconveyed to its philosophy department (and to other constituencies)rnthat regulations may soon be in place which wouldrninfluence, if not altogether control, the conferring of bachelor’srndegrees. Mandated by the federal government, these “guidelines”rnwould have a strongly utilitarian bias....

VIEWSrnLife in the Old Rightrnby Murray N. Rothbardrn•,a.,….a-tf-»is..,,.^s^^rnK IJ^ k^ IP”‘rnK^rniH^^^HHI^^BKil”^rnK^*^ ^^^^^^B^^BHif^irn””””””” ^i^^^^^pi^rn1%rn’SSCjK T^A,rn^’ Add to Favorites

The Southern Tradition andrnthe Black Experiencernby Eugene D. GenovesernIam, to say the least, honored to receive your Richard WeaverrnAward and to be invited to share some thoughts with yourntonight. Richard Weaver observed, in Ideas Have Consequences:rn”There is ground for declaring that modern man hasrnbecome a moral idiot. . . . For four centuries every man...

The Other Black HistoryrnThe Past as Progressrnby Joseph BrownrnOn May 13, Florida Governor Lawton Chiles signed intornlaw a measure requiring public schools to teach black history.rnThe black history law requires lessons on slavery, the passagernof slaves to America, abolition, and the contributions ofrnblacks to American society. “The history of African-Americansrnmust not be minimized or trivialized,”...

The First Arkansas Billrnby Bill Kauffmanrn’The price of empire is America’s soul and that price is too high.”rn—Senator J. William Fulbright, August 8,1967rn%rn^B^’^^lfcrn/mrn. ^^^^rnJ^^^Sm^^rnr ‘SB^B’^ irnm^”rn^^^^-“^rn.rn0g0- – “^1^^rnb •^JBrnj^grn^-:*i-?^”^”’ ^ . « – * * * ^ ^ ‘ *rnThe oily whoremaster in the White House dodged therndraft thanks to another Arkansas Oxonian named Bill,...

VIEWSrnAnarcho-Tyranny, U.S.A.rnby Samuel Francisrn^ ^ ^ – ” ^rn- *-^.rnOn the morning of September 22,1993, a law-abiding citizenrnnamed B.W. Sanders was driving his car down thernstreet in Raleigh, North Carolina, when all of a sudden hernfound himself flagged down by a policeman and presented withrna ticket for $25, Mr. Sanders, it turned out. had not...

The Puritanism That DarernNot Speak Its Namernby Philip Jenkinsrnl l r K ^rn^ 5 * 1 , . * ? ^ . – ^rnEvery society places some kind of restriction on personalrnconduct, and limitations are usually most visible in thernareas of sexual behavior and the use or abuse of particularrnfoods or intoxicants. Restrictions might be...

Yahoo Justicernby Sarah J. McCarthyrnThe Supreme Court that has recently issued its antiharassmentrndecision sits in the middle of a city underrnsiege. Justices who have pronounced the nation’s employers liablernfor “permitting a hostile environment” to exist in thernworkplace cannot walk within two blocks of the SupremernCourt building without being confronted with the most hostilernof environments. Visitors...

VIEWSrnFrom Health Care to Discriminationrnby Garrett HardinrnAs we try to improve our lives with a national health carernplan we must not forget the “law of unintended consequences”rnto which Robert Merton alerted us in 1936. Two examplesrnillustrate the danger. Few people foresaw that federalrnsupport for poor mothers with dependent children would contributernto the breakup of black...

Medical Control, Medical Corruptionrnby Llewellyn H. Rockwell, JrrnThe vested interests are sick over it: Americans arc beginning,rnjust slightly, to take charge of their own health care.rnSuch best-sellers as the Doctor’s Book of Home Remedies, thernPhysician’s Desk Reference, and the Merck Manual can keep yournout of the doctor’s appropriately named waiting room, or atrnleast help you...

The Nightmare of Sociahzed MedicinernThe Soviet Examplernby Yuri N. MaltsevrnVladimir Lenin enacted universal, “cradle-to-grave” healthrncoverage in the Soviet Union in 1918. The “right tornhealth” was made one of the constitutional rights of all Sovietrncitizens; it ranked alongside the “right” to vacation, free dentalrncare, housing, and a clean and safe environment. As in otherrnfields, all services...

The Clinton Diagnosisrnby Thomas M. Wilsonrn•’•I. %,^•’;’..:• sj-arnj^ r ^ /It^MrnFor more than two decades, critics of the American healthrncare system have been unrelenting in their charge that it isrna singular failure and manifestly unfair. We are told that millionsrnof our fellow citizens have no access to basic medical servicesrnand that our very survival as...

