The churches are in the forefront of the support fornNicaragua and the organization of tour groups. In particularnthe Quakers, and their activist arm, the American FriendsnService Committee (plus their offshoot, Witness for Peace),nthe National Council of Churches as a whole and thenMethodists in particular, the Catholic Maryknoll, and thenSojourners (a leftist evangelical group) are the most dedicatednto these efforts.nIf the Reagan presidency helped nurture the sympathyntoward Nicaragua and thereby stimulated the political tours,npresumably the Bush presidency will continue to have ansimilar, though perhaps milder, effect of the same kind.nContinued disenchantment at home is likely to remain thenmajor cause of the political pilgrims’ susceptibility towardnsystems that make impressive, idealistic claims and criticizenthe United States.nIt remains to be seen what, if any, long-term effect thencessation of the guerrilla war in Nicaragua may have onnits sympathizers and supporters. While in progress it providednthe most satisfactory explanations (and excuses) for bothnNicaragua’s dire economic conditions and the politicalnrepression. Since the fighting stopped, economic conditionsnhave continued to decline precipitously, and civil rights havenbarely improved, either — conditions that may yet havensome impact on the continued idealization of the system.nThe end of the guerrilla war has also made it more difiBcultnto hold the United States responsible for the deep economicncrisis.nThe points made above imply that the favorable attitudesntoward Nicaragua have important rational components, andnthat when those weaken the admiration will subside. Unfortunately,nif history is any guide, that will not happen. Thenfervent support for the Soviet system reached its crescendonat a time when Stalin’s terror was at its peak, the show trialsnwere enacted, and millions were starving. Likewise, thenveneration of Communist China peaked under Mao’sninsane campaigns, including the Cultural Revolution. Innneither case were objective conditions a significant factor innshaping attitudes toward the countries and their politicalnsystems.nBut in the event the Sandinistas’ appeal tarnishes with thenpassage of time, or the craving for novelty overpowers oldnloyalties, there will be other political systems or movementsnto be idealized on similar grounds. There are, for example,nthe radical-leftist guerrillas in El Salvador. Already they havenattracted a vocal following that includes Hollywood actorsnsuch as Edward Asner, who hopes that they will win power,nand who has it on good authority that “the rebel forces arennow the most effective institution in El Salvador committednto health delivery.”nThe continued outpouring of favorable sentiment towardnthe authorities in Nicaragua (and assorted anti-Westernnguerrilla movements elsewhere) suggests that time has stoodnstill within the adversary culture. Its adherents have notnreexamined their ideals and pondered their alienation in thenlight of the changes taking place in the socialist world in thenI980’s and especially since 1985, when Corbachev cameninto power. They have managed to avert their eyes not onlynfrom the rising tide of revelations, which are providing anwealth of new information about the general malfunctioningn32/CHRONICLESnnnof these systems and their intractable social problems, butnalso of the truly systematic failings of socialist economies.nYet there is a limit to both self-deception and the impactnof the skillful, organized deception Marxist-Leninist systemsncreate for the benefit of those predisposed to admire them.nAmong those estranged from Western societies it hasntaken several decades for the facts to sink in about the naturenof the Soviet system. It may take even longer for the morengeneral, and for some far more disturbing, idea to sinknmnthat political systems inspired by Marxism-Leninismndo not have it in their power to bring about the realization ofnthe dreams of Western seekers of justice, social harmony,nand personal fulfillment. <§>nCollectorsnby Harold McCurdynRows of rose glass, an antique pickle jar,nA canopied cradle from a former age.nWitness to a born collector’s ragenTo keep what was among the things that are.nShe, like the earth itself, laid up on earthnHer frail material treasures: artifactsnPreserving long-outmoded aims and acts,nHaving, but for her care, no present worth.nBut what worth had earth’s fossils until somenInquiring Leonardo or LyellnBegan to pick at them and try to spellnThe sentences they composed? Now, all stand dumbnBefore the purport of these hieroglyphsnTeased out of chalky cliffs and shelves of stone.n