PAGE EIGHT
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
SATURDAY, MAY 13,19+67
PAGE EIGHT THE MICHIGAN DAILY SATURDAY. MAY 13 19G7
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STowards
The
NeOwer
By HARVEY WASSERMAN
Editorial Director, '66-'67
F OR THE PAST fifty years the
politics of the United States
has centered around two basic
ideologies-liberalism and conser-
vatism. Each has acted in its own
separate way to enlarge the state. I
4 Conservatism: Most Ameri-
can conservatives claim they oper-
ate within a framework of 19th
century liberalism, that is, the
doctrine of laissez faire. In prac-
tice this has involved in the eco-
nomic sphere the defense of priv-
ate rather than public corpora-
tion. While legitimately following
their philosophy in opposition to
social welfare legislation, conser-
vatives fought anti-corporation
legislation on "free . enterprise"
grounds when in fact the legisla-
tion was aimed at preserving pre-
cisely that. It was no accident that
the Republican party became the
party of big money.
far more important, however,
was the fact that while conserva-
iives were fighting the expansion
of the state into the economic,
sphere, they were promoting its
role in curtailing civil liberties. In
'the name of anti-communism the1
conservatives have been the prime
promoters of a military establish-
ment and a CIA-HUAC-FBI leg-,
acy of Federal control that be-
speaks Orwellian authoritarian-
ism far better than the early Am-
erican concept of free speech.
0 Liberalism: But it has been
the liberals, not the conservatives,
that have run the country since
1932. Their legacy is greater and
more dangerous than that of the
conservatives.
For in their self-ordained pur-
suit of social justice and social
equity the liberals have created
exactly what the conservatives
predicted-a huge, crushing wel-
fare bureaucracy. The social leg-
islation of the New Deal may have
cost hte conservatives some mon-
ey, but it cost the poor any inclin-
ation they might have had for es-
tablishing a life independent of
affluent America.
Welfare means money. The Am-
erican poverty program gives the
poor enough to live on plus a bit
more. The system keeps its de-
pendents from working, offers
enough education to acculturate
the poor young but too little to
form the basis of a decent living.
There is not enough leeway for
the establishment of one's own in-
dependence -- welfare recipients
are not encouraged to organize
and remove themselves from the
dole lists (in fact, some are losing
their support for doing precisely
that), all are taught how to fill
out government forms.
In essence the liberals have
brought the poor into a value sys-
tem but have been unable or un-
willing to give enough so that the
beneficiaries can move in it hap-
pily. At the same itme they dis-
courage other value systems from
forming-witness the liberal re-
action to black power and black
nationalism. The poor individual
has become and must remain the
semi-poor independent.
For the liberals themselves this
has meant the establishment of
a large poverty corporation, which
they run through the government
and the universities, whose pur-
pose has been to administer a way
of life to the slums.
THUS BOTH liberals and con-
servatives have expanded the
sttae to the detriment of its citi-
zens. The conservative brand of
authoritarianism-control of free-
dom of speech, emphasis on the
military and on the large corpor-
ation-has progressed quite well.
The liberal brand of authoritar-
ianism-the imposition of a legis-
lated value system on the poor-
has also won out.
And much to everyone's sur-
prise and chagrin, the meld has
created 4 war in Asia-one which
brings the cooperaiton ow the two
philosophies into remarkable re-
lief.
. .Soon there must emerge the synthesis-the political hippies.
The New Left has undertaken the struggle for community organization.
Ultimately, its program is to take a seat of power from Washington and
put it in the words. The wards may send delegates to a city council,
'a city council may send delegates to Washington. The city block
will at last return to its residents..
......................................
...............................................smgssa2##22%ENEammMME~en
Left
or just plain fail on power terms,
as liberals gleefully predict when
criticizing militant tactics as
"hurting your own cause."
NO, THE ANSWER is not in
that New Left. Nor is it yet in
the hippies. But the hippies are
really the first to-hit at the core
of the problem. For while the New
Lefters have correctly estimated
the power problem in terms of a
total system, the hippies less con-
sciously have put their finger on
. . the ultimate manifestation - the
life-style itself. They have com-
mitted the supreme act of rebel-
ss - con- lion-total rejection. of a way of
life.
less fortunate brothers in India,
Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Thus an international poverty
program-foreign aid-came into
being. University economists and
sociologists chose the word "un-
derdeveloped" as the tool for
studying those countries.
When one says "under"-before
something, that implies that the
main term is desirable. "Develop-
ed" in this case refers to a mod-
ernization process as known in the
United States-urbanization. mass
production, mass consumption.
American liberals decided that was
the best course for the Third
World.
In order to attain American
style modernization, large influx-
es of capital were needed-a pat-
tern that fit well the interests of
U.S. corporations. To insure the
corporate investments, had a
strong interest in maintaining sta-
bility in the'Third World. That is
why consensus is so easily ob-
tainable on Vietnam. The anti-
Communist militarism of the con-
servative wing is satisfied; the do-
gooder role of the liberal wing isI
the United States has a powerful,
often deciding, role to play in
shaping the lives of the Vietna-
mese. How could they oppose him
on that? It was in large part their
idea in the first place.