VIEWSrnDonald Davidson and the Calculus of Memoryrnby M.E.Bradfordrn^^dgj^f Nrn^ ^IrnM^i ‘^v.tsa /iV^rn^jj^HMVBHnBL VrnWMf t^^H^^^V ^d^^^H^^I^HnL vl^^^^ft:rnIfVi;^^^^rnP M: -M^ /%:rn•••H f– ‘^’ jmC’ / # Prn’ i * f’* j ‘ -rn^rn j’ •’• Wrn^m. • wJm ” frn ViYf ^rn *^ ‘ i Mr nil^^)rnQiIBi^ ^^^^^B -S^^^PMrnThe opening scene of the folk opera Singin’Billy, for...

Writer and Communityrnby Fred ChappellrnMost writers feel honored by literary prizes—in the way Irnfeel so honored by the award of the T.S. Eliot prize—rnwhether they accept them or not. At the same time, manyrnwriters share the wish that their vocation could be carried onrnanonymously. By the time they have become suitably proficientrnat their art and...

Showdown at Gettysburgrnby J.O. TaternSitting through a showing of the recent film Gettysburg in arnmultiplex theater amid the abstract sprawl of suburbanrnYankeedom was somehow an unnerving experience. I don’trnmean to say that the movie itself was off-putting or unsuccessful,rnthough come to think of it, there were a few awkwardrnmoments here and there. No, the hard...

Andrew Lytle and the Cultivationrnof American Lettersrnby William PrattrnThe name of Andrew Lytle should be better known than itrnis: he has been a distinguished novelist and author ofrnsome widely anthologized short stories; an essayist, historian,rnand memoirist; an editor of the Sewanee Review for manyrnyears; and a teacher of creative writing at the University of Floridarnand...

VIEWSrnWhen Lorena Bobbitt ComesrnBob-Bob-Bobbing AlongrnThe Sorry State of Popular Culturernby George GarrettrnDear Howard Stern,rnI don’t care if your New Year’s Eve program did set thernall-time world record for a pay-for-view TV event. And I don’trncare, either, if your book is a best-seller and people are lining uprnaround the block to get a signed copy of...

The 40th Anniversary of Fahrenheit 4S1rnby Paul A. Troutrn.-^rn’.^1rn«->grn^rnJW^rn>rn’•’^lirn. – PVM^ j f lrnJiTAfiLdHBttiflrni^yflBSsHSi^HrnI^^^P’^rn^^S^KuiA^^aJUlrnE5^VB|^^^|rnfvH^^^^^^^Irn j C ^ ^rnBl^w”«rn^Sm^^WtrnLast year was the 40th anniversary of the publication ofrnFahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury’s gripping futuristic novelrnabout a dumbed-down American society-of-the-spectacle thatrnpays its “firemen” to burn books. Despite its bleak vision of thernfuture, Fahrenheit 451 was well reviewed when...

VIEWSrnThe Burden of Russian Historyrnby W. Bruce LincolnrnPolitical visions gone awry cannot alone account for therncrises that threaten to engulf the Russians as they approachrnthe 21st century. As they once again grapple with therndilemmas of backwardness that have plagued them for sornlong, Russian policymakers must continue to struggle againstrna thousand years of history, almost all...

The Eunuchs of YugoslaviarnThe United Nations and the Third Balkan Warrnby Curtis GaternIf there is one lesson we should have learned from the historyrnof the past 90 years, it is that minor crises, unless promptlyrndealt with, almost invariably build up into major internationalrndisasters. This is not to say that such disasters are absolutelyrnavoidable—that would be...

The Grass in American StreetsrnReassessing the Smoot-Hawley Tariffrnby Alfred E. EckesrnDuring his debate with Citizen Perot, Vice President AlrnGore joined a distinguished list of misinformed public officialsrnwhen he bashed the Smoot-Hawley Tariff. SenatorrnReed Smoot and Congressman Willis Hawley “raised tariffs,”rnGore said, “and it was one of the principle causes . . . of thernGreat Depression.”...

The Retreat From RealismrnThe United Nations vs. America’s National Interestsrnby William R. HawkinsrnThe essence of conservatism is realism. Conservatives properlyrnstudy the bloody lessons of history and recognize thernambiguous temper of human nature. They reject the grandrnbut unworkable schemes for radical reform proposed by the socialistrnleft. They favor local and state programs over federalrnones, because they...

