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administrative marker by the George Bush Presidential
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PRESS
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"This is a well-documented, well-balanced read. The warts are there, but so are Hoffa's
HOL
redeeming qualities.' - Ralph Orr, Retired Labor Writer, Detroit Free Press
HOFFA
Arthur A.Sloane
Arthur Sloane first met Jimmy Hoffa in 1962. Now, nearly three decades
president of a corrupt and overly powerful Teamsters Union. To
after that first encounter, Sloane has written the only comprehensive biogra-
others, he was a devoted family man and a workaholic union leader,
phy of the late Teamster leader, having had full access to Hoffa's family,
who was both amazingly accessible to his hundreds of thousands of
friends, and professional associates.
truck driver constituents and hugely successful in improving working
conditions for them. In fact, each of these perspectives, Sloane observes,
Hoffa is a rich and colorful portrait of one of the most influential figures in
is far too limited to tell the full story of this complicated man.
American labor. It covers in considerable detail all the facets of Hoffa's
remarkable life and death: his rise to total dominance over the largest,
Arthur A. Sloane is Professor of Industrial Relations at the University
strongest, and wealthiest union in American history; his near-Victorian
of Delaware.
personal habits; the legal problems that plagued his later years; and, of
course, the shadowy events surrounding his presumed Mafia murder in
1991 - 442 pp.- 20 illus. - $24.95
1975. To many, Hoffa was a kind of latter-day Al Capone, the dictator-
0-262-19309-4 SLOHH
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NEW
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LIVES OF THE LAUREATES
Ten Nobel Economists
GAME THEORY
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Second Edition
Drew Fudenberg and Jean Tirole
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This advanced text introduces the principles of noncooperative game theory -
and James M. Poterba
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A condensed and personalized history of
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Global warming is debated largely in
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Fudenberg and Tirole focus on the
crucial questions as: Which countries will
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problems. They also include some
adopted to reduce carbon dioxide emis-
MALINVAUD
applications to political science. The
sions and chlorofluorocarbons? How will
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Game
Volume 1: Microeconomics
different nations fare under various
that cover static games of complete
Theory
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information, dynamic games of com-
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plete information, static games of
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games of incomplete information, and
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advanced topics.
proaches to Greenhouse Warming, W. D.
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an immediate and important impact on
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the way game theory is taught at the
Options for Controlling Greenhouse Gas
Yves Younes
graduate level. Not only does it cover most of the central topics in noncooperative
Emissions, D. W. Pearce. Economic
game theory, it is as up to date and complete as a book in this area could hope to
Responses to Climate Change: A Euro-
Available for the first time in translation
be." - Charles Wilson, Professor of Economics, New York University
pean Perspective, E. Gerelli. Economic
the thirty-four essays collected in these
Responses to Global Warming/Interna-
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substantial library of current French
Global Warming, T.C. Schelling. The
developments of the 1980s. This book will be a standard text and reference."
economic thought, conveying the vitality
International Incidence of Carbon Taxes,
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of economic theory in France today. The
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essays reflect Malinvaud's own broad
The Pacific Rim, H. Uzawa. Optional for
"Both broad and deep, this book belongs on the shelf of every serious student of
contributions to the field and range from
Slowing Amazon Jungle-Clearing, E. Reis
game theory." - David Kreps, Graduate School of Business, Stanford University
theoretical analysis to applied project
and S. Margulis.
evaluation, from the formalization of basic
Drew Fudenberg and Jean Tirole are Professors of Economics at MIT.
concepts to analyses directed toward
Discussants: L. Bergman, W.R. Cline, P.
policy planning and assessment, and from
Diamond, L. B. Lave, A. Manne, J. P.
1991 - 608 pp. - $35.00
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Martin, T. Moe, D. M. Newbery, N. J.
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"Innovation is a major source of growth, competition is a major source of innovation,
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Brainard
8
BRAMH
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INNOVATION AND GROWTH IN THE GLOBAL ECONOMY
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RETHINKING INTERNATIONAL TRADE
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Quarterly
MANAGEMENT STRATEGY
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AND TRADE POLICY
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1991 - 304 pp. - $25.00
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in which location matters. In Geography
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TRADE POLICY
policy, history, and international institu-
and Trade he provides a stimulating
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AND MARKET STRUCTURE
tions.
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22
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Elhanan Helpman and
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Journals
Game Theory/Modeling
" In Bhagwati's hands economics, the dismal
MONETARY POLICY IN
NEW
GENERAL THEORY OF EQUILIBRIUM
science, is transformed into a delightful art.
INTERDEPENDENT ECONOMIES
SELECTION IN GAMES
Without sacrificing rigor, and skillfully
STRATEGY AND CHOICE
blending history, politics, economic analysis,
A Game-Theoretic Approach
John C. Harsanyi
and wit, be makes reading these essays a
Matthew B. Canzoneri and
edited by Richard
and Reinhard Selten
treat. - Paul Streeten, Boston University
Dale W. Henderson
Zeckhauser
foreword by Robert Aumann
POLITICAL ECONOMY AND
The first comprehensive overview of
Strategic choices determine destinies.
The authors propose rational criteria for
INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS
the implications of using game theory
These essays by well-known scholars
selecting one uniformly perfect equilibrium
to analyze interactions among national
- economists, psychologists, phi-
point as the solution of any noncooperative
Jagdish Bhagwati
monetary policymakers. Monetary
losophers, and political scientists,
game. And, because any cooperative game
edited by Douglas A. Irwin
Policy in Interdependent Economies
inspired by master strategist Thomas
can be remodeled as a noncooperative bar-
synthesizes the pessimistic view of
Schelling - present the most signifi-
gaining game, their theory defines a one-point
Political Economy and International Eco-
sovereign policymaking that results
cant recent advances in strategic
solution for any cooperative game as well.
nomics is the fifth volume of collected essays
from the analysis of one-shot games
choice theory. In activities ranging
by the noted economist Jagdish Bhagwati.
with the optimistic view derived from
from gift giving to political wheeling
"A milestone in the careers of two of the most
21
This, like his earlier books, reflects
the analysis of quid pro quo strategies
and dealing, men and women strive
distinguished game-theorists of our genera-
Bhagwati's wide range of interests and his
in repeated games. Good outcomes, the
ingeniously - though sometimes
tion
Certain to become a classic and.
rare ability to combine economic theory and
authors conclude, require coordination
counterproductively - to secure
an essential work of reference for all serious
political analysis.
desired outcomes. But as this book
among noncooperative policymakers,
game-theorists." - Hyun Song Shin, The
and that sometimes policymakers must
makes clear, the fundamental ques-
Economic Journal
Many of Bhagwati's writings provide fresh
be forced to cooperate. By taking clear
tions for strategy continually reap-
insights into old problems, from the theory of
stands on controversial issues the
pear: What factors motivate
1988 -396 pp. -$40.00
commercial policy, to foreign investment and
individuals' values and actions? What
authors make recent advances in game
0-262-08173-3 HARGH
labor migration; others open up new areas
theory accessible by using a single
principles guide effective bargaining?
such as services to analysis. Recent work on
unified framework to explain a wide
How can incentives and decision
the theory of political economy, including
range of concepts. They begin by
processes be structured to yield
DUP (directly unproductive profit-seeking)
desirable collective outcomes?
"A number of game theory texts have
analyzing one-shot interactions be-
activities and quid pro quo direct investment,
appeared in recent years, but, measured
tween two policymakers. In subsequent
breaks new ground. Also included are a
Contributors: Vincent P. Crawford,
by their comprehensive coverage of
chapters they extend their analysis to
number of previously inaccessible lectures
Avinash Dixit, Jon Elster, Robert H.
modern developments in game theory,
allow for more policymakers and
covering such important issues as poverty
coalitions, for repeated interactions
Frank, Jerry R. Green, Dale Griffin,
none comes even close to Martin Shubik's
and public policy. Cutting across several
among policymakers, and for the
Russell Hardin, Richard J.
two volumes. Mordecai Kurz, Journal
fields of economics, including public finance
possibility of time inconsistency.
Herrnstein, Robert Jervis, Robert
of Political Economy
and development, these provide masterly
Klitgaard, Howard Margolis, Barry
syntheses and overviews of broader issues.
1991 - 180 pp. - $27.50
Nalebuff, Mancur Olson, Drazen
A GAME-THEORETIC APPROACH
0-262-03178-7 CANMH
Prelec, Howard Raiffa, Amos
TO POLITICAL ECONOMY
4
1991 - 592 pp. - $45.00
Tversky, W. Kip Viscusi, Richard
Martin Shubik
0-262-02322-9 BHAOH
Zeckhauser.
Richard Zeckhauser is Frank P.
1987 - 752 pp. - $19.95 paper
0-262-69112-4 SHUGP2
Ramsey Professor of Political
THE ECONOMICS OF THE DOLLAR CYCLE
Economy at the John F. Kennedy
edited by Stefan Gerlach and Peter A. Petri
School of Government, Harvard
1983 Frederick W. Lanchester
University.
Prize Winner
GAME THEORY IN
The paradoxical behavior of the dollar since 1980 poses a challenge to standard models
Oct. 1991 - 400 pp. - $35.00
THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
of open economy macroeconomics. The original essays in this book discuss the causes of
0-262-24033-5 ZECSH
the dramatic shifts in the dollar's exchange value during the past decade and the effect
Concepts and Solutions
of these fluctuations on the economies of the United States, Japan, Europe, and the
Martin Shubik
developing nations, as well as its impact on theories of international economics.
1985 -392 pp.- $16.95 paper
1990 - 394 pp. - $37.50
0-262-69091-8 SHUGP1
0-262-07124-X GEREH
International Economics
International Economics
REGULATION AND MARKETS
SELLING PUBLIC ENTERPRISES
EXCHANGE RATES AND INFLATION
Daniel F. Spulber
A Cost/Benefit Methodology
Rudiger Dornbusch
REAL EXCHANGE RATES,
DEVALUATION, AND ADJUSTMENT
Leroy Jones, Pankaj Tandon,
An up-to-date, integrated analysis of
and Ingo Vogelsang
"Today, Dornbusch is indisputably one of
Exchange Rate Policy in
regulatory policies and the administrative
the most influential economists writing in
Developing Countries
process. The author takes a modern
Selling Public Enterprises is the first book
the fields of international finance and the
Sebastian Edwards
perspective, using the tools of industrial
to use economic logic to develop a
macroeconomics of open economies. As
organization and game theory. This
comprehensive book is the only unified
quantitative approach to making divesti-
such, this book is an excellent collection
Sebastian Edwards provides a unified
ture decisions. Using the standard tools of
of his papers, covering the wide range of
treatment of the field and combines
theoretical and empirical investigation of
issues tackled in his work. It should be a
theoretical models with consideration of
applied microeconomics, the authors
exchange rate policy and performance in
propose a method of valuing state-owned
mandatory reference volume for any
scores of developing countries. He
public policy issues in the areas of anti-
firms both before and after divestiture by
scholar in those fields and will doubtless
develops a theory of equilibrium and
trust, price regulation, environmental
the government. Their valuation method
serve many a graduate course in interna-
disequilibrium real exchange rates, takes
regulation, product quality, and work-
offers significant advantages over those
tional economics by providing a conve-
up the question of why devaluations are
place safety.
commonly in use (such as book value of
nient and well-organized single source of
the most controversial policy measures in
5
assets) and can provide governments with
his papers." - Andreas Savvides,
poorer nations, and discusses what
1989 -710 pp.- $50.00
a reliable means of evaluating the costs
The Journal of Economics
determines their success or failure.
0-262-19275-6 SPURH
T
and benefits of reforming state-owned
THE ECONOMICS OF REGULATION
enterprise policies and procedures.
1988 - 488 pp. - $14.95
1989 - 383 pp. - $35.00
0-262-54060-6 DOREP
0-262- 05039-0 EDWRH
Principles and Institutions
Cloth - $32.50
1991-254 pp.-$29.95
0-262-04096-4 DOREH
Alfred E. Kahn
0-262-10041-X JONSH
NEW
Kahn surveys the deregulation revolution
MARKETS OR GOVERNMENTS
LIMITING EXCHANGE
THE JAPANESE ECONOMY
of the past seventeen years, providing an
RATE FLEXIBILITY
Takatoshi Ito
updated analysis of the dramatic changes
Choosing between Imperfect Alternatives
that have come about in the structurally
The European Monetary System
Charles Wolf, Jr.
competitive industries - airlines, truck-
Francesco Giavazzi and
A comparative perspective and an
ing, stock brokerages, railroads, buses,
This book offers a theory of nonmarket
Alberto Giovannini
analytic approach grounded in main-
cable television, oil and natural gas.
stream economics distinguish this
failure, examining in detail the shortcom-
introduction to the Japanese economy.
ings of government efforts to replace or to
In this first in-depth study of the Euro-
"An extremely lucid, far-ranging discus-
Ito utilizes standard economic concepts
regulate markets. It is an unusually
pean Monetary System (EMS), the
sion of the principles underlying regula-
in comparing Japan with the United
tory theory and practice
It is a classic
thorough analysis that can be used to
authors show how the historical experi-
States in terms of economic perfor-
work in the field [and] has aged strikingly
make more systematic comparisons
ence and economic institutions justify the
mances, underlying institutions, and
between markets and governments and to
aversion of Europeans to exchange rate
well, in large part because it focuses on
government policies. Referring to
20
arrive at more intelligent choices between
fluctuations. Their thorough and wide-
presenting the basic principles underlying
cultural factors where appropriate, Ito
them.
ranging empirical analysis leads them to
regulation, and on the difficulties and
subjects the basic facts about the
conclude that nominal exchange rate
options facing those charged with putting
Japanese economy to modern theoretical
"This book is an important step towards
targets in Europe have had significant
those principles into operation." -
and empirical scrutiny. He concludes
a fruitful approach to the theory of
real effects.
Telecommunications Book Review
with a look at such contemporary
economic policy and political action and
economic issues as the Japanese distribu-
it is highly recommendable as introduc-
"This book, by two of the worlds leading
1988 -402 pp. - $30.00 paper
tion system, Japanese asset prices, and
tory reading in this field. Economic
authorities on EMS, is the most compre-
US-Japan trade conflicts.
0-262-61052-3
KAHEP
T
Notes
hensive study to date of the evidence on
the impact of the EMS on member
Takatoshi Ito is Professor of Economics
1988-248 pp.-$10.95 paper
countries
The authors of this book
at Hitotsubashi University's Institute of
0-262-73092-8 WOLMP
are to be congratulated.
Giavazzi and
Economic Research in Tokyo and at the
Cloth-$23.00
Giovannini help us to separate myth from
University of Minnesota.
