Listen to Richard Nixon describe his domestic policies: “They represent a pragmatic rededication to social compassion and national excellence. . . .” “Pragmatic” is the crucial word. We shall have compassion, if it is practical. In the budget for fiscal …
On October 26, 1972, Henry Kissinger informed the American people that after four years of negotiations and several months of secret talks, peace finally was “at hand.” “We believe that an agreement is in sight, which is just to all …
“The Intellectual as Critic and Rebel,” by Seymour Martin Lipset and Richard B. Dobson. Daedalus, Summer 1972. In a Daedalus forum on “Intellectuals and Change,” Seymour Martin Lipset and Richard B. Dobson argue that the “historical and traditional” stance of …
Ten years ago, who could have predicted the rise of a new conservatism in American life? Yet such a conservatism has arisen, and what among other things is new about it is that, unlike previous incarnations of conservatism in America, …
The Rise of the Unmeltable Ethnics, by Michael Novak. New York: Macmillan. 321 pp. Of the half-dozen studies of white ethnicity in America that have appeared during the past couple of years, Michael Novak’s The Rise of the Unmeltable Ethnics …
On October 31, 1972, the Canadian elec torate surveyed what it had just done at the polls and found itself with a hangover—literally. No party had a majority of seats. With the threat of another election hanging over the new …
There is only one serious question in political philosophy: What manner of men do we take ourselves and others to be? All other issues—not least the next fundamental question, By what right does any man or class command the services …
When entering Pontiac, Michigan, one is immediately struck by the number and size of its industrial plants. These industrial giants —Pontiac Motors, GMC Truck and Coach, and Fisher Body—make the rest of the city seem insignificant, and the person working …
The day following the 1972 election, George Meany said that the voters “have shown that they want peace in Vietnam, but not surrender and not dishonor.” Institutions are predictable and sometimes very much like natural phenomena; Meany on the elections …
Somewhere in The Other America, Michael Harrington conjures up the image of the federal highway system bypassing city slums and the rural poor, speeding on the affluent traveler undisturbed by the marks of struggle for a daily living. Not that …
More on Working-Class Authoritarianism Editor: A letter by S. M. Lipset in the Winter 1973 Dissent mentions some work of mine. He says that he “never understood what relevance Hamilton’s research on the correlates of opinion on war has to my …
The New Chastity and Other Arguments Against Women’s Liberation, by Midge Decter. New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan. 188 pp. The American Woman: Her Changing Social, Economic and Political Roles, 1920-1970, by William H. Chafe. New York: Oxford University Press. …
Once the insurgent Miners for Democracy had triumphed and Arnold Miller had defeated Tony Boyle by 70,373 to 56,334 for United Mine Workers president, the grueling job began of restoring a union that, under an authoritarian regime, had sadly disintegrated. …
Radicals and liberals have always championed progressive income tax as the ideal form of taxation—though its potential of placing the burden of social costs on the rich has never been more than window dressing. The large incomes that are subject …
Sincerity and Authenticity, by Lionel Trilling. Cambridge: Harvard University Press. 199 pp. The comedian Lenny Bruce occasionally used to open nightclub performances by stating his intention to piss on the audience. “I’m going to piss on you,” he would announce. …