VIEWSrnMy Old Manrnby Thomas Flemingrn”C. ‘ ometimes it’s hard to be a woman.” God knows, Tam-rn’my Wynette had hard times to complain of, but ifrnbeing a woman is difficult at the end of the millennium,rnbecoming a man has always been hard. Increasingly, as I lookrnat males of my own age, to say nothing of “guys”...

The Vanishing CraftsmanrnA Cultural Barometerrnby Wayne AllensworthrnThe house is barely six months old, but it has already begunrnto settle. I .oose steps ereak, doors hang, and cracks appearrnalong the baseboards. If I were a carpenter, as my father was forrn40 years, or knew enough of such things, I would have built myrnown house, as he...

Games and the Manrnby Harold O.J. Brownrn”Remember thou, that it is better farrnTo puU a poor oar in the third boatrnThan to be captain of the basketball team.’rnSpoken by the editor of the Harvard Lampoon at freshmanrnorientation, those words had life-changing impact on a certifiablernhigh-school nerd from the far South. In the DarkrnAges, Harvard College...

Toughs, Softs, and Jewish Mascuhnityrnby Paul GottfriedrnI ewish stereotyping is an activity in which Jews and their en-rn) emies have both engaged. Among the self-images that Jewsrnhave popularized is that of the bookish Jewish male. The medievalrnbiblical commentator Rashi depicts the patriarch Jacobrnas a scholar and homebody, “in the tradition of Shem andrnEber,” Jacob’s two...

VIEWSrnTreat Them to a Good Dose of Leadrnby Roger D. McGrathrnWhile working my way through traffic snarls on the freewaysrnof Los Angeles I listened intently to a radio talkrnshow, when a caller urged that all citizens should go aboutrnarmed, the program host exclaimed, “My God, that would bernlike the Old West. We can’t go back...

VIEWSrnWinning the Culture WarrnThe American Causernby Samuel FrancisrnThe first thing we have to learn about fighting and winningrna cultural war is that we are not fighting to “conserve”rnsomething; we are fighting to overthrow something. Obviously,rnwe do want to conserve something—our culture, our way of life,rnthe set of institutions and beliefs that distinguish us as Americans.rnBut...

There Are Left the MountainsrnAmerican Writers and the Perishing RepubHcrnby Bill KauffmanrnArchibald MacLeish—”macarchibald maclapdog macleish,”rne.e. cummings dubbed him—wondered, from hisrnsinecure as Librarian of Congress in 1940, why “the writers ofrnour generation in America” had such a provincial indifferencernto the war in Europe. They seemed, in Bernard De Voto’srnphrase, more interested in Paris, Illinois, than in...

The Plains States and America’s Futurernby Anthony HarriganrnThe halls and vast columned spaces of the St. Scholasticarnconvent in Atchison, Kansas, are dark and empty now.rnThe sisters who filled these buildings with busy religious life forrnseveral generations are dead or departed into the secular worldrnwith the virtual demise of convent life as a result of Vatican...

Louis Bromfield’s Americarnby Allan Carlsonrnf^.fccd it besfe bis K.-rn, _,.^^-^ire”v..ilc fmad » gmnl-sixt.rn-jt {iowww-00O,GahS ioatcrfing gosxjs Bear the back o, • …^ .rntya!edbyTo!3i(:^!kF.’Ȥiggli;3.« with U under bis a r a wheis isoiiiorn! bike baskei,’ he wtnild have • divtr^ > klaxon liom wifh a chrome bell aodrn’ngijsrd a»J htiug aea«y osd hail*”’ Ormijiog, Nitk, inil...

president of Wake Forest University.rnTennille told Hearn of the similaritiesrnand Angelou’s failure to respond.rn”Would you make sure m letter reaehesrnProfessor Angclou and relay my requestrnfor a response?” asked Tennille.rnBy the middle of July, Angelou, RandomrnHouse, and Hearn had all failed tornrespond to Tennille, except for a shortrnnote he receiyed from a lower-leyel WakernForest administrator who...

VIEWSrnCommentary on the Gallic Culture Warrnby E. Christian KopffrnWhen the right took over control of the Freneh Assemblyrnthis spring, with an enormous majority, they left economicrnmatters in the hands of Prime Minister Eduard Balladurrnand proceeded to rewrite the French code of nationality and tornrestrict severely naturalization and asylum, responding to therndesires of the vast majority...

The Latest Camp of the SaintsrnGermany’s Immigration Problemrnby Joachim F. WeberrnTotal strangers hug one another. People dance for joy in thernstreets. Tears pour down their faces. It is Germany,rnNovember 1989. The Berlin Wall has fallen and for the firstrntime in decades people can move freely back and forth inrnGermany’s old capital. A people feels its...