Thus the circle is complete, TheI
liberals, for all their humanitar-
corporate, faceless, ma
sumption society.
The hard-core New Left differs The old-timer Ginsberg does it
from the left of the thirties bas- not so much in his poetry as in
ically in its lack of a substitute his insistence on living on $3000
structure. The old left saw the a year. The San Francisco hippies
problem in terms of an economic do it certainly not in their in-
system, the New correctly sees it sistence on wild clothes, but in
as being far too much to be in- their giving away food, in their
cluded in a single specific pro- living 20 and 30 to a house. and
gram. Instead it fights for the in their sharing of children, wives
sweeping concept of "democracy" and lives in the name of Love
-- ,, (not, as in middle class circles, co-
satisfied. And everybody makes ianism, created and sustain a bu-
money on the deal. reaucracy (they even call it a
Yet, one might object, it is the
liberals who are giving Johnson
the trouble. Well, yes and no. The
only man yet to correctly describe
the main stream of liberal dis-
sent on the war has been, of all
"war" on poverty) at home and
abroad, whose end is- to promote
a worldwide hegemony of the
as a cure-all.
American way of life. The conserv- w
atives, for all their pronounced What "democracy" means is al-
fear of bigness, created and sus- lowing those on the bottom to re-
tain 54 mi-na i-A iht d s ti i wer a r s befits their numbers.
people, Lyndon Johnson. He can-'Lai i r n veLg~v ut 6u
ed thefi "nervous nellies" and that operation that stifles freedom of not their wea
is precisely what they are. They speech and will not allow the poor
decry the cost of men, they fear of a country to overthrow its rich. THE END
war with China. But they do not
advocate an end to the U.S. com- IN REACTION comes the New distribution
mitment. Left, or perhaps I should now say far only b
alth.
purpose of that re-
of power has thus
ecome sophisticated
vertly, and in the name of for-
bidden pleasure). The hippies, with
drugs and with games, with days
of talk and play, create one thing
-community.
"Community" for the hippies in-
volves the one element most lack-
ing in American society-a con-
cern for the rights of other peo-
ple not within a pre-conceived val-
ue system. but for their individ-
ual selves.
The statement is in the com-
munal life-style. It is one of com-
plete freedom, where each makes
his contribution and is treated as
an individual. The sexes seem to
merge in clothing and long hair,
the people merge in a non-ac-
quisitiveness that denies status,
the minds seem to merge in a
sort of anti-intellectualism that
goes beyond traditional academia.
What comes through is a far deep-
er and more naturally expressive
self than is possible in the very
ornamental American way of life.
The expressive arts take prece-
dence and all the hippies work
at making their lives fit that art
in totality.
But the hippies are outside pow-
er in the usual sense. Their force
lies in their ability to attract fol-
lowers by example, and no more.,
The leaders of the New Left do
not make use of power-their ac-
tivities are as Clausewitzien as
Johnson's, and in accepting his
terms they have accepted at least
some of his system. They dress
and live it.
SOON THERE must emerge the
synthesis - the political hippies.
The New Left has undertaken the
struggle for community organiza-
tion. Ultimately, its program is to
take the seat of power from Wash-
ington and put it in the wards.
The wards may send delegates to,
a city council, a city council may
send delegates to Washington. The
city block will at last return to
its residents.
Winning that power situation
will be, of course, quite a job. But
the New Left has undertaken a
self-defeating task. It wants hap-
piness for its people but seems
bent on. organizing them to move
up in a system that is dedicated to
keeping them down and into a life-
style that has produced new high-
rise slums to replace the old and
socially more promising slums.
Even if they succeed in making
the city block an effective offen-
sive political unit, their thrust
seems to be at precisely what they
should be trying to avoid.
In today's terms, an effective
small community organization
needs a good political offense just
to stay alive. But the task would
be easier if there were somewhere
else to go than the traditional
"up." That job must fall to a new
breed of leaders, one farther re-
moved from the mainstream of
American life. They will be part
hippie, part existential organizer.
They will organize not to fight but
to drop out; their primary change
from New Left leadership will be
the ultimate rejection of power in
any form. Their aim will be not
to build political machines, but
self- -sustained and independent
living units.
SO SOON you will be hearing
that Abraham Lincoln was ourx
worst President because he killed
500,000 men to preserve the na-
tion-state. That Franklin Roose-
velt was a bad one because he ex-
tended the control of one man
into the lives of millions. That
not only should there be no draft,
or army, but also no Presidentd
to pay it and send it to war. That
"Let the people decide" is less
relevant than "Let the people
Ialone."'
IAnd that there should be no
Imore public aid of any sort beyond
When you can't afford to be dull
sharpen your wits
with NoDoz
NoDoz keep alert tablets or new chewable mints,
safe as coffee, help bring you
back to your mental best... help
you become more alert to the
people and conditions around
you. Non-habit forming.
