)a.
4.
IN
"The Greening of
Charles Reich, THE GREEN-
ING OF AMERICA, Random
House, $7.95.
By JIM NEUBACHER
It has been evident since the
mid-fifties that American tech-
nological society produces, along
with an abundance of goods and
services, a deep and overwhelm-
ing sense of alienation and per-
sonal powerlessness in many of
the citizens who play a role in
that society.
A number of perceptive social
critics have produced books
dealing with this national psy-
chological crisis. Some, like Paul
Goodman or Theodore Rozak,
have dealt with this in a broad,
cultural manner, while others,
like Galbraith, Michael Har-
rington, or Marcuse, have given
us their more discipline-orient-
ed views on the workings and
failures of the American tech-
nocracy.
There are also books that fall
into a subtype of the same genre
-the books like those of John
Hersey (his Letter to the
Alumni), E d w a r d Bloomberg,
Sidney Hook, and Nathan Pusey.
These in particular are author-
ed by men who, having spent
the required number of years in
academia and having dealt with
"student leaders," profess to ex-
plain to us the meaning of the
unrest that comes to the sur-
face as a result of those very
feelings of alienation and pow-
Prlessness. These books combine
a sort of journalism ala fath-
erly wisdom in an attempt to
explain how to "deal" with stu-
dent and public unrest, the main
point here being, "how to sur-
vive it."
The Greening of America is
certainly not an example of this
second type of book. Yet, neith-
er is it the first.
That is not to deny that The
Greening of America possesses
many of the characteristics of
both types. It is undeniably writ-
ten from academia; it owes
m u c h to Galbraith - Marcuse -
Goodman; it is a personal jour-
nalistic account or explanation
of the feelings and attitudes of
youth; not least, it is fatherly
advice on the meaning of it all.
It is a skillfully written com-
bination all of these, but it is
more. The popularity of the
book and the interest and con-
troversy it has engendered, are
testimony to that. While we are
always in need of a fresh and
skillful analysis of the American
crisis, we have grown used to
the existence of that crisis-It
has been a long time since 1956,
and we are past the point at
which a mere rewarmingmof the
long acknowledged s p i r i t u a l
flaws of American capitalism
can be presented to us as the
most controversial and signifi-
cant writing of the year.
Wh a t transcendent quality
does Reich's book possess? Sim-
ply, The Greening of America
is Literature. It is a prophecy
and a vision, Charles Reich's
extension of the small begin-
nings of the Life Culture to a
terrifyingly beautiful end; it is
a brilliant analysis of the psy.-
chological development of a na-
tion not in the language of
science, but the language of so-
cial philosophy; it is Charles
Reich drawing the dividing lines
between broadly general but dif-
fering value systems by use of
the labels Consciousness I, II,
and III-labels which are strict-
ly literary devices.
As a personal philosophical
approach to social problems,
The Greening of America is lit-
erature no less than Norman
Mailer's Armies of the Night;
Reich's analysis of society in
terms of labels is a literary de-
vice no less valid than Mc-
Luhan's analysis of the media in
might call it "the spirit of the
age." while the New Left might
label it "where our collective
heads are at." Reich calls it
Consciousness.
Included within the idea of
consciousness is a person's
background, education, poli-
tics, insight, values, emotions,
and philosophy, but conscious-
ness is more than these or
even the sum of them. It is
the whole man; his head; his
way of life. It is that by which
he creates his own life and
thus creates the society in
which he lives. . . . Culture
and government interact with
consciousness; t h e y are its
products but they also help
to form it.
With this definition put forth,
Reich goes on to trace the rise
of the corporations, the massive
I m erica
formed an alliance which holds
vast amounts of power over in-
dividual lives - power which is
both "legal" and "extralegal;"
power served up over the last
thirty years in chunks both
small and large.
Reich lists, at one point, some
examples of these powers, all,
ostensibly, accumulated in the
name of such principles as free-
dom, public interest, technical
efficiency and progress: The
power to make Business Week
available to airline passengers,
but not The Nation; power to
change the culture of a forign
country; power to provide rail-
road passengers with washrooms
that are filthy; power to wake
all patients in a hospital at 6
a.m.; power to populize snow-
mobiles instead of snowshoes;
power to construct office build-
N . .
JIM NEUBACHER, a for-
mer Daily editor, says
Reich has been misun-
derstood by his c r i t i c s.
