Winter 2024

Although American basic science has been spectacularly successful, and its rate of discovery shows no sign of slackening, it would not be hard to conclude that American science policy is in crisis. Immense sums of money have been wasted on …

We do not know why the United States has been subject in the last few years to a wave of political assassinations. Nor do we think anyone else knows. There is the conspiracy theory, convenient for those who like their …

After a while, a long while, there was hardly any distinction attached to a subpoena summoning a witness to the House Committee on Un-American Activities. In my case, as in many others, the summons confirmed what the author of this …

Schisms within the trade unions reflect the fragmentation of American politics. Sooner or later policy differences, personal ambitions, and personality antagonisms were bound to set George Meany and Walter Reuther on a collision course. Working within the framework of an …

The problem of conscientious objection to particular wars agitates thoughtful Americans as never before. In its report to the President, the National Advisory Commission on Selective Service unanimously sustained the present system of granting exemptions to absolute pacifists, but by …

The San Francisco Chronicle story two days after the Oregon primary was entitled “How McCarthy `Caught Fire’ in Oregon” (through his sharp attacks on Bobby Kennedy, it conjectured). Next to this report, another headline read, “Humphrey Enjoys Oregon—and Counts Delegates.” …

The realities of the Vietnam War, long disregarded by Washington, are at last beginning to assert themselves. That the other side —the NLF and Hanoi—could not achieve a military victory has long been clear. The surprising strength displayed by the enemy …

In mass society, problems related to plagiarism and authorship can take on bizarre characteristics. Where large-scale organizations prevail, the head man is presumed to be too busy, too engaged, and too important to write his own speeches, policy papers, books, …

Though Francophilia remains common among American intellectuals, few are at ease with the intricacies of French intellectual life. We enjoy the clarity, logic, and verve of contemporary writing in France, but much of it remains obscure to us because we …

As of late June the Czechoslovak democratic revolution has managed to survive the first attempts at its liquidation. It has become clear that the revolutionary process cannot be brought down by Soviet military threats. The Dubcek leadership has not yielded …

Civil Disobedience Editor: The recent discussion of “Civil Disobedience and Resistance” in DISSENT magazine was provocative and helpful. I think however that there was a sense of the academic about the discussion and a tendency to define civil disobedience in …

The following remarks have been occasioned by a recent revival of interest in the topic of socialist anti-Semitism. Or, to put the matter in a different context, by a rereading of scholarly studies dealing with the role assigned in socialist …

Herbert Marcuse’s One Dimensional Man appeared four years ago. Since then, it has been widely, and on the whole, favorably reviewed, read, and discussed. Accepted by many as the long-awaited work that “tells it like it is,” Marcuse’s essay has …

The following statement was prepared before President Johnson’s announcement that he would institute an incomplete ban on the bombing of North Vietnam. Our hope is that events in the next few months—a cease-fire, negotiations toward peace— will render this statement …

(Volume XIII: 1-112, January–February 1966; 113-224, March–April 1966; 225-336, May–June 1966; 337-464, July–August 1966; 465-624, September–October 1966; 625-752, November–December 1966. VolumeXIV: 1-128, January–February 1967; 129-256, March–April 1967; 257-384, May–June 1967; 385-512, July–August 1967; 513-672, September–October 1967; 673-800, November–December 1967.)