0-262-23134-4 WOLMH
reality in the experience of the EMS." -
Alec Chrystal, The Economic Journal
Dec. 1991 - 424 pp. - $39.95
0-262-09029-5 ITOJH
T
1989 - 244 pp. - $32.50
0-262-07116-9 GIALH
Regulation
Regulation
NEW
SOCIALLY RELEVANT
NEW
POLICY ANALYSIS
INCOME DISTRIBUTION,
Structuralist Computable General Equilibrium
"A synthesis of twenty years' of theory on the regulation of natural monopoly presented
INFLATION, AND GROWTH
Models for the Developing World
with exceptional clarity.' - Elizabeth E. Bailey, The Wharton School of the University
Lectures on Structuralist
of Pennsylvania
edited by Lance Taylor
Macroeconomic Theory
OPTIMAL REGULATION
Lance Taylor
"Taylor is very original, and his attempt at
The Economic Theory of Natural Monopoly
going beyond the straightjacket of most
Structuralist macroeconomics has
neoclassical CGEs is most welcome and
Kenneth E. Train
emerged recently as the only viable
useful." - Jaime de Melo, Senior Economist,
theoretical alternative for economists
The World Bank
Optimal Regulation addresses the central issue of regulatory economics - how to
and practitioners in developing
regulate firms in a way that induces them to produce and price optimally. It synthesizes
countries. Lance Taylor's innovative
Economist Lance Taylor is an advocate of
an extensive literature on what constitutes optimality in various situations and what
work represents a landmark in this
aggressive government management of
regulatory mechanisms can be used to achieve it. It is the first text to provide a unified,
field. It codifies a new generation of
developing economies. This collection of
modern, and nontechnical treatment of this complex field. The book describes incentive
19
structuralist macroeconomic models
work reviews the results of using CGE
mechanisms and rate designs for promoting optimality, and presents all of the material
that incorporate the economic power
models since the early 1970s, with an empha-
graphically, with clear explanations of often highly technical topics.
relationships of key institutions and
sis on models that encompass broad struc-
groups, integrates both finance and
tural factors such as distribution of income
Topics include: The cost structure of natural monopoly (economies of scale and
real macroeconomics, and covers a
and wealth, land tenancy relationships,
scope). Characterization of first- and second-best optimality. Surplus subsidy
diverse range of experience in the
foreign trade, production, markets, and
developing world over the past three
schemes for attaining first-best optimality. Ramsey prices and the Vogelsang-
control of the means of production that are
decades.
fundamental to the behavior of developing
Finsinger mechanism for attaining them. Time-of-use (TOU) prices and Riordan's
mechanisms for attaining the optimal TOU prices. Multipart and self-selecting
economies. Taylor's detailed discussion of
Lance Taylor is Professor of Econom-
structuralist CGE models is followed by
tariffs, and Sibley's method for using self-selecting tariffs to achieve optimality. The
ics at MIT.
Averch-Johnson model of how rate-of-return regulation induces inefficiencies.
contributions that take up their application in
Analysis of regulation based on the firm's return on output, costs, or sales. Price-cap
specific countries.
1991 - 320 pp. - $35.00
regulation. Regulatory treatment of uncertainty and its impact on the firm's behav-
0-262-20079-1 TAYIH
ior. Methods of attaining optimality without direct regulation (contestability,
1990-379 pp.-$37.50
0-262-20075-9 TAYSH
auctioning the monopoly franchise).
"Ken Train provides exceptionally clear and elegant treatment of the most recent
developments in the theory of optimal regulation. Teaching a regulation class is now a
breeze." -Jacques Lawarée, University of Washington
NEW
Kenneth E. Train is Associate Adjunct Professor in the Department of Economics and
6
LESSONS OF ECONOMIC STABILIZATION AND ITS AFTERMATH
Graduate School of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. He is also
edited by Michael Bruno, Stanley Fischer, Elhanan Helpman,
Principal of the firm Cambridge Systematics.
and Nissan Liviatan, with Leora Meridor
1991 - 360 pp. - $40.00
0-262-20084-8 TRAOH
T
These informative, fact-filled studies describe how measures to control inflation have
been implemented in Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Brazil, Israel, Mexico, Turkey, and
Yugoslavia. In discussing which of these measures have succeeded and which ones have
failed, the authors go beyond the normative approach taken in most studies of stabiliza-
tion to focus on political incentives and constraints on actual policymaking. The up-to-
date data they provide make this a valuable collective exploration of contemporary
efforts at stabilization and structural adjustment.
1991 - 436 pp. - $29.95
0-262-02324-5 BRULH
Macroeconomic Theory
Macroeconomic Theory
THE ECONOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF TIME SERIES
PRIVATE LENDING
NEW
Second Edition
TO SOVEREIGN STATES
REFORM IN EASTERN EUROPE
A. c. Harvey
A Theoretical Autopsy
Olivier Blanchard, Rudiger
Daniel Cohen
This new edition of A. C. Harvey's clearly written, upper-level text has been revised and
Dornbusch, Paul Krugman,
several sections have been completely rewritten with new material on a number of
Richard Layard, and
This illuminating work on external debt,
topics, including unit roots, ARCH, and cointegration. The Econometric Analysis of
Lawrence Summers
explodes many myths currently popular
Time Series focuses on the statistical aspects of model building, with an emphasis on
among economists, bankers, and journal-
providing an understanding of the main ideas and concepts in econometrics rather than
Reform in Eastern Europe provides a
ists about the nature of the debt problem,
presenting a series of rigorous proofs. It explores the way in which recent advances in
comprehensive, accessible statement of
its origins, and its cure. Daniel Cohen
time series analysis have affected the development of a theory of dynamic econometrics,
reform policy that stands in the main-
skillfully brings complex theoretical issues
sets out an integrated approach to the problems of estimation and testing based on the
stream of modern Western economics.
to bear on the analysis of practical
method of maximum likelihood, and presents a coherent strategy for model selection.
Based on their experience with stabiliza-
questions of economic policy. Using clear,
tion policies in other countries, the
simple analytical models to illustrate his
1990- 402 pp. - $49.95
authors show how Eastern Europe can
points, Cohen offers a realistic measure of
0-262-08189-X HAREH2
T
reduce unemployment during the painful
national solvency in an international
adjustment process, create effective and
context. He applies the framework to an
socially acceptable mechanisms to subject
analysis of the major debtor countries and
CONTRIBUTIONS TO OPERATIONS RESEARCH AND ECONOMICS
enterprises to market discipline, and
discusses budget constraints, debt repu-
edited by Bernard Cornet and Henry Tulkens
replace barter trade under CMEA with
diation, and the economic fragility of
market-based international trade.
heavily indebted nations.
These original contributions by leading economists in the decision sciences -operations
research, game theory, econometrics, and mathematical economics - show how the
Reform in Eastern Europe argues that all
1991 - 196 pp. - $27.50
interactions between these disciplines can enrich them all. The list of outstanding
countries must seek stabilization and price
0-262-03172-8 COHPH
contributors includes: Robert Aumann, Paul Champsaur, Werner Hildenbrand, Bernard
liberalization, privatization, and then
Cornet, Roger Guesnerie, John Roberts, Thomas Magnanti, John Mitchell, Michael
economic restructuring. It describes and
Todd, Michael Ball, Wei-guo Liu, William Pulleyblank, Olivier Janssens de Bisthoven,
evaluates the alternatives available to
THE INTERNATIONAL DEBT CRISIS IN
Etienne Loute, Adrian Pagan, David Hendry, Jean-Francois Richard, Anton Barten,
eliminate fiscal deficits, control money
HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Jean-Pierre Florens, Michel Mouchart, Peter Kooiman, and Pierre Malgrange.
creation, and decontrol prices while
blunting the immediate painful effects of
edited by Barry Eichengreen
1990 -574 pp. -$50.00
lower wages, unemployment, and other
and Peter H. Lindert
0-262-03149-3 CORCH
disruptions. The authors propose a plan
for privatizing state-owned enterprises
These original studies assess the historical
and recommend and detail methods for
record to see what lessons can be learned
achieving orderly restructuring covering
for resolving today's debt crisis, address-
TOWARD A FORMAL SCIENCE OF ECONOMICS
issues of national saving, the creation of a
ing questions central to any informed
18
Bernt P. Stigum
financial intermediation system, the role
discussion on the subject, and offering a
of direct investment, labor allocation, and
wide variety of approaches to negotiation
Toward a Formal Science of Economics provides a unifying way to look at the concept
unemployment.
over defaulted loans between creditors
of economic science. It lays a foundation for the axiomatic method, focusing on appli-
and debtors.
cations in economics and econometrics, and including discussions in logic, epistemol-
Olivier Blanchard, Rudiger Dornbusch,
ogy, and probability theory.
and Paul Krugman are Professors of
"The essays here are uniformly excellent
Economics at MIT. Richard Layard is
and span both a broad range of experi-
1990 -1,050 pp. - $50.00
Professor of Economics at the London
ences and points of view. This book will
0-262-19284-5 STISH
School of Economics. Lawrence Summers
be of immense value to anyone interested
is Professor of Economics at Harvard
in developing country debt or, for that
University and Director of Research at the
matter, international economic relations
World Bank.
in general." - Kenneth Rogoff, Univer-
sity of California at Berkeley
1991 - 122 pp. - $17.95
0-262-02328-8 BLARH
1989 -294 pp.-$29.95
0-262- 05041-2 EICIH
Econometrics
Finance
"
an expertly chosen set of
"If you are truly a student of the market,
NUMERICAL TECHNIQUES IN FINANCE
NEW IN PAPERBACK
fundamental articles laying out
this hefty volume could be worth its weight
Simon Benninga
the modern approach to
NBER MACROECONOMICS ANNUAL 1991
in gold. - Market Logic
macroeconomics."
edited by Olivier J. Blanchard and
An innovative book that shows how to
- Stanley Fischer, MIT
A BIBLIOGRAPHY OF FINANCE
Stanley S. Fischer
create and to solve problems in a wide
edited by Richard Brealey and
variety of complex financial models using
NEW
Contents: Pitfalls and Opportunities: What
Helen Edwards
the applications tool Lotus 1-2-3. Using
Macroeconomists Should Know about Unit Roots, J.
the models set out in the book, students
KEYNESIAN ECONOMICS
Y. Campbell and P. Perron. Markups and the Busi-
With more than 12,000 entries representing
and practicing professionals will be able
Volume 1: Imperfect Competition
ness Cycle, J. Rotemberg and M. Woodford.
approximately 120 periodicals, this bibliog-
to enhance their evaluative and planning
and Sticky Prices
Privatization in Eastern Europe: Incentives and the
raphy provides a comprehensive and
skills. The book covers standard finan-
Volume 2: Coordination Failures
Economics of Transition, J. Tirole. The EMS, the
current guide to the entire field of finance.
cial models in the areas of corporate
and Real Rigidities
EMU, and the Transition to a Common Currency, K.
While accounting, law, and monetary
finance, financial-statement simulation,
edited by N. Gregory
A. Froot and K. S. Rogoff. Growth, Macroeconomics,
economics are covered to some extent, the
portfolio problems, options, portfolio
Mankiw and David
and Development, S.S. Fischer. Recessions as Reorga-
core of the bibliography is articles written
insurance, duration, and immunization.
17
nizations, R. E. Hall.
by financial economists and published in
Each of the models is preceded by an
Romer
finance journals. Also included are works
explanation of the underlying financial
Olivier Blanchard and Stanley Fischer are both
that are often referred to by finance authors
theory. Exercises are provided to help
These two volumes bring
Professors of Economics at MIT.
such as Keynes's General Theory and
the reader utilize the models to create
together a set of important
articles on information asymmetry, signal-
new, individualized applications.
essays that represent a "new
1991 - 300 pp.- $16.95 paper
ing equilibria, statistics, and econometrics.
Keynesian" perspective in
0-262-52165-2 BLAP91
Works in the bibliography focus on issues
1989 -256 pp. - $19.95 paper
economics today. They show
Cloth - $35.00
of lasting importance and are analytical as
0-262-52141-5
BENNP
how the Keynesian approach to
0-262-02335-0 BLAH91
well as descriptive.
Cloth -$37.50
economic fluctuations can be
0-262-02286-9
BENNH
T
supported by rigorous
1991 - 870 pp. - $60.00
microeconomic models of
0-262-02319-9 BREFH
SOFTWARE
NEW
economic behavior. Grouped in
Programs and sample solutions are
seven parts, the essays cover
MONEY, MACROECONOMICS,
available on either two IBM 5 1/4 inch
costly price adjustment, stagger-
disks or on one IBM 3 1/2 inch disk.
AND ECONOMIC POLICY
NEW
ing of wages and prices, imper-
IBM 5 1/4 inch disk -$19.95
fect competition, coordination
Essays in Honor of James Tobin
NONLINEAR DYNAMICS,
0-262-52147-4 BENDIS
failures, and the markets for
edited by William c. Brainard, William
CHAOS, AND INSTABILITY
IBM 3 1/2 inch disk -$19.95
labor, credit, and goods. An
Nordhaus, and Harold W. Watts
0-262-52146-6 BENDI3
overall introduction, brief
William A. Brock, David A.
introductions to each of the
Hsieh, and Blake LeBaron
Contributors: D. D. Purvis, R. M. Solow. G. A.
parts, and a bibliography of
MARKET VOLATILITY
8
Akerlof, J. L. Yellen, W. H. Buiter, E. S. Phelps, R. N.
additional papers in the field
Cooper, P. A. Samuelson, G. Smith, D. D. Hester, W.
By providing a unified and complete
Robert J. Shiller
round out this valuable collec-
C. Brainard, M. D. Shapiro, J. B. Shoven, G. L. Perry,
explanation of new statistical methods that
tion.
C. L. Schultze, E. M. Gramlich, W. Nordhaus.
are useful for testing for chaos in data sets,
Brock, Hsieh, and LeBaron show how the
Backed by substantial statistical evidence,
Concluding Remarks, J. Tobin.
1991 - 2 vols., Vol.1: 448 pp.,
principles of chaos theory can be applied to
Shiller proposes an innovative theory on
such areas of economics and finance as the
the causes of price fluctuations in specu-
Vol.2: 464 pp.
Comments by J. Y. Campbell, S. N. Durlauf, B. M.
Vol .1 - $16.95
changing structure of stock returns and
lative markets. He challenges the stan-
Friedman, K. Hamada, H. M. Markowitz, J. L. Stein,
dard efficient markets model for
0-262-63133-4
MANNP1
and H. W. Watts
nonlinearity in foreign exchange. They use
Cloth - $39.95
computer models extensively to illustrate
explaining asset prices by emphasizing
0-262-13266-4
MANNH1
their ideas and explain this frontier re-
the significant role that popular opinion
William C. Brainard and William Nordhaus are
Vol. 2 -$16.95
search at a level of rigor sufficient for
or psychology can play in price volatility.
Professors of Economics at Yale University. Harold
0-262-63134-2 MANNP2
W. Watts is Professor of Economics at Columbia
others to build upon as well as to verify the
Cloth - $39.95
University.
soundness of their arguments.
1990-480 pp. -$37.50
0-262- 19290-X SHIMH
0-262-13267-2 MANNH
T
1991 - 376 pp. - $40.00
October 1991 - 260 pp. - $32.50
0-262-02329-6 BRONH
0-262-02325-3 BRAMH
Macroeconomic Theory
Macroeconomic Theory
NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK
EFFICIENCY IN U.S.
LECTURES ON MACROECONOMICS
"This is a true classic.
