ever; no matter what its politics.” Thenartist must be a Gypsy, “an outlyer”:nhe owes no allegiance to any government.n”I’m no goddamned patriot nornwill I swing to left or right.” A writerncan be “class conscious only if his talentnis limited. If he has enough talent allnclasses are his province.” It is importantnto remember that at this time “Evervone”nwas trying to force him to “becomena Communist or have a Marxiannviewpoint,” or he would have no friendsnand be left alone. He did not dread bening alone, and called himself “an anarchist.n… I don’t believe and can’t believenin too much government.” Andnagain. “I can’t stand any bloody government.’nHe explained to Dos Passos thatnhe could not become a communist becausenhe hated tyranny, and tyranny wasnassociated with the fact of governmentnitself. It is not surprising that the paranoianhe developed later in life took thenform of being pursued by governmentnagents; his later years had a Kafka-likenquality.nv>uriously enough, his instinctivenpolitical theory reminds one a bit ofnWilliam Graham Sumner’s. “First Inwould look after myself and do my work.nThen I would care for my family. ThennI would help my neighbor. But the statenI care nothing for. All the state has evernmeant to me is unjust taxation. … Inbelieve in the absolute minimum of government.”nAs for Marxism, “the race isnolder than an economic system.” Whennchallenged, he could speak of being an”good American” and of having “gonento bat for my country as often as most.”nBut just as often he could say “the hellnwith it.” He was no patriot as he definednthe term, “loyal to any existingnorder of government.” The sense ofnhome was not defined by national boundaries.n”No unit larger than the villagencan function justly.” Among his novels,nonly The Torrents of Spring and TonHave andHave Not are set in the UnitednStates, and they are among his poorestnworks. After Henry James and EdithnWharton, he is probably the Americann12 inChronicles of Culturenwriter who lived for the longest timenabroad. Because he had experiencednfascism firsthand in Italy, it was thenobject of his special hatred and contempt.nCommunism, on the other hand,nwas “tripe.” He could not become onen”because I believe in only one thing:nliberty.” One comment on it was asnmuch a commentary on American fellow-travelersnas it was on communismnitself: “Now they want you to swallowncommunism as if it were an elder BoysnY.M.C.A. conference.”nHe had no respect for-political systemsnor for politicians. Franklin D.nRoosevelt was “The Paralytic Demagogue.”na “rich and spoiled paralytic.”na “bore” for whose death we should bengrateful. Herbert Hoover was “ThenSyphylitic Baby.” The New Deal wasn!•>”».n”some sort of Y.M.C.A. show. Starryneyed bastards spending money thatnsomebodv will have to pay. Everybodynin our town quit work to go on relief.”nSenator Joseph McCarthy was belligerentlynchallenged to a boxing match.nHarry Truman was an ‘UnsuccessfulnHaberdasher.” He would not vote fornDwight Eisenhower because RichardnNixon was on the ticket, but Nixon wasn”useful” in the Alger Hiss case.nThe only political label that can benmade to fit Hemingway, and it is not anperfect fit, would be Libertarian. (Ornperhaps the one Henry Adams devisednfor himself. ConservativeChristian-Anarchist.)nHemingway’s politics, such asnthey were, were based on the Libertarian’sndream of a Golden Age. Therenthings were perfect; the individual wasn”^Wfnt>tne fortncomine issue of Coroiucles ofCmtUrei ‘*tn-^5it^ jjBjM. r’^i^ ^w’ ^ •. *r^p^ -^^^ H ^n&*ra»:M.M. & the Conservative Ethosn’ M Refinemeat,n:*:n.^oFTe^teflnhichJscoiipQnnifS^soberratfi^n*^^*W”” -afechancini; berauw of the prtvate grievances, wounded =?*/^^’?f3t^>a. ri^^^n£?7.^^^^%s”^’^n•Sa^fftii^ji noderation or onu who,, cxaves ib/^juste- miiieu, Bu^iieir^”;|^^^^^ jntjtfjBjJi, v.J^jianysifjnifiLjnt huturu.ali-hdngeshkvetr^spuedjn^:n’ji^jkt . h«>ocordance«uhtheGoldcji Mean—in^^i^oursuni’n^^it-‘„.” – raybcFitIpfuitok«x-pthisintnin