While studying, or after hours,
sharpen your wits with NoDoz.
Tablets or new Chewable Mints
aily Classifieds Get Results
(By the author of "Rally Round the Flag, Boys!",
"Dobie Gillis," eta.)
HOW TO GET A'S
IN ALL YOUR FINAL EXAMS
In today's column, the last of the school year, I don't
intend to be funny. (I have achieved this objective many
times throughout the year, but this time it's on purpose.)
The hour is wrong for levity. Final exams are looming.
Have you got a chance? Lsay yes! I say America did
not become the world's foremost producer of stove bolts
and gottgr pins by running away from a fight!
You wilt pass your finals ! How? By studying. How? By
learning mnemonics.
Mnemonics, the science of memory aids, was, as we alt
know, invented by the great Greek philosopher Mnemon
in 526 B.C. (This, incidentally, was only one of the inven-
tions of this fertile Athenian. He also invented the house
cat, the opposing thumb, and, most important, the stair-
case. Before the staircase people were forced willy-nilly
to live out their lives on the ground floor, and many grew
cross as bears. Especially Demosthenes who was elected
Consul of Athens six times but never served because he
was unable to get up to the office of the Commissioner of
Oaths on the third floor to be sworn in. But after Mnemon's
staircase, Demosthenes got to the third floor easy as pie
-to Athens' sorrow, as it turned out. Demosthenes, his
temper shortened by years of confinement to the ground
floor, soon embroiled his countrymen in a series of sense-
less wars with the Medes, the Persians, and the Los
Angeles Rams. This later became known as the Missouri
Compromise.)
, '
t :
K4
Y/.
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It
For the war in Vietnam, though
supported most strongly by con-{
servatives, is in fact a liberal's
Vietnam is not a war of mili-
tarism-it is one of welfare. The
typical defense comes firom Rober t
lcNamara, the liberal in charge
of the war machinery. When ask-
ed recently about the Vietnamese
lives being lost in the war, his
response, as befits his social con-
cern, was a rieference to saving
their souls. Perhaps the most im-
portant architect of the Vietnam
policy is not a military san, bute "Of course think it should be le
the economist Walt m Rostow. Now
a high Johnson advisor, Rostow's
highly influential theories of eco-I success of "take-off," stability Far from it. The New York
nomic development for "'under- was needed. Any social movement Times finds escalation "no strate-,
developed" countries conveniently that threatened to take the out- gy at all" but says in no uncer-
include sections oil strict opposi- moded route of nationalization stamn terms U.S. permanence in
tion to nationalism and the cur- would be stopped. To stop those the south is "'a sound one." Ar-
tailment of any guerilla activities movements, a military presence thur Schlesinger, Jr., furrows his
A,, i-zf n, f..hlp. P ,rnmn'rt __- 1.,.a - .,....A hrnw, hat Tohr~ej' li.,, to the
But I digress. We were discussing mnemonics, which
are nothing more than aids to memory-little jingles to
help you remember names, dates, and places. For example:
Columbus sailed the ocean blue
In fourteen hundred ninety tiro.
See how simple? Make up your own jingles. What, for
instance, came after Columbus's discovery of America?
The Boston Tea Party, of course. Try this:
Sanmuel Adams Hlangq the tea
Into the briny Zayder Zee.
(NOTE: The Zuyder Zee was located in Boston Harbor
until 1801 when almon P. Chase traded it to Holland for
Alaska and two line buckers.k
But I digress Let's get back sto nicnmnics. Like this.
In mietrs f Pern,cd ' ix-I ftse " edse d s
Personna Blades nrake ,rslriand,(eu -onya.ev_
I mention Personna because the makers of Personna
Super Stainless Steel Blades are the sponsors of this
column. If I may get a little misty in this, the final column
of the school year, may I say it's been a pleasure working
for Personna? May I say further that it's been an even
greater pleasure working for you, the undergrads of
America? You've been a most satisfactory audience, and
I'm going to miss you this summer. In fact, I'd ask you
all to come visit me except there is no access to my room.
The makers of Personna, after I missed several deadlines,
walled me in. I have no doors or windows-only a mail slot.
I slip the ,columns out; they slip in Personnas and such
food as can go through a mail slot. (For the past six
months I've been living on after dinner mints.)
I am only having my little joke. The makers of Personna
have not walled me in, for they are good and true and
gleaming and constant -as good and true and gleaming
*4
galized."
the Newer Left. The original New enough to involve a redistribution
Left worships Castro and Lenin, of the wealth. In accepting the
authoritarians themselves. This is conventional ends as well as the
the leftism of Ramparts and Car-
michael, those who will advocateI
non-interference in Vietnam while
aking intervention gainst Rho-
dogmas and strategies of Ameri-
can political power, the New Left
has failed to create an alterna-
tive life style. Carmichael hints
>I
I