[It] is a book
MANUFACTURING INDUSTRIES
PRODUCTIVITY AND
Olivier Jean Blanchard and
that every serious macroeconomist ought
Richard Caves
to have. - Stanley Fischer, MIT
AMERICAN LEADERSHIP
Stanley Fischer
and David Barton
The Long View
MONEY, INTEREST AND PRICES
"Without question, this is a magnificent
William J. Baumol, Sue
Using both U.S. Census data and the recently
book. The authors have successfully
Second Edition, Abridged with a
Anne Batey Blackman,
developed stochastic frontier production
brought together much of the research
new Introduction
and Edward N. Wolff
function, Richard Caves and David Barton
that has been going on in macroeconom-
Don Patinkin
estimate the degree of technical efficiency in
ics in recent years and presented it in an
Productivity and American Leader-
nearly 350 U.S. manufacturing industries and
easily digestible and, indeed, highly
A quarter of a century after the publica-
ship examines and analyzes the long-
explain the variation in efficiency among
attractive way. It is a pleasure to read."
tion of the second edition, Money,
run productivity performance of the
industries.
- Economica
Interest, and Prices continues to be on the
United States, comparing it with that
reading list of graduate courses in
of the other industrialized nations. It
1990 - 204 pp. - $27.50
1989 - 664 pp. - $29.95
macroeconomics. Integrating monetary
shows that the U.S. record, both
0-262- 03157-4 CAVEH
0-262-02283-4 BLALH
T
theory and value theory, it describes the
9
recent and over longer periods, is far
demand functions for commodities and
better than is widely believed.
bonds and uses these functions to carry
"Jean-Claude Derian has produced an out-
PRINCIPLES OF BUDGETARY
out a static and dynamic analysis of the
"The prophecies of doom have been
standing analysis of America's high-tech
AND FINANCIAL POLICY
central problems of monetary theory.
relentless.
It takes great courage
industrial ills. His book rises above a crowded
Willem H. Buiter
This reprinted edition omits the supple-
to have another look at the data and
field and deserves serious attention."
mentary notes on the literature and
conclude, as the authors of Produc-
- Daniel S. Greenberg, Science &
tivity and American Leadership do,
Government Report
Principles of Budgetary and Financial
contains a new introduction indicating the
Policy applies rigorous economic theory
ways that Patinkin has revised or aug-
that the American productive engine
AMERICA'S STRUGGLE FOR
to the study of fiscal, financial, and
mented its analysis.
has not shut down.
And it takes
monetary policy and examines the
a sweeping command of economics,
LEADERSHIP IN TECHNOLOGY
contributions of such policy to the goals
1989 -640 pp.- $50.00
statistics and history, along with
Jean-Claude Derian
0-262-16114-1 PATIH
of cyclical stabilization, structural adjust-
great narrative eloquence and
translated by
ment, and secular growth in modern
subtlety, to make [this point]
Severen Schaeffer
"mixed" economies.
credibly and without condescension.
WHAT DETERMINES SAVINGS?
The authors have painted a
foreword by
Lewis M. Branscomb
1990 -474 pp. -$42.00
Laurence J. Kotlikoff
brilliant and nuanced composition
0-262-02303-2 BUIPH
of where we are and where we can
The U.S. of the late 1980s continues to inno-
The U.S. saving rate is less than half that
be." - Michael J. Feuer, New York
vate with the same feverish activity as in the
of Japan, Germany, and other developed
Times Book Review
THE RATIONAL CONSUMER
1960s. Yet American business has become less
countries, and the imbalance in saving
16
William J. Baumol is Professor of
efficient than its foreign competitors in exploit-
Theory and Evidence
rates across countries is responsible, in
large part, for the imbalance in interna-
Economics at Princeton University
ing the new technologies. Using a unique
Robert E. Hall
tional trade. This book examines a
and New York University. Sue Anne
analytical framework, a noted French science
number of important determinants of
Batey Blackman is Senior Research
advisor traces the course of this temporary
Since the late 1960s, Robert Hall's
breakdown and shows how domestic and
wealth accumulation, including retire-
Assistant in the Department of
research has had a significant impact on
Economics at Princeton University.
international forces could re-invigorate Ameri-
ment, bequests, precautionary saving
the macroeconomic study of consumer
motives, demographics, tax structure,
Edward N. Wolff is Professor of
can technological development and manufac-
behavior. The Rational Consumer brings
Economics at New York University.
turing by the mid-1990s.
social security, and insurance. Using a
together eight articles that represent key
blend of theory, empirical research, and
points in the development of Hall's ideas
simulation methods, Kotlikoff reaches
1989 - 408 pp. - $13.95
"This volume stands out as an eloquent and
on consumption over the past two
authoritative presentation of the many different
some surprising conclusions about what
0-262-52163-6 BAUAP
decades.
Cloth - $32.50
aspects of this complex problem. " - Wassily
determines savings.
0-262-02293-1 BAUPH
T
Leontief, The New York Times Book Review
1991 - 192 pp. - $25.00
1989 -553 pp. -$42.50
0-262-08197-0 HALIH
0-262-11137-3 KOTWH
1990-324 pp. -$29.95
0-262-04102-2 DERAH
Productivity Issues
Productivity Issues
TAX POLICY AND THE ECONOMY
GROWTH/PRODUCTIVITY/
"The most influential American popular
MADE IN AMERICA
UNEMPLOYMENT
Economics book of 1990. - The
Volume 5
Regaining the Productive Edge
Financial Times
edited by David Bradford
edited by Peter Diamond
Michael L. Dertouzos, Richard
Winner of the 1990 Columbia Business
School Eccles Prize for Excellence in
K. Lester, Robert M. Solow,
The Tax Policy and the Economy series
Robert Solow's contributions to growth
theory, productivity, and short run
Economic Writing
and The MIT Commission on
presents new research bearing on the
THE AGE OF DIMINISHED
Industrial Productivity
economic effects of taxation on economic
macroeconomics have influenced an entire
generation of scholars. The essays in this
EXPECTATIONS
performance and analyzing the effects of
book extend and elaborate on many of
What went wrong with American indus-
potential tax reforms.
U.S. Economic Policy in the 1990s
the important ideas Solow has either
trial productivity, and how can the U.S.
Paul Krugman
Partial contents: Domestic and Interna-
originated or developed in the past three
economy get back onto the path of high-
tional Restructuring of U.S. Corporations
decades. Robert Solow has provided a
productivity growth? This long-awaited
On the recommended reading list for
study identifies what is best and worth
in Light of Recent Tax Rule Changes.
response to both the essays and these
CEOs in Inc.
comments. The book concludes with a
replicating in American and international
Does How We Transfer Money Matter?
Selected for Business Week's list of
industrial practice and sets out five na-
Economics of the Carbon Tax. Economi-
bibliography of Solow's work.
the Best Business Books of 1990.
tional priorities for regaining the produc-
15
cally Meaningful Measures of
On the Washington Post's Bestseller
tive edge.
Intergenerational Fiscal Policy.
1991-254 pp.-$30.00
list.
0-262-04110-3 DIAPH
Chosen as a 1990 Best Business Book
"[A] rich and challenging book.
if the
1991 - 178 pp. - $13.95
in The Financial Times.
NEW DEVELOPMENTS IN
authors are right, then American industry
0-262-52158-X BRAEP5
will once again become the engine of a
Cloth - $26.95
THE LABOR MARKET
" a sophisticated guided tour
thriving economy." -Alice Kessler-Harris,
0-262-02295-8 BRAEH5
Toward A New Institutional Paradigm
through the major economic issues
The New York Times Book Review
edited by Katharine Abraham
facing the nation today. "
and Robert McKersie
- The Washington Post Book World
1989 -359 pp. -$22.50
DO TAXES MATTER?
0-262-04100-6 DERMH
The Impact of the Tax Reform Act of 1986
" Krugman's book is first rate
he
These original contributions report on
edited by Joel Slemrod
treats clearly and insightfully a broad
new developments taking place in today's
range of economic issues including
THE WORKING PAPERS OF THE
labor market and on the role of public
income inequality, employment and
MIT COMMISSION ON INDUSTRIAL
The first systematic examination of the
policy in shaping that process. They
unemployment, free trade VS. protec-
actual effects of the Tax Reform Act of
PRODUCTIVITY
provide an illuminating description of the
tionism, and the budget deficit. And he
1986, the most important U.S. income tax
current state of internal labor market
Volume 1 and 2
does so with an obviously effective yet
reform of the last four decades. Do Taxes
theory and practice, document the
too-seldom-used method: He actually
The MIT Commission on
Matter? presents basic information on
evolution of trends in the public and
looks at numbers.
a top-notch
Industrial Productivity
and an analysis of a variety of different
private sectors, and are joined in a
exercise in numeracy. " - Fortune
aspects of economic behavior in order to
concern for disadvantaged and unem-
10
discover whether the observed changes
ployed workers.
The industry reports used as a basis for
"For a basic and thorough report on the
Made in America.
coincide with the predictions of standard
state of the U.S. economy, pick up Paul
public finance models. The general finding
1991-320 pp.-$35.00
Volume 1: Working papers from the auto,
Krugman's [book]: He translates theory
of these original contributions is that the
0-262-01118-2 ABRNH
chemical, commercial aircraft, and elec-
into readable prose, even enjoyable
tronic industries.
effects of tax reform turned out to be
prose, making difficult concepts seem
smaller than had been anticipated.
Volume 2: Working papers from the
simple
He explains fairly and
machine tool, steel, textile, semiconductor,
"A healthful antidote to the feverish and
completely how forces have interacted
computer, and copier industries. Also
to diminish America's economic
includes a discussion of U.S. education and
foolish talk about taxation heard in recent
prospects." - Business Week
years and certain to be heard again." -
training practices.
Herbert Stein, Former Chairman,
1990-218 pp.-$17.95
President's Council of Economic Advisors
1989 -Vol. 1 -$30.00 paper
0-262-11156-X KRUAH
T
0-262-63126-1 MITWP1
Call us toll free to place your order.
1991 - 360 pp. - $35.00
Vol. 2-$30.00 paper
1 800-356-0343
0-262-63127-X MITWP2
0-262-19302-7 SLEDH
Set -$50.00 paper
0-262-63128-8 MITWPS
Macroeconomic Theory
Macroeconomic Theory
INNOVATIONS AND
"The first comprehensive treatment of the
UNDERSTANDING UNEMPLOYMENT
NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK
SMALL FIRMS
economics of tax evasion. I am sure it will
Lawrence H. Summers
Zoltan J. Acs and
become the basic reference work on the subject
LESSONS FROM THE
for years to come. -Vito Tanzi, Director,
GREAT DEPRESSION
David B. Audretsch
Fiscal Affairs Department, International
"In these excellent papers, Lawrence
Monetary Fund
Summers and his co-authors carefully
Peter Temin
Utilizing a unique data set that
sort out the empirical evidence bearing
directly measures innovative
CHEATING THE GOVERNMENT
on the central questions about why
Do events of the 1930s carry a message for
activity for large and small firms,
people are unemployed, how severe the
the 1990s? Lessons from the Great Depres-
The Economics of Evasion
Acs and Audretsch provide a rich
consequences are, and what public policy
sion provides an integrated view of the
empirical analysis of the increased
Frank A. Cowell
can do about the problem. Several of
depression, covering the experience in
importance of small firms in
these papers decisively overturn previ-
Britain, France, Germany, and the United
generating technological innova-
Tax scams are part of a significant and growing
ously widespread perceptions. This
States. It describes the causes of the depres-
tions and their growing contribu-
economic problem - the "shadow economy"
collection represents interesting and
sion, why it was so widespread and pro-
tion to the U.S. economy. They
that defrauds the government. Frank Cowell,
valuable research, executed in a first-class
longed, and what brought about eventual
identify the contributions made by
one of the world's leading contributors to the
way." -Benjamin M. Friedman, Har-
recovery.
11
both small and large firms to the
theoretical economic analysis of tax evasion,
vard University
innovative process and the manner
systematically studies the underground
Peter Temin also finds parallels in recent
in which market structure, and the
economy to examine how certain types of
1990 -384 pp.-$30.00
history, in the relentless deflationary course
firm-size distribution in particular,
economic analysis can be applied to tax
0-262-19265-9 SUMUH
followed by the U.S. Federal Reserve Board
responds to technological change.
evaders, as well as recommends measures that
and the British government in the early
can be taken to counteract the problem.
1980s, and in the dogged adherence by the
"The authors work a new mine of
Cowell's investigation raises questions that go
EUROPE'S UNEMPLOYMENT
Reagan administration to policies generated
data with creativity and care. The
to the heart of public economics and reveals the
PROBLEM
by a discredited economic theory - supply-
result is a vast improvement in our
shortcomings of applying standard economic
side economics.
edited by Jacques H. Drèze
understanding of the role of small
models of crime to tax evasion. He develops an
and Charles R. Bean
business and innovation." -
analytical framework that shows how the
1989 - 212 pp. - $8.95
with the assistance of Jean-
Richard R. Nelson, Henry R. Luce
underground economy grows and suggests
0-262-70044-1 TEMLP
Professor of International Political
simple economic mechanisms that will induce
Paul Lambert, Fati Mehta,
Cloth - $19.95
Economy, Columbia University
the behavior that leads to tax evasion.
and Henri R. Snessens
0-262-20073-2 TEMLH
T
1990-224 pp.-$29.95
-282 pp. - $29.95
This book, prepared under the auspices
0-262-011131-1 ACSIH
0-262- 03153-1 COWCH
of the European Unemployment Pro-
THE INVISIBLE HAND
gram, uses a compact econometric model
Economic Equilibrium in the History of Science
to identify the sources of the unemploy-
NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK
ment problem and to suggest remedies.
Bruna Ingrao
Focusing on ten European countries,
and Giorgio Israel
AFFORDING DEFENSE
14
with a chapter on the United States for
Jacques S. Gansler
comparative perspective, the studies are
The Invisible Hand traces the evolution of
unique in adopting a single theoretical
general economic equilibrium theory in its
model to guide empirical research. The
rich interaction with the physical sciences
Based on his broad experience in private industry and in weapons procurement for the
Department of Defense, Jacques Gansler offers sensible proposals for the reform and
common framework allows for sharply
over a period of more than 150 years. The
focused investigation and produces
authors discuss how the "invisible hand"
revitalization of the U.S. national security system. Gansler has written a new foreword to
this edition that emphasizes the critical need to redirect attention to Third World conflicts.
findings whose significance does not end
that balances physical processes was
at national boundaries. The countries
inspiration and model for the creation of
"If all his reforms were adopted, Mr. Gansler thinks the Pentagon would save $50 billion
discussed are Austria, Belgium, Denmark,
general economic equilibrium theory. They
a year, or one-sixth of what it now spends. He makes a persuasive case. It's time for the
France, Germany, Italy, The Netherlands,
suggest that modeling a social science such
Pentagon to start listening." - Fred Barnes, New York Times Book Review
Spain, the United Kingdom and the
as economics on the physical/mathematical
United States.
sciences has created intractable problems,
1989 - 429 pp. - $14.95
and conclude that the theory has arrived at
0-262-57088-2 GANAP
1991 - 504 pp. - $45.00
a dead end - raising serious doubts about
Cloth - $29.95
0-262-04111-1 DREUH
the internal consistency of the basic model.
0-262-07117-7 GANAH
T
1990 508 pp. -$49.95
0-262-09028-7 INGIH
Industrial Organization/Microeconomics
Industrial Organization/Microeconomics
SUNK COSTS AND
INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION,
"A masterpiece of mainstream research.