Nationalism and Secessionrnby Hans-Hermann HoppernWith the collapse of communism all across Eastern Europe,rnsecessionist movements are mushrooming. Therernare now more than a dozen independent states on the territoryrnof the former Soviet Union, and many of its more than 100rndifferent ethnic, religious, and linguistic groups are striving torngain independence. Yugoslavia has dissolved into various nationalrncomponents. Slovenia, Croatia,...

The Populist Politics of Austriarnby Donald I. WarrenrnIn this small nation’s elegant capital in November 1992,rnnewspaper headlines bannering the Clinton presidentialrnvietory temporarily displaced the local story of the moment: arndecisive political coup by Jorg Haider, leader of the FreedomrnParty of Austria (FPO). Although it is quite clear that Austria’srnstatus quo, socialist-conservative, “Red-Black” alliance hasrnfunctioned effectively...

VIEWSrnThe Revolution in Civil Rights Lawrnby Jared TaylorrnI t has been nearly 30 years since the passage of the CivilrnRights Act of 1964. By banning discrimination in employmentrnand public accommodations the law was meant to minimizernthe role of race in the daily lives of Americans. Its resultrnhas been the opposite. The doctrine of “disparate impact”...

Hard Cases and Bad LawrnThe Feminist Legal Revolutionrnby Philip JenkinsrnDuring the next four years, the Chnton administration willrnappoint dozens of federal judges, in addition to (perhaps)rntwo or three Supreme Court Justices, hi the eonfirmationrnprocedures for these individuals, issues of gender politicsrnare likeh to predominate. Abortion will obious]y be one suchrncjuestion, as may sexual harassment, but...

The Line Item Veto, Roman Stylernby Bruce W. BurtonrnLet us start with some uncheerful axioms about the fiscalrnpolicies of the central government of the United States atrnthe close of the 20th century. “Beggar thy grandchildren” is, dernfacto if not by design, the guiding principle of the UnitedrnStates Congress. The government’s gross debt, plus the interestrnon...

Crime That PaysrnThe War Against Joe Occhipintirnby Greg KayernAs a front-line soldier in America’s war on drugs, Joe Occhipintirnis an American hero. He became one of the mostrnhighly decorated federal agents in American history, with 78rncommendations and awards in his 22 years of public service.rnHis reward? He was set up by Dominican drug lords onrnspecious...

VIEWSrnThe Myths of the Social Sciencesrnby Jack D. DouglasrnSeveral years ago one of my former roommates at Harvard,rnnow an economist with the United Nations, dropped by forrna visit. We drifted into an informal review of the social sciencerncourses we had taken at Harvard in the late 1950’s. The onernoverriding memory that we both had of...

Mimesis and Perjuryrnby E. Christian Kopffrn^f^W4frnAtidal wave of intellectual, and sometimes financial, fraudrnis hanging above the happy tropical village of Americanrnacademia, threatening to crash down on it and sweep it awayrninto the off-shore reefs. The danger has a distinctly differentrnappearance if observed from the Olympian heights wherernphysical scientists view the approaching storm with Lucretianrncalm, or...

The Politics of Scientific Fraudrnby Marcel C. LaFolletternC?^^HrnKrnk’y “*,rnItA-.^….. JrnMk i •t.uf M^aife* ‘Hftrn^ I3f Js^f^ ^S^H^^^^^H^^ ^^^1^91rn’^F 1MIKJ0^ ^^^SSHi^BWiraH*’^ s£^|Lrn!]• M-‘^^w. mrnii(«’-s; – • 1rnl^,«<»>^f • .rfS. fllrnJ K # ! ? JJ”^.<(^3^ r iMHrarnj|^^^^^H|^ii^K^!!^!9PR&^^^H^^rnfi^^^^^^^^^^^^H|^^5^^NHb^^^^^^^^^^^^L^rn^^ ^ muggier, embezzler, art forger, scientist.” Before the rekrnj e e n t eontroversy over scientific fraud, that list...

VIEWSrnThe Yugoslav MythologyrnA Multicultural Pathologyrnby Tomislav Sunicrn•sivaifrn- f > ^yy ^•••rn’Ki ^tK-rrnOne must agree with Georges Sorel that poHtical mythsrnhave a long and durable life. For 74 years the Yugoslavrnstate drew its legitimacy from the spirit of Versailles and Yalta,rnas well as from the Serb-inspired pan-Slavic mythology. Byrncarefully manipulating the history of their constituent peoplesrnwhile...