"Those critics ignore the
fact that Reich did NOT
write a blueprint for a
revolution. He is writing
literature."
ency and production, dictate
that peanut butter shall be
widely manufactured in brands
that appeal to the lowest com-
mon denominator of consumer.
In order to be able to eat "real"
peanut butter in this country,
one must search out and find
some one who has survived the
economic pressure to conform to
the common, the popular.
A trivial example? Perhaps.
But all the more important for
that triviality. If one must de-
vote substantial energies to the
process of finding "real" peanut
butter to eat, imagine the
strength and resources one
would need in order to make an
important decision asserting in-
dividuality and control over
one's life.
If Reich represented the pea-
nut butter example, or any of
the others, as the source from
which he was drawing ideas, as
the data from which to make so-
ciological conclusions, he would
be suspect. But he is not writing
sociology any more. than Does-
toevsky or Dickens wrote sociol-
ogy, though.they certainly wrote
about society.
Reich ,is writing philosophy.
His ideas are put forth, then ex-
amples listed to back him up.
He uses the examples to express
a condition that he feels, a phi-
losophy he believes.
But after dealing with the
"peanut butter" criticisms, the
criticisms from those who fail
to view Reich in the correct
perspective, there remain sub-
stantial criticisms from those
who understand Reich fully,
from "Consciousness III's" as
well as from "Consciousness
,'s."
Especially a im o n g the o 1 d
timers in the New Left there
is a tendency to laugh at Reich,
to pass him off as a man totally
unaware of the realities of
present day politics. Tom Hay-
den, reviewing the book in the'
New York Times, acknowledged
the need for a new Conscious-
-ness among people, a new way
for people to relate to people.
Then he wrote, "But to believe
a system will change simply
through a new consciousness is
utopian. There is no change pos-
sible without a program of or-
ganization, struggle and con-
flict."
It is easy to understand why
Hayden, (or John Sinclair writ-
ing opposite me here) might
have this sort of feeling. Sin-
clair is currently in prison, after
being busted for the third time
for possession of a harmless
weed. For the next 91 to 10
years he will be in that prison,
if the prosecutors have their
way, and it would not be an easy
job to convince him that the
repression of cultures, of the
new consciousness, is not a pur-
poseful and determined program
of erradication of that new cul-
ture.
Sinclair's perspective is akin
to that of those who view the
actions of the federal govern-
(Continued on Page 21)
.. 1rA
(Continued from Page 4)
ment in prosecuting the Vi
nam war as a calculatedp
gram of murder and conqu
directed by evil men. R
would suggest there is a m
valid perspective on the .
and on the general level of
pression in this country: B
are the result of flounder
but sincere attempts at run
this country by men with st
tures, values, and ideas that
technology before humanity
the security of the pres
structure before the-need
change.
The difference in perspec
is important, because ~wl
both Reich and Hayden
deeply concerned about the
rection in which our societ
moving, each has come to se
rate conclusions about then
essary means of change.
Reich, it should be poi
out, is not, as a matter of p
ciple, hostile to violence a
means of change - only a
matter of tactics. I met u
Reich in New Haven lastl
vember to discuss his book,
during the course of our t
hour conversation, he made-;
point clear.
"The book is not hostile
unsympathetic to violence,"
said. "I understand the viole
and frustration among yo
But I view it as a tactic
wrong way of bringing abou
revolution.-
"I don't really think it
work. If you really think t
violence can succeed, then
theory is a cop out.
"I just hope to hell that M
cuse is wrong about viole
being the only way to lib
tion. I respect Marcuse, I te
him, but I think he is wn
here."
The necessityof a chang
Consciousness accompanying
change in social policy seem
me abundantly clear. Both
failure of federal legislation
have more than token effec
reshaping the lives of black,
this country, and the real f
ure of violent repression by
government to stamp out
growing new "Life Culture"
testimony to the essential
adequacy of legislative pol
and violence to shape cha
-without an accompany
change in popular consci
ness. Tom Hayden andab3
Sinclair will never be able
mount a violent revolu
FIRST, take control of theg
ernment, and LATER shape
Consciousness of the silentr
jority by coercion. They
doomed to failure if tha
their real, if not admitted, go
The revolution will c
grin-
s a
is a
with
No-
and
wo-
that
or
he
nce
uth.