FUNDAMENTALS
MARKET STRUCTURE
ECONOMICS, AND THE LAW
This book applies sophisticated economet-
OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
rics and arduously-collected data to a wide
Price Competition, Advertising, and the
Franklin M. Fisher
array of industries." -William G. Shep-
Jean-Jacques Laffont
Evolution of Concentration
edited by John Monz
herd, University of Massachusetts
translated by John P. Bonin
John Sutton
and Hélène Bonin
This collection of work by economist,
CONCENTRATION AND PRICE
Sunk Costs and Market Structure
consultant, and expert witness Franklin M.
"The first systematic treatment of public
bridges the gap between the new
Fisher constitutes an integrated body of the
edited by Leonard W. Weiss
economics which takes into account the
generation of game theoretic models
economic analysis of the law, with particu-
whole range of modern developments:
that has dominated the industrial
lar emphasis on antitrust issues. Fisher's
Leonard Weiss and his colleagues have
general equilibrium theory, collective
involvement with applying economic
devised and applied a systematic set of
organization literature over the past ten
choice, property rights, Ramsey-Boiteux
analysis to real disputes and to problems of
direct tests of the concentration-price
years and the traditional empirical
pricing and other aspects of second-best
hypothesis. In an innovative series of
agenda of the subject as embodied in
microeconomic policy has resulted in
analysis, and revelation of private infor-
the structure-conduct-performance
valuable lessons. These lessons are incorpo-
empirical studies, they examine the effect
mation, among other topics. The author
1
rated in themes running through many of
of concentration on price for the same item
paradigm developed by Joe S. Bain and
is one of the most brilliant and innovative
13
his successors.
these essays about the uses and abuses,
sold in markets that vary because of space,
of the younger French economists, and his
achievements and shortcomings of eco-
time, or transaction. They conclude that
exposition is clear and well-motivated."
concentration does indeed tend to raise
Sutton draws on a wide range of
nomic analysis.
-Kenneth J. Arrow, Stanford University
historical sources and on an intensive
price.
program of company interviews to
1991 - 512 pp. $45.00
Includes problems and exercises.
assemble a matrix of industry studies
0-262-06139-2 FISOH
1990 -304 pp.-$37.50
0-262-23143-3 WEICH
relating to twenty markets within the
1988 -288 pp. -$27.50
food and drink sector, in six countries
0-262-12127-1 LAFFH
T
- France, the Federal Republic of
THE THEORY OF
THE INFORMATIONAL
Germany, Italy, Japan, the United
INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION
Kingdom and the United States. He
ROLE OF PRICES
THE ECONOMICS OF UNCERTAINTY
combines theory, econometric evidence,
Jean Tirole
Sanford Grossman
AND INFORMATION
and a detailed account of the various
Rigorously analytical and filled with
Jean-Jacques Laffont
patterns of evolution of structure found
Grossman elaborates a new model of
in these industries in a rigorous evalua-
progressively challenging exercises, The
translated by John P. Bonin
economic equilibrium that casts a dual role
tion of the strengths and limitations of a
Theory of Industrial Organization
and Hélène Bonin
for prices both as constraints that affect
game-theoretic approach in explaining
provides a unified and modern treatment
the immediate costs or benefits of acts and
the evolution of industrial structure.
of the field with accessible models that
as conveyers of information about the
Laffont summarizes the essential tools of
are simplified to highlight robust eco-
probable future costs and benefits of those
the analysis of uncertainty and informa-
"An excellent piece of empirical work
nomic ideas while working at an intuitive
acts. He points to the Wall Street panic of
tion: the theory of individual behavior
by a leader in industrial organization.
level.
October 1987 as an example of the infor-
under uncertainty, the measures of risk
12
Econometric tests and industry studies
mational role of prices where security sales
aversion and the measures of risk, and the
are carefully guided by sound theory. A
"Tirole has written a remarkable book
by relatively uninformed individuals
notions of certainty equivalence and
must reading." - Jean Tirole, MIT
that will serve both as an invaluable
implementing a dynamic hedging strategy
information structure. He then introduces
reference source and a wonderful
were rationally misinterpreted to represent
the theory of contingent markets, model
1991 592 pp. $39.95
teaching aid in a wide variety of courses
the selling by informed individuals.
systems of incomplete markets, defines the
0-262-19305-1 SUTSH
[combining a] rare blend of technical
concept of a perfect foresight equilibrium,
skills, economic intuition, and exposi-
"Professor Grossman demonstrates his gift
covers two fundamental institutions for
tional talent
This book is an
for stripping things down to the essence,
sharing risk -the stock market and
amazing accomplishment, and should
insurance -shows how the transmission
getting to the core of how prices and
take pride of place on the shelf of every
security markets work
This book is an
of information by prices renders informa-
economist." - Marius Schwartz,
insightful, intuitive -and, in the case of
tion structures endogenous, and studies
Managerial and Decision Economics
the 1987 crash, prophetic- - analysis of
personalized exchange with asymmetric
financial markets."
information. The book concludes with
1988 -496 pp. -$39.95
Call us toll free to place your order.
- Richard Bookstaber, Morgan Stanley &
review problems and exercises.
1 800-356-0343
0-262-20071-6 TIRTH
T
Company, Inc.
1989 -303 pp.- $32.50
0-262-12136-0 LAFEH
T
1989 - 232 pp. $29.95
0-262-07121-5 GROIH
Industrial Organization/Microeconomics
$2.95/S3.50CAN
$
FREE MINDS & & FREE MARKETS
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0 71896 71896 46530 46530 3
THE WHITE HOUSE
WASHINGTON,
DC 20500
B
46530
The Drug Policy Foundation
salutes
The 1991 Winners of its Annual Awards
for Achievement in Drug Policy Reform
Milton
The Richard J. Dennis
Friedman
Drugpeace Award for
Outstanding
Nobel Laureate
Achievement in the Field
in Economics
of Drug Policy Reform
$100,000
Police Chief The H.B. Spear Award for Achieve-
Judge The Justice Gerald Le Dain Award
Nicholas ment in the Field of Law Enforce-
Robert for Achievement in the Field of
Pastore, ment and Control, $10,000
Sweet, Law, $10,000
New Haven for his compassion towards addicts
New York for his courage as the first federal
judge to propose drug legalization
Dr. Thomas The Alfred R. Lindesmith Award
Prevention The Norman E. Zinberg Award for
Szasz, for Achievement in the Field of
Point, Achievement in the Field of Medi-
S.U.N.Y. Scholarship and Writing, $10,000
San Francisco
cine and Treatment, $10,000
College of for his books opposing the perse-
for saving lives by preventing the
Medicine cution of drug users
spread of HIV
Barbra and The Robert C. Randall Award for
Kenneth Jenks, Achievement in the Field of Citi-
Panama City, zen Action, $10,000
Fla. for using their status as AIDS
patients to push medical marijuana
These awards are made possible by an earmarked grant from the Chicago Resource Center. They will be
presented at the Fifth International Conference on Drug Policy Reform, November 13-16, 1991, in Washington,
D.C. The Foundation is a privately funded, independent forum for drug policy alternatives. To support an open
debate on drug policy options, send a tax-deductible contribution today to the Drug Policy Foundation, 4801
Massachusetts Ave., N.W., Suite 400, Washington, D.C. 20016. Telephone: (202) 895-1634. Fax: (202) 537-3007.
reason
Free Minds and Free Markets
October 1991/Vol. 23, No. 5
DISEASE-CHART
52
Magazines: Campus Followers
FEATURES
Martin Morse Wooster
In the battle for the minds of our nation's youth,
24
Quack Attack
most college students are spectators.
Peter W. Huber
Lawyers love clinical
56
Washington: Still a Raw Deal
ecology. Serious scientists
Daniel J. Mitchell
have reservations.
If Dick Darman is the smartest man in
Washington, why is he so bad with numbers?
32
Giving 'Til It Hurts
24
Barry Chamish
66
Selected Skirmishes:
Diaspora charity stifles
Do the Cheap Thing
economic reform in Israel.
Thomas W. Hazlett
Become a big-time Hollywood filmmaker
36
Growing Up Green
for under a thousand bucks.
Thomas Harvey Holt
The ABCs of environmental activism.
42
Choice Challenges
THE BOOK CASE
John Hood
First steps on the road
58
Out of Bondage
to education reform.
Cathy Young
Freedom, Vol. 1: Freedom in the
42
Making of Western Culture,
by Orlando Patterson
EDITORIALS
60
Wandering in
4
Competitive Advantage
the Wilderness
Virginia I. Postrel
Walter E. Williams
Bush's bureaucracy bashers.
The Promised Land: The Great
Black Migration and How It Changed
6
Natural Mistake
America, by Nicholas Lemann
50
Jacob Sullum
62
Is Clarence Thomas
DEPARTMENTS
62
Civics from Hell
really a weirdo?
8
Letters
Matthew B. Kibbe
Parliament of Whores:
18
Trends
A Lone Humorist Attempts
to Explain the Entire U.S. Government,
COLUMNS
by P.J. O'Rourke
22
Brickbats
50
The Law:
64
Brief Review
Penises and Politics
Stranger in a Strange Land,
Jacob Sullum
by Robert A. Heinlein
One man's sick joke
is another's protest.
Cover illustration by John Smith
REASON (ISSN 0048-6906) is published monthly except combined August-September issue by the Reason Foundation, a nonprofit, tax-exempt organization, 2716 Ocean Park Blvd., Suite 1062, Santa
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OCTOBER 1991
reason 3
EDITORIALS
COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE
VIRGINIA 1. POSTREL
T
he President's Council on Competi-
takers can't build minimills and nobody
blocking a recycling requirement make
tiveness isn't the most visible Wash-
uses plastic packaging.
America more productive?
ington institution, the most glamorous, or
The younger generation of liberals
In part, the council's work serves
even the most powerful. It's just the most
talks a lot about entrepreneurship and
simply to make people realize the costs-
aggravating.
gripes a lot about bureaucracy. Neither
to real live human beings-of popular
That's because a lot of Democrats (and
Atari Democrats nor high-tech Republi-
regulations. If preserving wetlands really
certain trendy Republicans) would love
cans are likely to propose wage and price
benefits the public at large, as en-
to claim the "competitiveness" label for
controls anytime soon. Most of them
vironmentalists aver, then we should all
their own policies-and the council
want to cut capital gains taxes.
chip in to foot the bill. Sticking some
keeps reminding them that it just ain't so.
unlucky farmer with the tab is hardly fair.
Instead of bashing the Japanese or beg-
B
ut these probusiness, "fiscally con-
But acting as though regulation is free
ging for subsidies to sunrise, sunset, or
servative and socially liberal" folks
(no new taxes required!) is not only un-
high-noon industries, it watches out for
lump certain kinds of bureaucratic over-
fair, it's uncompetitive. The reason lies in
new regulations, in hopes of keeping
sight in with Mom, apple pie, and the
what economists call opportunity cost.
them at a minimum.
right to have an abortion. To paraphrase
This is the deceptively simple concept
The council is essentially a lobbying
Gordon Gekko, they're convinced that
that the cost of doing something isn't just
group, its only power the power of per-
"green is good."
the out-of-pocket dollars and cents. It's
suasion-but it's persuasive enough to
That's why they find the Competitive-
also whatever else you didn t do. The cost
give regulation lovers conniptions. "They
ness Council so subversive. The council
of going to a movie isn't only seven bucks
can't point to a single item that has made
isn't against environmental regulation
for a ticket. It's also the time you didn't
American industry more productive,"
per se, but it has a nasty habit of raising
spend reading a novel or cleaning the
Rep. Gerry Sikorski (D-Minn.) declared
embarrassing questions. Like how the
garage or visiting your mom; in fact, it's
to National Journal. "What they can
Clean Air Act, which supposedly con-
the acts themselves-the reading, the
point to is a bunch of backdoor, secret
cerns clean air, came to require garbage
cleaning, the visit.
decisions that bailed out special inter-
recycling. Or why half of California and
Regulations impose not only direct
ests-business interests."
a lot of midwestern puddles suddenly be-
costs-for lawyers, technicians, and
Sikorski's rant captures the problem
came "wetlands."
tests-but also broader opportunity costs.
facing a lot of "competitiveness" advo-
The council has even advanced the
Consider the plastic-film maker with a
cates, particularly neoliberals. On the one
heretical notion that environmental regu-
hot new product. Making the new film
hand, they're all for "making American
lations shouldn't redistribute wealth-
produces, at an intermediate stage, a
industry more productive." Some, like
that the government should pay people
brand new compound, one that hasn't
presidential candidate and former Sen.
when its rules destroy the value of their
passed EPA scrutiny. The compound
Paul Tsongas, even welcome the "probus-
property. Specifically, the council sup-
never leaves the plant's property, since
iness" label. Others, like Sikorski, seem
ported a Senate amendment requiring
it's transformed into other, approved sub-
to think business is something the God-
federal agencies to compensate property
stances during later manufacturing
father is in. But they all like "competitive-
owners for regulations that reduce the
stages. Satisfying the EPA takes money
ness." After all, they're the people who
value of their land.
for tests, but more importantly it diverts
made it a buzzword.
If you think "competitiveness" equals
the plant's best engineer from other pro-
They also like regulation. They want
protectionism or government-directed in-
jects for a whole year.
to tell industry whom to hire and when to
dustrial policy, the council does seem
His salary is one cost of complying
fire, to dictate benefit packages and
way out of line. What, after all, does
with the regulations. But the more signif-
advertising content, to protect managers
paying a farmer for the property you've
icant cost isn't those tens of thousands of
from takeovers and workers from layoffs.
declared a wetland have to do with
dollars. It's whatever the engineer doesn't
They want a safe, secure world where risk
making computer chips? How does
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JACOB SULLUM
No Armchair
Libertarians!
T
he commercials for the beverage
This emphasis arises from a dilemma
Tropicana Twister tell us that it's
of many left-liberals: They don't really
"unnatural," combining fruit-juice
believe that rights depend on written law;
flavors in ways that "Mother Nature
they know, for instance, that slavery was
never intended." Judging from press
just as wrong in ancient Rome or. the
coverage of Clarence Thomas's judicial
antebellum South as it is today. But at the
philosophy, there's a good chance that the
same time, they reject the idea of a higher
Supreme Court nominee wants to ban
law as old-fashioned and tinged with re-
Tropicana Twister and implement strict
ligion.
segregation of fruit juices.
The subhead of a story in U.S. News &
If your idea of activism is sitting around
The head scratching over what
World Report asks, "Would Justice
with some libertarian friends, debating the
Thomas means when he refers to natural
Thomas put God on the bench?" The Vil-
finer points of libertarian philosophy, then
law and natural rights indicates wide-
lage Voice declares, "Clarence Thomas
the Republican Liberty Caucus is not for
spread confusion about the principles on
Isn't Just a Conservative, He's From the
you.
