Midwife.” Found near the end of thenvolume are the more disturbing iconsnof the New America: a happy NewnYork family, mother impeccablyndressed, in their radiation shelter; andnthe pitted test mannequins wrenchednout of shape by an atomic blast atnYucca Flat, Nevada.nMost of Life’s photographersn— among them Margaret Bourke-n81 CHRONICLES OF CULTUREnResurrecting the SixtiesnNostalgia for the 60’s may now be antenure requirement at many of thencountry’s leading universities, especiallynin California and New England.nArthur Stein is a case innpoint. In his new book Seeds of thenSeventies: Values, Work, and Commitmentnin Post-Vietnam American(University Press of New England;nHanover, NH; $18.00), Stein presentsnhimself as one more academicnrevolutionary, pining for then”youthful idealism” of the 60’s andnlooking desperately for manifestationsnof the same spirit in the 70’snand 80’s. Of course, he is not interestednin the real legacy of the 60’sn—the plagues of illiteracy, drugnaddiction, and pornography thatnstunned so many POW’s returningnto America in the mid-70’s. Steinnremains convinced that if Americanis to regain a “renewed sense ofnpurpose and direction” it must looknnot to those who answered the callnof duty in Vietnam (they, after all,n”still suffer the afterefl’ects of theirntraumatic experiences in the war”),nbut rather to those “directly involvednin antiwar activity” in thenVietnam years.nOf course, these people are nonlonger capturing headlines by raisingnVietcong flags over their campusesnas they burn their Americanncolors. No, after Richard Nixonnbetrayed them by ending the draftnand taking away their issue, theyndisappeared “beneath the surface”nof media visibility. But the excitementnof public righteousness is hardnto give up, so the same activists whonhad once dominated the newsnWhite, David Duncan, Philippe Halsman,nAlfred Eisenstadt, and CornellnCapa—probably shared little of HenrynLuce’s enthusiasm for the New AmericannCivilization that he hoped to helpnshape through the pages of his magazine.nIndeed, in introductory commentsnto this volume, Capa notes hown”we are blessed with hindsight in ournassessment of world history” and cannREVISIONSnbroadcasts by denouncing Americanninvolvement in Indochina soonnfound they could achieve the sameneffect by denouncing American involvementnin America. In thensearch for journalists’ attention, thenanti-Vietnam movement metamorphosedninto what Stein sympatheticallyncalls “new alternatives” crusades,nincluding “participatorynpolities, women’s and minoritynrights, concerns of children andnsenior citizens, producer and consumerncooperatives, peace conversionneconomics. …” The list isnas long and as predictable as anWilliam Sloan Coffin sermon.nStein believes that only suchnmovements can “keep the spark ofnidealism alive” in an age of “extremenindividualism” such as ours.nIn applauding the crusade for “socialnjustice and a more peacefulnworld order,” he insists that thenvarieties of social activism that hensurveys cannot be understood withinn”conservative or liberal labels.”nPerhaps some of those groups rejectingntechnological utilitarianismnin favor of small-community agrarianismndo not fit neatly in right/leftncategories. But no one who canonizesnthe Berrigan Brothers, BellanAbzug, Scott Nearing, Tom Hayden,nand Barry Commoner, andnwho laments that “disorganizationnof the American left contributed tonthe right-wing victory of RonaldnReagan” is playing with an unmarkedndeck. Stein may not be anSoviet apologist of the l^ationnstripe, but he is clearly at homenamong the woolly leftists of MothernJones. Don’t look for Stein to suggestnthat anyone concerned withnnnnow recognize “that the editors of Lifenhad their own conceptions and prejudicesnin selecting what they considerednnewsworthy, valid, interesting orntrend-setting for a given week.” Yet thenphotos in this volume transcend thenpolitics and the visions of Luce and hisnco-workers. Here, we do see life andncan take pleasure in the seeing. ccn”basic human rights” and protectingn”endangered life forms” shouldnbe fighting communist tyranny,nprotesting abortion, or opposing illegitimacy.nInstead, the agenda calls forndemonstrating against U.S. involvementnin Central America,nhelping others achieve psychicn”transformation” into “New Age”npersonalities, obstructing nuclearnpower projects, and fighting forn”justice for women.” Of even highernpriority are protests againstnAmerican militarism and attemptsnto find “common ground with thenleaders and people of the USSR.”nNonviolent protest at an AmericannTrident base provides “living theater”nthat is “encouraging,” “dramatic,”nand “provocative.” (Stein reportsnno pacifist demonstrationsnbeing planned for Kabul or Warsaw,nperhaps because Soviet tankndrivers have such a boorish sense ofnstaging or because TV coverage isndevilishly hard to arrange.) As hencontemplates the future. Stein isnglad that many groups are learningnto put to new uses the techniques ofn”nonviolent direct action” first employednin the May Day 1971 protestnagainst the Vietnam War. Thenthousands of Vietnamese whondrowned trying to escape from theirn”liberators” or who were imprisonednin reeducation camps or sentnto Siberia to lay pipeline for thenSoviet Empire might not sharenStein’s enthusiasm for this conceptualnbreakthrough. But the Politburonis probably still applauding.nAfter all. May Day demonstrationsnare their specialty. ccn