ally
ut a
will
that
my
dar -
ence
era-
each
ong
e in
rga
s to
the
n to
t in
:s in
fail-
the
the
are
in-
itics
ange
ying
ous-
ohn
e to
tion
gov-
the
ma-
are
t is
)al.
ome
through Consciousness. And
Consciousness will change. The
machine, as Reich says, is self-
destructing. It will alienate
Americans more and more rap-
idly, and the process will multi-
ply. There are an awful lot of.
us now. More will be convinced
by incidents like Cambodia or
Kent State. For others, it will
be an incident like the Mar-
shall University football team
crash last year: The megloman-
ia of an athletic director who
wanted to gain prestige by
playing teams out of his area;
who flew his team in an old,
inadequate plane; who saw
phecy. It is encouragement to
those of us who are working
toward the attainment of the
final end Reich presents us-a
truly humane society.
It is reassurance that as long
as we keep the faith and strug-
le against the high priests of
Consciousness II, the revolution
will come. It will come whether
we drop out, and turn off the
machine, or take control of it
bit by bit. It will NOT come
UNLESS we continue to try to
convert those who do not yet
understand us, continue to ex-
pose the contradictions and
cruelities of the current dom-
inating theory.
It is a reminder, in this age
of cynicism and disgust, to be-
lieve in man.
-Daily-Jim Judkis
misunderstood?
g Astro.
them die on a mountainside-
'iet that meglomania will demon-
pro strate tothousands of Americans ps eCHARTS CAS
nest, that the machine is trying to
eich destroy our humanity. Their No Interpretati
Wore humanity will rebel.
war, It is essentially this last point TABLES-Eplh
re- which is the crux of an accept-
3oth ance of Reich. The humanity of Table of House
ing, man must be not only respected,
ning but believed in. His ability to TEXTBOOKS
ruc- rebel at the last minute, (asT B
put a matter of "urgent biological and Interpretat
and necessity" if nothing more,)
sent must be believed in, either in
for fact or in faith.
Faith is the spirit of what aCI CLE
tive Reich presents us.
'hile A month ago, I met with a A Con plete Occ
are Washington journalist who no-
di- ticed I carried a copy of Reich's
y is book. "I see you're reading the 215 S. STATE ST. 2r
epa- Bible," he said. I laughed then.
-ec- But the observation has merit. .,... _
The Greening of America, like
ni ed the Bible, is a vision and a pro-
terms of the labels "hot" and
cool.'
It is this essential fact that
has been so misunderstood by
so many of Reich's critics -
critics who range from far right
to far left. Ignoring the fact
that Reich did not write a blue-
print for a revolution, they
blast him for being 'naive"' or
foolishly "utopian."
Let us examine what The
Greening of America attempts
to be.
It is the task of Reich in the
first half of his book to trace
the evolution of our society to
its present form. In an expert,
often brilliant analysis which
merges political, social, and cul-
tural trends, Reich presents a
convincing description of the
moods, perspectives, values and
social ethics which prevailed in
the nation at different points
during its growth. The scholar
wounds they inflicted on land-
scape and psyche both, the
well-meaning attempts of the
New Deal to put the -lurching
ship back on keel, and the sub-
sequent failure of the post-war
Corporate State to promote in-
dividual freedom, creativity, and
personal satisfaction on a mass
scale.
Whether or not one is inter-
ested in Reich's prognostications
on where we will go in the fu-
ture, it is still worth reading the
first half of his book for this
analysis alone. The combination
of beautiful writing with his
compact, multi-disciplinary ver-
sion of the growth of this coun-
try makes it invaluable for any
serious student of American
history.
Today says Reich, we have
reached a state in which gov-
ernment and industry have, in-
stead of balancing each other,
ings with windows that will not
open, or without any windows
at all; the power to require pea-
nut butter eaters to choose be-
tween homogenized or chunky
peanut butter, and to prevent
them from buying "real" peanut
butter.
Peanut Butter?
"A man of Professor Reich's
eminence should not stoop to-
include this in his indictment
against our power structure,"
cried one prominent attorney in
his critique of Reich's book on
the op-ed page of the New York
Times last year.
But the peanut butter exam-
ple is as valid and important as
any of the others. How many of
you reading this are sure you
even know what "real" peanut
butter is, let alone eat it. The
demands of mass technology
and marketing, based on the
principles of maximum effici-
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-Daily--Jim Judkis
_....,
Page Four THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Sunday, April 11, 1971 Sunday, April 11, 1971
THE MICHIGAN DAILY