If, on the other hand, you're serious about
which this nation was founded. The news
18th Century." Such reports give the im-
libertarian politics, then join us! The RLC
media have made Thomas out to be some
pression that Thomas is a Bible-thumping
works to help elect Libertarian Republicans
sort of weirdo because he proposes to
reactionary who wants to impose his own
to public office. RLC members also
apply those principles in interpreting the
standards of behavior on all Americans.
participate in GOP functions: giving talks,
passing out literature, serving on platform
Constitution. There are legitimate ques-
Part of the problem is that journalists
committees and acting as delegates.
tions about how judges should go about
and their sources tend to conflate the idea
Membership in the RLC is $20.00. It
doing this-what sources they should
of natural law with specific beliefs about
includes a one year subscription to
consult, what rules they should follow,
what is "natural" or "unnatural." Hence
"Republican Liberty" (published quarterly,
plus annual outreach issue). Members also
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the Voice article suggests that anyone who
receive-regular bulletins. A subscription to
commentators have instead focused on
believes in natural law must want to ban
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the strangeness of the notion, expressed
abortion, birth control, homosexuality,
Send Memberships to:
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and indecent speech. Thomas, opines
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come from governments.
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6 reason
OCTOBER 1991
EDITORIALS
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standards' in Bowers V. Hardwick, a 1986
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But what exactly is wrong with the
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Researchers, Writers!
Court upheld in Bowers? To argue that it's
unconstitutional, one must rely on a
The Second Best Way To Keep Your
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REASON is moving! As of late Sep-
tion into one accessible, printable,
Editor's Choice Award
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Telephone 617-277-9222
SON, P.O. Box 526, Mt. Morris, IL
61054-7868.
OCTOBER 1991
reason 7
EASON
LETTERS
Publisher Robert W. Poole, Jr.
Editor
Virginia I. Postrel
Assistant Editors Charles Oliver
Jacob Sullum
Asst. Managing Editor
Rick
Henderson
Art Director Paula Brown
Production Editor
Brian A. Nunes
Washington Editor
Martin Morse Wooster
Editorial Assistant
Mary Toledo
Intern
Ganesh Gunasekaran
reasonable restrictions. The question is,
Associate Publisher
Bryan E. Snyder
What is reasonable?
Circulation Director
John Dodd
Advertising Director
Sarah Rosenberg
A Question of Policy
An absolute ban on all handguns under
Public Affairs Director
Kevin D. Teasley
all conditions might well be unreason-
Contributing Editors
Jacob Sullum's "Gun-Shy Judges" (May)
able. So would licensing and registration
Doug Bandow
Tom Bethell
does both me and the ACLU a disservice
schemes that invaded privacy or enforce-
James Bovard
David Brudnoy
by quoting my remarks out of context and
ment methods that resulted in illegal
Greg Costikyan
Steven Hayward
Thomas W. Hazlett
David R. Henderson
therefore misrepresenting what I told him
searches. The ACLU would likely support
T. A. Heppenheimer
John Hood
in an interview several months ago. Mr.
challenges to any such unreasonable re-
Loren E. Lomasky
Michael McMenamin
Sullum also incorrectly suggested that
strictions. But the Brady Bill raises no such
Steven W. Mosher
Stanton Peele
Thomas Szasz William Tucker
my views contradicted the ACLU policy
issues, which is why the ACLU has not
Paul H. Weaver Walter E. Williams
on the subject of the Second Amendment.
objected to it on constitutional grounds.
Cathy Young
Karl Zinsmeister
Our views on the Second Amendment,
I have not strayed from this position in
and how it bears upon pending or pro-
anything I have written or in any inter-
Editorial, Advertising, and Production Offices
2716 Ocean Park Blvd., Suite 1062
posed legislation, are as follows:
view I have given, including the one with
Santa Monica, CA 90405
Second Amendment advocates often
Mr. Sullum. And the position is consistent
(213) 392-0443
suggest that the purpose of constitution-
with, indeed, is an implementation of,
Washington Office
Circulation Service
ally protecting the right to bear arms is
ACLU policy.
P.O. Box 8093
P.O. Box 526
Silver Spring, MD 20907
Mt. Morris, IL 61054
that it would provide citizens the means
Ira Glasser
(301) 565-7820
(815) 734-6309
to resist a tyrannical government. But if
Executive Director
that is the purpose, surely handguns are
American Civil Liberties Union
Founding Editors:
not enough. If one believes that the Sec-
New York, NY
Manuel S. Klausner, Tibor R. Machan,
ond Amendment provides an individual
Robert W. Poole, Jr.
right to bear arms sufficient to resist a
REASON is published by the Reason Foundation, a
modern government, then it must protect
501(c)(3) nonprofit educational foundation. Contri-
not only the right to possess handguns,
butions to the Reason Foundation are
High Fidelity
tax-deductible. Signed articles in
but also the right to possess bazookas,
REASON reflect the views of the
torpedoes, rocket-launchers, tanks, mis-
There were two considerations skipped
authors and do not necessarily
Audit Bureau
siles, and the like. And indeed, the Second
over by Thomas Donlan's article on
represent, those of the editors, the
of Circulations
Reason Foundation, or its trustees.
Member
Amendment draws no distinctions among
HDTV ("The Sharper Image," June).
types of weapons. But most advocates of
First, HDTV as currently developed is
Reason Foundation
the right to bear arms concede that the
a very short-range interim technology. It
Trustees: Bernard Baltic, Frank Bond,
Second Amendment does not prohibit the
would be a serious error to encourage a
Joseph E. Coberly, Richard J. Dennis,
Richard Fink, Neal Goldman, Tony
government from banning private owner-
lot of capital investment in such a system.
Jackson, Manuel S. Klausner, David H.
Koch, Robert W. Poole, Jr., Walter E.
ship of such weapons.
Digital information transmission, includ-
Williams
Once we concede the constitutionality
ing digital television, is (or should be)
President: Robert W. Poole, Jr.
of government bans on some weapons,
very close to implementation.
Senior Vice President: Bryan E. Snyder
we are not talking any longer about
We seem to be stuck with a limited
Vice President, Research: Lynn Scarlett
whether the government may restrict
spectrum. Digital technology seems to
Director of Public Affairs: Kevin D. Teasley
weapons but rather what constitutes a
offer the best shot at data-compression
Director of Educational Programs: Greg Rehmke
reasonable restriction. If the Second
schemes and will fit admirably with
Policy Analyst: David Haarmeyer
Public Affairs Assistant: Mario E. Clemente
Amendment provides no basis for such
direct laser transmission and the coming
Office Manager: Donna Lee Braunstein
distinctions, as it does not, then it is up to
fiber-optic information channels. We
Bookkeeper: Ellen Baker
the legislature.
should get moving in this direction
Research Fellow: John R. Guardiano
The ACLU does not believe that the
rapidly. A good libertarian question is,
Bookkeeping Assistant: Mike Griffin
Second Amendment provides individuals
Who or what will control these new infor-
Volunteers: Anthony Brown, Mark Lewis,
with an unlimited constitutional right to
mation carriers? I suspect another gov-
Larry Leathers, Eric Lund, Steve Marczeski,
Kirstin Simonson, Timothy Wright
possess any and all weapons; we there-
ernment agency is in the offing.
Legal Adviser: Don Franzen
fore believe that legislatures may adopt
As to Mr. Donlan's concerns about the
8 reason
OCTOBER 1991
LETTERS
Introducing an exotic new
bureaucracy slowing down Japan's entry,
I say good for them! That's precisely what
the Japanese have been doing to U.S.
financial language:
imports there for many years.
Ted Parker
Camarillo, CA
English.
THOMAS DONLAN'S OTHERWISE fine
article contains a few technical errors I
hope his book does not have.
First, the NTSC television picture is
Every issue of The
panion was explaining that
encoded via amplitude modulation (vary-
ing signal strength) but the sound is, in
Capitalist's Companion
stocks were done going
comes with the following
down.
fact, frequency-modulated (varying sig-
guarantee: it will contain no
We won't always be right,
nal frequency). Second, TV stations do
jargon; it will contain no
of course. But we'll always
not broadcast at 6 Megahertz (MHz) as
Mr. Donlan implies. They are allotted a
platitudes; and it won't use
be skeptical. And we'll give
channel which has a width of 6 MHz, but
"impact" as a verb.
you a viewpoint you won't
The Companion looks at
get from your broker. Or
they transmit at much higher frequency
politics and the
from the networks or
(for instance, channel 17 is the band 488
markets from life's
the financial press.
MHz to 494 MHz).
bleacher seats. Its
What's more, we
One other note: The American elec-
editors
aren't
won't leave our sense
tronics industry, when left to its own de-
beltway
insiders.
of humor in the coat
vices, has done a pretty good job of
They come from the
closet when we sit
setting expansive, future-oriented stan-
trading floors and
down to write.
dards. I seriously doubt that Japan's MUSE
research depart-
Try The Capitalist's
would ever be adopted here, as the author
ments of Wall Street.
seems to wish. Digital transmission is the
Companion at a spe-
They know the economy
cial trial rate. We'll send
best choice, even if it takes longer to
from the ground up, and
you five issues for $19. If
develop, because it makes a clean break
they know what moves
you're not satisfied, we'll
from the outdated NTSC system and can
markets. Their insights will
send you a pro-rated
provide unmatched overall quality.
surprise you.
John Taylor
refund. If you are satisfied,
Example: when the Sun-
Cowlesville, NY
come on back and sign up
day morning talk shows
for a year.
were moaning last fall that
Dial the toll-free number;
THE FCC'S APPROACH to high-defini-
the stock market was
tion television is the old 10 pounds of
we'll bill you. Or fill out the
headed lower, The Com-
form below.
stuff in a one-pound bag. HDTV will
ideally have twice the scan lines and
1-800-966-6567
twice the horizontal resolution of the cur-
rent NTSC TV; this means broadcasting
24 hours a day; 7 days a week
four times the information on the original
four-by-three aspect ratio. A wide aspect
( ) Please start me out with a 5-issue trial subscription for $19.
would require half again as much infor-
( ) I'd like to subscribe for a year (17 issues) at $120.
( ) Payment enclosed. ( ) Bill me.
mation. To do things right, let's allow the
color resolution to equal the luminance
Name
resolution, and let's broadcast uncom-
Company
Address
pressed stereo sound. A .40-50-megahertz
City
State
bandwidth is needed.
Zip
Such bandwidth is available via either
satellite or cable. Fiber-optic cable adds
The Capitalist's Companion
an embarrassment of bandwidth riches.
JOURNAL OF POLITICS AND THE FINANCIAL MARKETS
Yet nothing currently in design takes
R1
175 Fifth Avenue Suite 2503 New York, N.Y. 10010
advantage of these resources. The NHK
system at 30 megahertz is not the an-
OCTOBER 1991
reason 9
"a splendid job!"
LETTERS
MILTON FRIEDMAN
Nobel Laureate
swer-it's late '70s technology. Using it
as an intermediate system would surely
AMERICA'S
kill HDTV; remember what competing
SCHOOLS
Disaster Relief
Rebuilding
Rebuilding
formats did to quadriphonic hi-fi and ste-
reo AM radio? American entrepreneurs,
Martin Morse Wooster demonstrates re-
who continue to lead the world in high-
markable disregard for both facts and rea-
end audio, could also in high-end video,
sonable interpretations in his June
if they were allowed to build the highest
column ("Eco-Logic"), in which he holds
quality system possible. No, the problem
me up as a purported example of an anti-
isn't the medium, it's the message.
capitalist environmental extremist. In ac-
HDTV's real market is pay TV. A truly
tuality, I am the author of a book, Freedom
high-quality wide-aspect picture would
Comes from Human Beings, which advo-
REBUILDING
enhance premium movies, sports events,
cates free-enterprise solutions for many
AMERICA'S SCHOOLS:
travelogues, and nature documentaries. It
environmental problems, I advanced the
Vouchers, Credits, and
would find many customers in cable and
same arguments in the 1981 Environmen-
Privatization
satellite viewers who have already dem-
tal Action symposium on the direction
edited by Joseph and Diane Bast
onstrated their willingness to invest in
environmentalism should take during the
good video. HDTV is not going to wow
1980s; spent much of 1975-77 ghostwrit-
consumers, however, into spending
ing a major treatise on capitalism for a
"The best piece of work done so
kilobucks on hardware to watch game
former adviser to Ronald Reagan; and
far in a very, very usable form.
shows, talk shows, sitcoms, or news and
was Canadian correspondent to the now-
weather in wide aspect.
defunct Libertarian Press Service, 1977-
CARL FYNBOE
The answer seems simple: a dual tele-
1980. Over the past decade, my articles
Washington Federation
vision system, each serving different pro-
for both environmental publications and
of Independent Schools
gramming needs. AM radio remains
general circulation magazines and news-
healthy despite FM. It offers talk shows,
papers have repeatedly spotlighted
"A major triumph for The
news, and golden oldies while FM han-
successful private initiatives to clean up
Heartland Institute!"
dles high-fidelity stereo music. Likewise,
pollution, protect animals, and safeguard
premium HDTV channels would not in-
habitat. Far from "reaching eco-Arma-
EDWARD CRANE
terfere with the market for the majority of
geddon," one of my most important re-
Cato Institute
NTSC terrestrial programming. The
curring themes has been refuting
masses could still watch network and
doomsday scenarios, pointing out that we
a splendid contribution,
local broadcasts on inexpensive hard-
are not "killing" our habitat so much as
theoretically sound, rhetorically
ware while videophiles could watch pre-
changing it with frequently reckless dis-
convincing, with many practical
mium programming on the best television
regard of the long-term consequences,
insights and legislative models."
system in the world.
including economic consequences.
HERBERT J. WALBERG
A one-size-fits-all approach to HDTV
Facts are facts, regardless of economic
University of Illinois Chicago
will lead to such a technically and artisti-
philosophy, and one fact of modern
cally compromised system that none will
politics is that campaigns with at least
want to watch it, at least in this country.
twice the spending power of their op-
340 pages in attractive 3-ring
If the Europeans develop a satellite-broad-
ponents usually win. One scarcely needs
binder, $45.00. Free shipping!
cast HDTV system, wanna bet East Coast
to be searching "for capitalist plots with
dish owners will buy European hardware
a misguided vigor similar to that of an
For VISA and Mastercard
to receive the programming? Better yet,
earlier generation of fanatics who hunted
orders, call 312/427-3060. Or
what's to stop Europe or Japan from
for communist plots," to observe that the
send check or money order to
launching direct-broadcast satellites
huge financial contributions of pesticide
the address below.
near the United States to broadcast
manufacturers and related interest groups
higher quality pictures than the crippled
were an obvious major factor in defeating
American system could? Let's forget
California's Big Green initiative last fall.
THE
about NTSC or NHK compatibility and
Likewise, one needn't be searching for
HEARTLAND
allow U.S. designers to do their best, then
plots of any kind to note that the Telluride,
INSTITUTE
use that system only for appropriate pro-
Colorado antifur referendum pitted a 20-
634 South Wabash, Second Floor,
gramming.
year-old student, unsupported by national
Chicago, IL 60605. Also offices in
Donald R. Loose
groups, against fur trade organizations
Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland, St. Louis,
Beaver Creek, OH
who outspent her by a ratio of roughly
and Kansas City.
10 reason
OCTOBER 1991
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HAMILTON
LETTERS
EDWARD
Bargain
FREE
Books
CATALOG
Huge Selection
5,000 to 1. The fur trade didn't spend all
mercantilism. The fruits of mercantilism
Lowest Prices
that money just for exercise; they spent it
are unearned wealth, poverty, tyranny,
to ensure a political victory that might
and the smearing of the name of true
Bargain
economically help their struggling busi-
laissez-faire.
ness (which has depended, from incep-
For Roberts to argue that libertarians
Books
tion, upon massive public subsidies,
should not be distressed by Soviet
currently ranging from trappers' access to
developments is to suggest our forebears
Choose from recent publishers' overstocks.
national wildlife refuges to the USDA's
should not have been distressed by the
remainders, imports and reprints-up
to 8,000 titles each month, including
Mink Export Assistance Program).
tyranny of English mercantilism and that
600-1,500 new arrivals-most at savings of
50% to 80%.
Also Warren T. Brookes, whom Woos-
modern libertarians should not be dis-
We publish a new catalog every 4 weeks.
ter quoted, seriously misrepresented at
tressed by the web of subsidies, licenses,
each offering an immense selection from all
major publishers. and with more books at
least two of his supposed examples of
and regulations that make up the modern
$1.95. $2.95. $3.95 than you'll find
anywhere else: Politics, Biography.
"scientific inaccuracy" on the part of en-
American mercantilist state.
Science, Art. Literature, Fiction, Health.
vironmentalists.
Movies, Nature, Gardeningand more. Some-
Free markets depend upon private
thing for everyone, from yesterday's best
First, U.S. forest acreage has increased
property, to be sure; but this does not
sellers to titles you never knew existed. most
in limited supply. We normally ship within
since 1952 primarily because former
mean a system of private property based
24 hours with a moneyback guarantee.
farms in New England have reverted to
on privilege will result in free markets. To
Please send me your Free Catalog of Bargain Books.
woodland after being converted to hous-
the contrary, privilege is always and
ing. The new forests are largely contigu-
everywhere the enemy of free markets
Name
ous wooded back yards, which provide
and individual liberty.
Address
limited animal habitat and are never
D. Allen Dalton
City
likely to become part of the American
Director
State
Zip
timber supply. Further, clear-cut govern-
Center for the Study of
HAMILTON
ment acreage is still included in the forest
Market Alternatives
Box 15-584, Falls Village CT 06031
land inventory, even though new trees of
Caldwell, ID
timber size won't have grown back until
midway through the next century.
Dr. Roberts replies: If the Soviet
Foreign Policy
Second, the salmon catch in Prince
economy were moving from laissez-faire
Analyst
William Sound increased the year after
to mercantilism, I would agree with Allen
the Exxon Valdez oil spill because the
Dalton. But as it is moving from com-
spill had killed or driven away virtually
munism to mercantilism, I do not, for this
A
leading public policy research
all the major salmon predators, including
too shall pass. After all, we got to private
institute in Washington, D.C., has
bears, eagles, seals, sea otters, and os-
property through the enclosures, a privi-
an entry-level position in its foreign
prey. This scarcely suggests a healthy or
lege-based laissez-faire for the powerful
policy program for a bright, motivated
recovering ecosystem.
that had the effect of creating labor
individual. Applicants must have a
Merritt Clifton
markets.
bachelor's degree (master's degree pre-
Editor
ferred) in international relations, secu-
The Animals' Agenda
rity studies, diplomatic history, or a
Monroe, CT
related discipline. Excellent research,
Democrat or Dictator?
writing, and verbal skills are essential.
Applicants must be familiar with and
William D. Eggers's glowing account of
receptive to a classical liberal, noninter-
Enclosing Argument
Levon Ter-Petrosian, president of the Ar-
ventionist perspective on foreign and
menian republic ("The New Opposition,"
defense policy issues. Send cover letter
Paul Craig Roberts's otherwise fine ar-
July), seems greatly at variance with his
and résumé to:
ticle ("Privileged Privatization," July) is
most recent activities, as recounted by
marred by his concluding comment that
Director of Foreign Policy Studies
the privileged privatization of the Soviet
Communicate with REASON
Cato Institute
economy "is not an outcome that should
We appreciate receiving your letters, typed
224 Second Street, S.E.
distress libertarians." The heritage of
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editorial comment.
2716 Ocean Park Blvd., Suite 1062
economy of privilege, with the form but
INSTITUTE
Santa Monica, CA 90405
not the substance of capitalism, is
12 reason
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FINANCIAL
LETTERS
IRS
PRIVACY
ABUSES
The American Foundation for Resistance
Best Techniques for Creating
International:
FINANCIAL PRIVACY
Prior to Ter-Petrosian's rise to political
The NTP Research Center is
Become "invisible" to investigators
prominence, the leading democracy ac-
investigating IRS abuses. We are
preparing an in-depth publication to
Stop generating financial records
tivist in Armenia was Paruyr Hayrikyan,
Communications privacy mail, phone
chairman of the Union for Armenian
detail and expose the growing police-
Using a business to create privacy
National Self-Determination, who was
state dynamics within the IRS that is
Hiding your assets
Privacy from taxes
threatening our freedom and economy.
Using other "names"
Offshore options
forcibly exiled (in handcuffs) from the
If you have experienced IRS
Operating in cash
Confidential loans
Soviet Union in July 1988. Hayrikyan
abuse, or know of anyone who has
Safes, private storage
Cash equivalents
continued his activism in the West and
Banking alternatives
Second passports
experienced IRS abuse, please contact
succeeded in being elected to the Ar-
Profitable private investments
us. Your information is needed.
The EDEN
Tax havens
A private will
menian parliament in May of 1990, while
GUIDE to
We would also like to be
Enjoying your assets quietly
COMPLETE
still in exile. In the interim, Ter-Petrosian
contacted by lawyers, tax accountants,
Avoiding financial schemes
FINANCIAL
had assumed the office of president and
paralegals, or anyone else with law-
20 steps to take immediately
PRIVACY
was personally on hand to escort Hay-
The EDEN Guide to
16 Chapters, Indexed
related experience who is interested in,
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182 pages
rikyan to his seat in parliament when
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EDEN
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the early. morning hours of March 19,
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PRESS
Box 8410-RN
Fountain Valley, CA 92728
Attn: Scott Long
1991, several hundred Interior Ministry
Name
Box 906
troops in armored personnel carriers-
Address
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City
accompanied by Ter-Petrosian's armed
(702) 798-8332
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militia of the Armenian National Move-
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storation of Armenia's independence and
14 reason
OCTOBER 1991
Despite a media
brownout, this book
fought its way onto
the bestseller lists.
CHAPPAQUIDDICK
COVER-UP
And when you read what it
reveals about Teddy and
$21.95
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Chappaquiddick, you'll see why.
yours
FREE
Ray Kerrison explains it all in his New York
the party for a romantic interlude; b) he was drunk;
Post column:
c) he drove off the bridge at considerable speed; and
"The biggest surprise - and scandal - of the pub-
d) his license had expired five months earlier.
lishing season is the public's extraordinary demand
It discloses how Ted Sorenson, President John F.
for a book exposing Sen. Edward Kennedy's fatal
Kennedy's speechwriter, drafted Sen. Kennedy's ficti-
escapade at Chappaquiddick, despite a review black-
tious explanation of the tragedy for a national TV
out by the nation's media giants.
audience."
This book is titled Senatorial Privilege: The
People Magazine shares the enthusiasm:
Chappaquiddick Cover-Up (Regnery Gateway,
"An achievement of reportorial diligence, this book
$21.95). Written by Leo Damore, it made the New
tells a story that the most imaginative crime novelist
York Times non-fiction best-seller list yesterday for
would have been hard put to invent. It is a tale of
the eighth straight week.
death, intrigue, obstruction of justice, corruption and
Yet the
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Boston Globe, Time and Newsweek have all boy-
Kennedy was never indicted in connection with Mary
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Jo Kopechne's death
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put down."
because Damore's account is a meticulous
Adds the Wall Street Journal:
examination of what happened at the bridge and the
"Absorbing and definitive account
Damore
aftermath. It was written with the cooperation of
is a disciplined and relentless writer who makes his
Joseph Gargan, a Kennedy cousin, who was
case more devastating because he never steps back
involved in the nightmare
and editorializes. Each falsehood, blunder and eva-
Damore's book leaves no doubt that: a) Kennedy left
sion is in tight focus
"
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Dangerously Libertarian?
LETTERS
According to one political science
professor, the Carolina Critic is
guilty of advocating "dangerously
immediate secession from the USSR be-
libertarian individualism." We like
seeks help as having a serious mental
to think he's right. The Carolina
cause parliament should take steps
illness.
Critic threatens statists, bureaucrats,
toward dictatorship."
There are many problems in the whole
and most of all, the collectivist ethic
A fine thing, for a supposed "pro-
Hinckley case, to be sure, and there seem
pervading higher education. To
democracy activist" to countenance the
to be problems at St. Elizabeth's as well.
subscribe or make a tax deductable
suppression of his compatriots and to en-
But to trot these out in apparent service
donation, contact: Carolina Critic,
dorse dictatorship! It appears, instead,
of a conviction that "patient," "illness,"
that Ter-Petrosian is simply acting the
and "doctors" are somehow ersatz terms
01 Steele Bldg., UNC-CH, Chapel
Hill, NC 27599
part of a collaborator with the Gorbachev
to be used for a schizophrenic and psy-
regime, favoring the preservation of his
chiatrists is irrational.
personal political power over any adher-
Neil D. Isaacs
POLITICALLY"INCORRECT"
ence to principles. This account is a les-
Colesville, MD
T-SHIRTS
son that we should not uncritically accept
FISCISM
BUREAUCRACY
characterizations of Soviet politicians as
Spoofs on liberal
politics, ecomania,
being prodemocracy, without in-depth
animal rights... and
more. Free catalogue,
scrutiny. The opportunity for a charlatan
The American Way
All shirts of
is now enormous, as the captive republics
heavyweight 100%
cotton-satisfaction
may eventually discover.
In his review of The Power and the Glit-
LEFTISTS RECYCLE
guaranteed! Our
Michael J. Dunn
ter, ("Reelpolitik," June), Joseph Farah
"Leftists Recycle"
THEIR TRASH
shirt is available
Auburn, WA
included a very short and uncomplimen-
for $12.95 plus
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tary reference to Norman Lear's organi-
©1991 Praxis Publications
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sales tax.) Specify L or XL when ordering.
PRAXIS PUBLICATIONS
the interests of balance, I would like to
P.O. Box 3551, Santa Rosa CA 95402
Who Shot R.R.?
point out one wonderfully good thing that
(707) 578-7302 Please allow 2-3 weeks for delivery
PAW recently did for the citizens of my
Thomas Szasz has long been an effective
home state, Texas, and for America as a
gadfly of and for the mental-health
whole.
CHAMPIONS OF REEDOM
community. His one-page screed,
For many years, Texas selected its
"Hinckley and Son" (July), however,
high school biology textbooks favoring
AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS
demonstrates how any surviving ef-
the views of, shall we say, nonscientists,
Perspectives Past and
fectiveness can be undercut in an explo-
through unremitting pressures applied by
sion of sarcasm, misstatement,
biblical literalists, who faithfully lobbied
unsupported assertion, misleading
the selection hearings so that no mention
premise, unexamined implication, and
of hominid fossils or other such godless
demagogic illogic.
malarkey should affect the religious sen-
Among the explicit remarks in this
sibilities of their otherwise pious child-
piece are the following: Schizophrenia is
ren. PAW recently took them on and won
not a disease, and if it were it is not
(or at least played a very significant part
treatable; Hinckley should have been ex-
in winning) the day for scientific integrity
ecuted, or allowed to kill himself; the
in the classroom. I hope that pleases you.
only symptoms of Hinckley's disorder
It certainly pleases me.
were discovered in the attempted assassi-
Thomas McLaughlin
nation; and the mere act of making an
Lubbock, TX
appointment to see a psychiatrist auto-
matically stigmatized Hinckley for life.
516 pages
Among its implications are these:
Clarification: Due to an editing error,
There is something wrong with the labels
an article in the August/September
Discounts for
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band" of Hedda Nussbaum and Lisa
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Steinberg and Nussbaum were not le-
described as "parasitic and pathetic" to
gally married, and they never legally
HILLSDALE
kill themselves; and any psychiatrist
adopted Lisa.
COLLEGE
must necessarily diagnose anyone who
16 reason
OCTOBER 1991
THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL
DEFENSE OF LIBERTY EVER PUBLISHED
- NOW BACK IN PRINT!
"Looking through Block's book made me feel
DEFENDING
that I was once more exposed to shock therapy
THE
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occasionally incredulous and feel that 'this is
The Pimp, Prostitute, Scab, Slumlord, Libeler,
Moneylender, and Other Scapegoats in the
going too far,' but usually Block is right."
Rogue's Gallery of American Society
- F.A. von HAYEK
WALTER BLOCK
"Startling and illuminating! Block's lucid
defenses often convince; sometimes they lead us
to sharpen our attack. In either case, the reader
a
cannot fail to be instructed and challenged by
III
this mind-stretching, provocative, and
occasionally infuriating book."
"Go inherit your own money!
- ROBERT NOZICK
"Walter Block is on the loose and the world will never be the same." - ROY A. CHILDS, JR.
FIND OUT FOR YOURSELF WHY BLOCK'S BOOK HAS BOTH IRKED AND INSPIRED READERS
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TRENDS
State officials suggest that the differ-
drop in purchases, of about 14 percent,
ence is due to the antismoking campaign:
between 1988 and 1989. (By contrast,
Up in Smoke
"Research Data Shows Significant Drop
purchases declined by about 1 percent
in Tobacco Usage Since Enactment of
between 1987 and 1988.) What happened
C
alifornia's antismoking campaign
California's Tobacco Education Cam-
in 1989? That was the year the cigarette
isn't exactly subtle. One commer-
paign," a health department press release
tax went from 10 cents a pack to 35 cents,
cial shows a pregnant woman serving
announced last year.
raising the price of each pack by about 12
dinner to her husband, who is smoking a
But figures on cigarette sales from the
percent.
cigarette. She begins to cough, exhaling
state's tax collectors tell a different story.
Michael Johnson, chief of the evalua-
plumes of secondary smoke, and he con-
Between April 1990, when the ad cam-
tion unit in the health department's
tinues puffing away, oblivious. As the
paign began, and the end of the year, the
Tobacco Control Section, agrees that "it's
coughs become louder, the camera fo-
number of cigarette packs bought by Cal-
primarily the tax that would account for
cuses on her swollen belly.
ifornians was only about 1 percent lower
the drop." It looks like California has
It's tough, but it works. Or so the state
than during the same period in 1989.
rediscovered the demand curve.
Department of Health Services would
The sales data do show a significant
-Jacob Sullum
have us believe. California's "innova-
tive," $28.6-million mass-media cam-
paign, the most conspicuous result of a
cigarette-tax initiative passed in 1988,
has gained a reputation for effectiveness
Fetal Error
that has little basis in reality.
That reputation is encouraging imita-
E
very bottle of beer, wine, and liquor sold in the United States now bears a warning
from the surgeon general that "women should not drink alcoholic beverages
tors in other states. In May, two Wisconsin
during pregnancy because of the risk of birth defects." Yet research finds Fetal Alcohol
legislators announced plans to introduce a
Syndrome only in a small fraction of the children born to heavy drinkers, and there's
bill that would raise their state's cigarette
no evidence that moderate drinking during pregnancy poses a threat to the fetus.
tax by 10 cents a pack and allocate the
Nevertheless, the federal government continues to emphasize the risk of FAS, estimating
additional revenue to an antismoking
that 1 to 3 cases occur per 1,000 births. Gene Ford, editor of The Moderation Reader,
recently compared projections based on this estimate to actual cases of FAS recorded
campaign. "A similar plan of education
by state vital statistics departments. State officials caution that underreporting is a
and advertising has already been tried in
problem. But the magnitude of the disparities suggests that exaggeration is, too.
California," said Senate President Fred
(Twenty-four states collect FAS data; these figures are for the 12 with the most births.)
Risser, "and Californians quit at about
twice the rate as before the campaign.
State
Births
FAS Births
Gov't Estimate*
That means there are now about 750,000
Ala.
62,530
11
124
fewer smokers in California than before
Ariz.
60,822
9
120
the antismoking media campaign."
Calif.
569,308
32
1,139
But the impression that California's ad
campaign has reduced smoking is based
Fla.
193,800
4
386
on data that show nothing of the kind. The
Ga.
110,216
25
220
Department of Heath Services reports
Ind.
81,414
13
162
that the percentage of adult Californians
Mo.
77,386
8
154
who smoke has declined from 26.3 in
N.J.
113,284*
22**
226
1987 to 21.2 in 1990. These figures come
from two sources: the 1987 National
N.C.
102,091
24
204
Health Interview Survey, which included
Ohio
163,716
31
326
a California sample, and a 1990 survey
Tex.
307,540
10
614
commissioned by the state. The decline in
Wash.
75,321
8
150
the number of smokers is 13 percent big-
ger than would have been expected based
Figures are the most recent available for each state.
*based on rate of 2 cases per 1,000 births
**averages of figures from four recent years
on the downward trend prior to 1988.
18 reason
OCTOBER 1991
Why aren't
MW
MediaWatch, a monthly
MediaWatch
newsletter that reviews
news coverage of politi-
Newshites
MAKE
WAR
ON
PENTAGON
cal and current events by
liberals in
the television networks,
newspapers and news
weeklies. "Newsbites"
provide ongoing examples
of bias and the "Janet
the media
Cooke Award" examines
the month's most distorted
story. Plus: In-depth studies
and analysis.
smiling
etc.
TV, etc., a monthly news-
letter that investigates the
Hollywood
Left &
Children
liberal issue agenda perme-
anymore?
Target:
America's
ating prime time television,
current cinematic fare and
record releases and cata-
logues the off-screen
B
ecause their days of unchecked
political activities of the
bias are over. The Media Research
Hollywood Left.
Center is reading and listening to what
they write and say.
When columnists, elected officials
Notable Quotables
Notable Quotables, a
and other opinion leaders want ex-
bi-weekly compilation
amples of liberal bias, they turn to our
of the most outrageous
publications.
and humorous exam-
ples of bias from the
So should you.
media. At year-end the
The Media Research Center's newsletters and
Linda Ellerbee Awards
books provide all the proof you'll ever need to
present the best quotes.
demonstrate the news media's liberal bias. And
of the year.
the bias in Hollywood.
Bob
Peace
Agendon
You can use the newsletters and books to win
arguments with your friends and colleagues.
Learn what shows to avoid, which reporters slant
THAT'S
And That's the Way it
the news, howthey do it and why they do it.
AND
Isn't: A Reference Guide to
THE
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RNA
MediaWatch ($29 for 12 monthly issues)
and reprints of 45 studies that
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ers, editors, producers and
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and political positions.
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Compited by the Media Research Center
CENTER
TRENDS
BALANCE SHEET
Stop Draggin'
My Car Around
Assets
W
ould you sacrifice your car for a
Slicing Bacon. U.S. District Judge Charles Legge
sexual encounter? Some men in
strikes down California's private version of Davis-
Oregon now have to ask themselves that
Bacon. (See "Exclusionary Rule," Aug./Sept.) Legge
question. And their dilemma may soon be
dumps three Northern California laws that mandate
faced by those in other states.
union. wages for private construction projects. Instead of protecting the public from
In an effort to stamp out prostitution,
incompetent workers, the judge writes, the laws are "economic legislation [primarily] for
the benefit of certain unions."
police officers in Portland have been
taking the cars of men suspected of solic-
Dirty Water? Three decades ago, fish couldn't live in the filthy Thames river. Now
itation. The seizures are sanctioned by
Thames Water, a private sewage-disposal company, restores the river and makes a profit.
laws, passed to combat drug dealers, that
Sportsmen caught more than 100 species of fish in the cleaner river last year; riverbank
allow authorities to take property used in
residents now say the water is almost drinkable. Thames Water management also advises
committing a crime.
water privatizers in the Soviet Union, Eastern Europe, and Africa.
Since October 1988, Portland and
Private Line. The federal government will auction off 200 MHz of its broadcasting
Wayne County police officers have
spectrum to firms selling cellular phones and pagers. Bills introduced by Sen. Ted Stevens
seized almost 1,000 cars. These numbers
(R-Alaska) and Rep. Don Ritter (R-Pa.) mandate frequency auctions. And the president
have impressed other cities, who see it as
promises to veto any proposals to give the frequencies away.
an effective way to help eliminate prosti-
tution. Detroit has recently begun its own
Salvaged. Junk bonds rebound. Despite record defaults, prominent junk-heavy compa-
seizure program. And police in other ci-
nies are dumping debt and making money. RJR Nabisco and Safeway now sell common
ties have contacted Portland authorities
stock. Dallas's Morningstar Foods buys back its bonds. Fortune's Gary Hector notes that
for advice
the current market promises "adequate returns for taking on very high risks."
Undercover officers lure would-be
customers into offering them money for
sex. Once the deal is made, officers rush
in to seize the suspect's car and tow it
Liabilities
away. "The seizure is made on the spot,"
says Stevie Remington, executive direc-
Soak the Proles. A study prepared for Sen. Connie Mack
tor of the Oregon ACLU, which is chal-
(R-Fla.) and Rep. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) shows that last
lenging the practice. "They don't have to
year's tax on luxury items costs the federal treasury nearly
$5.00 for every buck it collects. Lower boat, airplane, and jewelry sales have cut 9,400
have probable cause. They don't have to
manufacturing jobs, costing the feds $19 million in lost income taxes and extra unemploy-
prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
ment benefits. But I'm sure Dick Gephardt and George Mitchell feel better.
They don't even have to charge anyone
with a crime."
Border Patrol. You visit California's wine country and want to order a precocious
Because the seizures are made under
Cabernet to enjoy in your Ohio home. Forget it. Federal law prohibits the Postal Service
civil law instead of a criminal statute,
from shipping alcohol. And most states won't let out-of-state vintners sell to consumers
prosecutors only have to show "a pre-
unless they buy license and find a local distributor. Wine industry consultant Vic Motto
ponderance of the evidence" to justify
tells the Los Angeles Times: "Every state is like dealing with a foreign country."
taking a car.
Executive Odors. White House-imposed regulations force private companies that
"What's more," says Remington, "the
get federal contracts to use hiring goals and timetables-a.k.a. quotas. Indeed, Fortune's
seizures often amount to a stiffer punish-
Daniel Seligman reports, the Labor Department arm-twisted nearly 3,000 companies into
ment than what the suspect would get if
hiring by the numbers in fiscal 1990 alone. President Bush could nix these race-based rules.
he were convicted. The maximum fine for
But he would rather talk about a color-blind society than actually promote one.
solicitation is $2,500, but the police can
seize cars worth thousands of dollars
Pigs in Space. Sen. Dale Bumpers (D-Ark.) tries to cut funding for
more."
the space station to $100 million; the heads of 14 scientific societies back
him up. (See "Beyond Tomorrowland," May.) But the Senate approves
In fact, the Los Angeles Times reports
$2 billion in subsidies for next year. Bumpers says this orbiting hamhock
that the most expensive vehicle seized in
"is not going to have any scientific payback." Astronaut Sen. Jake Garn
Portland was a $100,000 tractor-trailer
(R-Utah) retorts, "I personally am offended by these scientific groups."
loaded with candy bars.
-Rick Henderson
-Charles Oliver
20 reason
OCTOBER 1991
TRENDS
CRITICAL REVIEW
Bad Trade
Special Issue
THE WELFARE STATE: REFORM OR ABOLITION?
W
hen the Clean Air Act was passed
last year, the Bush administration
hyped its market-based approach to re-
ducing air pollution. And when the Chi-
cago Board of Trade voted in July to
CRITICAL REVIEW
allow trading in pollution permits, many
a
saw the move as a market approval of the
Bush approach.
But despite the Board of Trade's vote,
some economists have reservations about
CAN WELF ARE BE REFORMED?
Nothan Children Murrey, Anthony de lassy
the permit system's viability.
WHY 15 THERE HOMELESSNESST
Under the Clean Air Act, the Envi-
Bowers Hupst
THE POOR BEFORE WELF ARE
ronmental Protection Agency can issue
DATE State THE ====
permits that allow the holders to emit
ENGLAND BEFORE THE WELF ARE STATE
Signature Patrain 5 prévis -
specified amounts of sulfur into the air.
INDIVIDUALIST SWEDEN, COLLECTIVIST GERMANY
Companies can buy and sell the permits
tars $3565
to increase or decrease their level of pol-
CLAUS OFFE'S THEORY OF THE WELFARE STATE
David the
lution. Those who produce less pollution
A POST-LIBERTARIAN THEORY or
THE WELF ARE STATE
than permitted can sell their rights, thus
letter
creating an incentive for companies to cut
JUSTIFYING WELFARE
the P. Barry
their sulfur emissions.
At least that's how it's supposed to
W.W. BARTLEY
Angela Patront
work. But James L. Johnston, senior econ-
omist at Amoco Corp., has his doubts.
"If you read the act, the allowances—
that's what they are referred to as, not
rights-aren't property rights. The EPA
reserves the right to modify or eliminate
them at any time. And companies can't
sue, even if the value of the allowances is
driven to zero."
Permit trading is also supposed to
In its four years of publication, the Center for Independent Thought's quarterly
force companies to search for the lowest-
CRITICAL REVIEW has emerged as the preeminent journal of classical
cost way of cutting emissions, but Johns-
liberalism - challenging and debating free market ideas'as well as developing
ton says that isn't the case either. "Dig
them. It is the only journal that takes liberty seriously enough to subject it to
into the act and you find all sorts of in-
searching criticism and bold rethinking. Stop missing out: begin your
direct incentives to use high-sulfur coal
subscription with this blockbuster issue on the welfare state.
with scrubbers, as well as a promise of
$2.5 billion in direct subsidies for utilities
Forthcoming:
to continue using high-sulfur coal. Never
John Baden, Norman Barry, Peter J. Boettke, Susan Love Brown, Tyler Cowen,
mind that it might otherwise be cheaper
Harold Demsetz, David Friedman, Roger W. Garrison, John Gray, Robert Higgs,
to switch to low-sulfur coal."
Don Lavoie, Martin Malia, Loren E. Lomasky, Donald McCloskey, Milton Mueller,
The effect of these loopholes, Johns-
Jan Narveson, Alan Reynolds, George Selgin, Richard Stroup, Andrzej Walicki,
ton contends, is to undermine companies'
Murray Weidenbaum, Aaron Wildavsky on the environment, public goods,
confidence that the system will last and to
feminism, legal theory, egalitarianism, democracy, the corporate state,
make the permits less attractive to buyers.
the regulatory state, more
"At best, this is not a very graceful way
of dealing with environmental prob-
Subscriptions: U.S. 1 year (4 issues) $29, 2 yrs. $54, 3 yrs. $79. Foreign 1 yr. $35, 2 yrs. $66;
lems," he says. "At- worst, it may contain
3 yrs. $96. Students (with copy of valid ID) $15 per year. Send check, money order or
the seeds of its own destruction."
VISA/MC no. and exp. date to: CRITICAL REVIEW, 942 Howard St., Rm. 22E,
San Francisco, CA 94103 USA. Phone (415) 495-2157, fax (415) 541-0597.
-Charles Oliver
OCTOBER 1991
reason 21
RICKBATS
I
n Orland Park, Illinois, a mother has
filed a $225,000 suit against a local
high school for unreasonable search of
her 16-year-old son. After noticing a sus-
piciously large bulge in the crotch of the
OH... YOU
boy's pants, school officials thought he
ARE
BLACK
IT'S
JUST
might have stashed drugs there. But a
THAT YOU DIDN'T SOUND
strip search revealed nothing but teenage
BLACK
MEAN-ER...UM...
boy. Trying to explain the mistake to the
mother, a sensitive teacher said, "I don't
know how to put this to you delicately,
but have you ever heard of [porn star]
John Holmes?"
DEMS
C
olumnist: and backyard marksman
'92
Carl Rowan pooh-poohs the idea
JUDGE
CLARENCE THOMAS
that Clarence Thomas is the best man for
the Supreme Court. "Clarence Thomas is
the best only at his ability to bootlick for
Ronald Reagan and George Bush." And
if anyone knows about licking the boots
©91
of white men, it's the man who spent the
AKRON BEACON JOURNAL
most important years of the civil rights
come the first place in America to jail
woman's lawn almost strangled himself
movement as spokesman for the State
someone for the "appearance" of impro-
on a low-slung wire leading to the house,
Department and ambassador to Finland.
priety.
the woman asked the cable company to
rehang the wire. When she got home on
I
n Massachusetts, the mother of a boy
who died after crashing a car he stole
M
eanwhile, the police in Hudson,
the day the work was to be done, the
Florida, have their own crime
woman found the wire still too low and a
is suing General Motors and Consoli-
wave to worry about. Seems that retirees
note from the work crew. The wire was
dated Rail Corp. The suit claims that the
gather on the beach to play penny-ante
fine, it said, but her house needed to be
defendants or their agents negligently left
pinochle. Police busted seven men who
raised.
the keys in a car in an auto freight yard.
regularly wager as much as $2.00 a week.
The suit claims the defendants "knew or
Each faces a $500 fine.
I
n Los Angeles, a judge has found the
should have known" that people might
trendy nightclub Vertigo in violation
trespass at the yard because six weeks
C
ongress may not be the dumbest
of state civil-rights laws for turning away
before stealing the car involved in the
organization in Washington, D.C.,
those who aren't smartly dressed. The
crash, the boy had stolen another car from
after all. District police ticketed a car at
club's lawyer said that making those with
the same yard. The nerve of these big
least once and perhaps as many as three
no fashion sense a protected class of
corporations.
times during a 15-hour period. That's not
people "trivializes the Constitution."
unusual; the car was in a no-parking zone.
T
he thong wars continue in Florida.
What was unusual is that the car's engine
Following complaints about bikini-
was idling and a corpse shot in the head
C
alifornia civil-rights laws have also
squashed the AMC theater chain's
clad sidewalk hot dog vendors (See
was in the rear seat. Only after a passerby
plans to ban children under age 3 from its
Brickbats, May), the Palm Beach county
noticed the corpse and notified police did
screenings of PG-13 and R-rated movies.
commission tried to find a constitutional
officers suspect anything was wrong.
After a parent threatened to sue for dis-
way to cover up the ladies. Commission-
crimination, AMC's lawyers advised it to
ers now propose to punish those "appear-
A
Iso in the running for the District's
halt the policy.
ing" to be naked in public. If the
Dumbest is District Cablevision.
ordinance passes, Palm Beach could be-
After the teenager mowing one District
-Charles Oliver
22 reason
OCTOBER 1991
A Feast of Freedom
"Liberty is a Glorious Feast." - -Robert Burns
Every issue of Liberty offers a
Potages
feast of individualist thinking de-
To accompany its main features,
Clarence
signed to delight the most refined
Liberty presents a variety of pene-
palate.
Liberty
Thomas:
trating re-views. A few examples
Libertarian
from our current issue:
Hors d'oeuvres
Hero?
William Moulton, in the course of
Suptember 1991
Vol5,No1
$4.00
To whet your appetite, Reflec-
dismissing Bill Buckley's (very
tions offers the provocative opin-
weak) case for "national service,"
ions of Liberty's editors. A few se-
Marijuana
IDS
to
considers the much more interest-
lections from the menu for
by Robert O' Boyle
of
September:
Loren Lomasky on the govern-
50 Really Stupid Ways Friedman's Mises
Bando
ing case for gratitude and patriot-
ism;
John Hospers wonders if some
ment's paternalistic attitude to
Save the Earth
environmentalists' respect for na-
beer drinkers;
by Karl Hess
ture is not a respect for the unre-
Brian Doherty on Frank Zappa's
Buckley's Case for Slavery
spectable;
itch to run for President (and Zap-
by William Moulton
Sheldon Richman defends Web-
pa knows itching);
ster's Third International ("Bolsh-
Robert Higgs on the U.S. plan to
Stalking the Giant Testes of Ethiopia
evik") Dictionary;
export antitrust law to the Soviets;
by Robert Miller
Richard Kostelanetz explores the
Ethan Waters on the straight
Canada Explodes (No One Cares)
economics of art and criticism.
dope about injudicious smoking
by Barry Chamish and Scott J. Reid
by Supreme Court nominees;
Desserts
Steve Cox on hugging President
Force versus Persuasion
To top off your feast and satisfy
Bush;
by Mark Skousen
your intellectual sweet-tooth, Lib-
Ann Rogers on the Florida law-
erty offers:
yers' no-tell cartel.
"Where Liberty lives, there is my country."
Algernon Sidney
Cartoons by Baloo and Tom To-
morrow;
Entrées
The bizarreries of Terra Incog-
The main course is a variety of con-
down a wilderness river in socialist Ethio-
nita, snippets from the real world of sta-
troversial and thoughtful essays. A few
pia, and brings home some very interest-
tism and the credulous booboisie.
entrées from our current offering:
ing souvenirs;
James Taggart puts the debate over
R. W. Bradford questions the validity of
Act Today!
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QUACK Q U C K
PISEASE-CHART
*
*
ADTACK
Got a headache?
Back pain?
Fatigue?
It could earn
you big bucks,
with the help of
clinical ecologists.
BY PETER W. HUBER
M
eet Bertram W. Carnow, M.D.,
of the University of Illinois
School of Public Health. His 22-page
résumé lists some 145 publications,
some of them never in fact published,
at least not under his name. Carnow
obtained his medical degree in 1951 but
hasn't practiced medicine for 20 years.
He registered for the board certification
exam in internal medicine in 1957,
1958, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, and
Excerpted from the book entitled GALILEO'S REVENGE: JUNK
SCIENCE IN THE COURTROOM, by Peter W. Huber. Copyright
© 1991 by Basic Books. Published by arrangement with Basic
SOA
PAM. HOBES
Books, a division of HarperCollins Publishers Inc.
PAMELA HOBBS
reason 25
1964, but withdrew twice and failed five times. He has since
countless other symptoms. Seriously afflicted persons grow
testified eight times, under oath, that he sat for board certifica-
mentally exhausted; they experience what Randolph calls
tion in internal medicine only once. "I had completely forgot-
"brain-fag." He does not know what causes this "total-allergy
ten" the other tries, Carnow explained in a 1984 UPI story.
syndrome"; he attributes its symptoms to some as yet undis-
Today, Carnow heads up Carnow, Conibear & Associates-
covered mechanism. "To be truthful, the mechanism isn't un-
the Conibear being Dr. Shirley Conibear, Carnow's fourth wife.
derstood or accepted," he told the Associated Press in 1985.
(Third, testifies Carnow.) The firm's best-known service is
Understanding may be a long time coming, but acceptance
expert testimony. The testimonial line is that the human body
comes surprisingly quickly, at least at some fringes of the
is under almost constant chemical assault, that chemicals cause
medical profession-and in the courtroom. The modern clini-
nearly every human affliction, their mechanisms wonderfully
cal-ecology movement took shape in the two decades after
subtle but their effects readily ascertained. It is a line most
Randolph published his first big book. The movement would
commonly labeled "clinical ecology."
grow to encompass a broad range of constantly shifting views,
The modern roots of the theory can be traced to 1962, an
some of them much less diffident than Randolph's. Today's
interesting year for several reasons. By
clinical ecologists are a varied group, a mix
that time, older theories about cancer-
of general practitioners, psychiatrists, urol-
that it might be caused by bruises and
other simple traumas, for example-
After an injection
ogists, and pediatricians. Few have scien-
tific training in laboratory or clinical
were on the wane. Doctors, public-
research. The one conviction they all share
health specialists, and ecologists were
is that lots of people are sicker than main-
scouting around for more plausible
causes of disease. In Silent Spring, Ra-
of formaldehyde,
stream medicine admits, and that en-
vironmental chemicals are to blame. In the
chel Carson had identified something
1981 movie The Incredible Shrinking
important: Pesticides accumulate in an-
Woman, Lily Tomlin gradually shrinks to
imals (like birds) at the top of the food
one clinical ecology patient
doll size under the onslaught of household
chain and can cause real harm. And
cleaners and other chemicals. Clinical
1962 also marks the year that Dr.
ecologists believe that in such matters truth
Theron G. Randolph published his
is almost as strange as, and much more
Human Ecology and Susceptibility to
grave than, the comic fiction.
the Chemical Environment, a book
"began laughing
destined to become the standard text of
clinical ecology.
C
onsider, for example, reports published
Like other great eccentrics, Ran-
in 1989 in the serious-sounding journal
dolph has some serious credentials. He
and rocking in the chair
Environment International by Sherry A.
is a Harvard-trained, board-certified al-
Rogers, M.D., a self-diagnosed "universal
lergist. By 1950, however, he had been
reactor" to environmental chemicals. Ro-
dropped from the Northwestern Uni-
gers's patients arrive complaining of (take
versity Medical School faculty, for
and thought she was
your pick) hoarseness, headaches, failing
what he later smilingly described as his
grades in school, and any number of ail-
"pernicious influence on medical stu-
ments from an endless list. Such symp-
dents." But-ostracism of this kind in-
toms, Rogers reports, have "baffled
spires rather than discourages the
Jesus' wife."
physicians from many specialties." Ro-
new-age Galileos. Randolph claims to
gers, however, notices that all the symp-
have identified a new illness; he has
toms began some time (days, weeks, or
created "a new specialty of medicine
months-it varies) after moving into a new
concerned with a shadowy area unexplored, forgotten, and
house, buying new furniture, starting a new job, or doing
maligned by analytically oriented scientists."
something somewhere.
The human body, adapted for the Stone Age, is being as-
She injects each patient with small amounts of formalde-
sailed by toxins of the Space Age, Randolph reasons. "If viruses
hyde. One promptly reports "a warm feeling, ringing in the
and bacteria can cause illness, why can't phenol, formalde-
ears, and achy joints." Another displays "visible flushing." Yet
hyde, chlorine, and pesticides?" Cumulative exposures to the
another "began laughing and rocking in the chair and thought
wrong chemicals, he concludes, induce a "susceptibility," de-
she was Jesus' wife." Amazingly, these are exactly the symp-
fined entirely by the symptoms that a patient actually exhibits.
toms the patients complained of beforehand. Injections of pure
Chemical vapors from plywood and plastic telephones, furni-
saline solution reportedly produce no effect, though Rogers is
ture and food, may all be implicated. They will trigger allergic
sketchy about all details. Sooner or later, declares Rogers, the
symptoms, inflammatory diseases like arthritis or colitis, neu-
astonishing discoveries of clinical ecologists will "un-
romuscular disorders, headaches, wheezing, depression, and
avoidably usher in a new era of medicine."
26 reason
OCTOBER 1991
A medical breakthrough this grand requires more than un-
But no one had reckoned on the clinical ecologists, or on the
baffled physicians like Rogers. It requires a theory. What
eroding rules of evidence that would allow them into court.
exactly is going on? The clinical ecologists have much to
The liability revolution of the late 1960s and early '70s
explain, for their observations cover a lot of environmental and
brought scientific controversies into the courtroom as never
medical ground. The chemical culprits in the environment
before in an effort to trace the causes of accidents. The drive to
include almost everything: urban air pollution, fresh paint,
find the "cheapest cost avoider" for any given tort resulted in
pesticides, perfumes, household cleaners, felt-tip pens, and tap
a relaxation of long-standing restrictions on the use of expert
water. These irritants produce infinitely subtle and complex
testimony. Prior to the last few decades, courts sought to strike
effects. Lots of effects: depression, irritability, poor concentra-
a balance between the need to police incompetence outside the
tion, poor memory, fatigue, diarrhea, constipation, cramps,
courtroom and the risk of rewarding incompetence within.
asthma, headaches, joint pain, pounding heart, charley horses,
Hence the Frye rule, based on a 1923 federal appellate court
cancer, and the common cold.
decision, required that expert testimony be founded on theories,
Equally significant, however, are the symptoms not ob-
methods, and procedures "generally accepted" as valid among
served. Clinical ecology patients display no distinctive lesions
other scientists in the same field. Federal courts adopted this
on their skin, or lungs, or digestive systems. Nor do they
standard, and state courts copied them.
respond systematically to any standard tests for allergy. There
But by 1975, when the Federal Rules of Evidence were first
must be some deep, subtle factor at the edges of medical
codified, the Frye rule was deemed obsolete. Expert testimony
understanding, one that can be implicated in virtually all facets
would be allowed, thenceforth, "if scientific, technical, or other
of human health. What could it be? The clinical ecologists
specialized knowledge will assist the trier of fact to understand
gradually settled on the human immune system.
the evidence or to determine a fact." This change signaled the
It is a convenient, perhaps inevitable choice. Beginning in
adoption of a "let it all in" approach to expert testimony. In
the late 1970s, and accelerating rapidly in the 1980s, medical
came the clinical ecologists.
science made huge, genuine advances in its understanding of
The clinical ecologists can connect anything to anything.
the immune system. The immune system, it turns out, consists
The legal stakes rise accordingly. The economic value of a
of an army of cells and proteins, differentiated into many
chemical pollution case depends on the number of claimants
distinct battalions-macrophages helper T cells, killer T cells,
signed up. "The 'going rate' for settlements," reports Yale law
B cells, memory cells, and five types of antibodies. All can be
professor E. Donald Elliott, "is $10,000 to $100,000 per plain-
counted and catalogued. The development of monoclonal anti-
tiff." Clinical ecology sucks in potential plaintiffs like some
bodies, among the most subtle and advanced of biotech
enormous, indiscriminate vacuum cleaner.
wonders, makes possible laboratory tests that can tag individual
proteins on cell surfaces and thus allow dozens upon dozens of
different measurements. And all of this arcane detail is sud-
W
e find Bertram Carnow in Missouri, in late 1985, testify-
denly of enormous public interest because of a single, terrify-
ing on behalf of 32 residents of the town of Sedalia. At a
ing, immune-system disease called AIDS.
nearby plant, Alcolac Inc. manufactures specialty chemicals for
So the clinical ecologists latch onto a theory perfectly
soaps and cosmetics. Pollution from that plant is said to have
matched to a public whose health concerns have been defined
damaged the immune systems of families who lived nearby.
by Rachel Carson and the bathhouses of San Francisco. They
The trial will drag on for over four months. The jury will hear
maintain that environmental pollutants of every description can
from 165 witnesses. The transcript will occupy 10,000 pages.
subvert the immune system in just the same way as the AIDS
The plaintiffs will blame Alcolac's pollution for dozens of
virus. They claim expertise in immunotoxicity, which they also
different afflictions, spanning nerve damage and heart disease,
label "total allergy syndrome," "20th-century disease," or-
brain damage and vomiting, kidney infections and headaches.
best of all-"chemically induced AIDS." The beauty of clinical
Young women report interrupted menstrual cycles. Others de-
ecology is its breadth. You have cancer? It's because your
clare that dogs, cats, cattle, chickens, parakeets, and bee colo-
immune system's ability to fight off cancer has been impaired.
nies died "unaccountably and without signs of predation."
You have nothing but the common cold? Same reason. You
Carnow has ordered exhaustive laboratory tests. He presents
have unspecific minor aches and pains, backaches and head-
by-the-numbers reports of immune-cell populations of various
aches, problems of digestion, concentration, and excretion?
kinds. He has identified at least one abnormality (and as many
Same reason. You have no symptoms at all but are gravely
as eight) in the immune system of every single plaintiff.
worried that someday you may? Well, you have reason to be
Carnow is backed up by Arthur C. Zahalsky, Ph.D., who
worried, for a crippled immune system is a cold or a cancer just
teaches immunology to nursing undergraduates at Southern
waiting to happen. You want continuous medical monitoring?
Illinois University. Zahalsky never actually studied im-
Monitoring is certainly needed.
munology in graduate school; but he does claim to have audited
The legal implications are enormous. For a time, legal
immunology classes at Washington University in St. Louis. In
scholars had dismissed liability for chemical pollution as a
any event, he is now a big believer in measuring immune-sys-
"phantom remedy." It would generally be impossible, the pun-
tem performance. He uses every gun in the battery of laboratory
dits agreed, to prove any link between pollution and disease.
tests that have recently been developed to tag, count, and
OCTOBER 1991
reason 27
measure immune-system cells and proteins. He runs test after
example, he was on call in the main Agent Orange case, which
test, records number after number. And then invariably finds
settled for $180 million on the eve of trial; the trial judge then
something of deep significance in the results. The implications
ruled summarily against all remaining claims, on the ground
are always clear: Chemicals have surely undermined immunity.
that no serious science stood behind them.
In the Sedalia residents he tests, Zahalsky finds "pervasive
abnormalities" everywhere he looks. Some of the cell and
protein counts are too high-a surprising symptom for a dis-
C
arnow appears again and again and again. His methods are,
ease described as an immune deficiency syndrome. Others are
of course, much disputed: He uses such things as a knee-
too low. In one plaintiff after the next, Zahalsky finds "a gross
jerk test to establish general nerve disorder and a single urine
distortion in the ratio," an immune system "functionally wiped
sample to reveal probable bladder cancer. A physician for the
out" or "out of whack," "a 'severe' form of chemical AIDS,"
defense in one case testified that "no one educated after 1950
or, at the very least, "moderate immune dysfunction" certain to
could possibly" have relied on the tests that Carnow used to
"develop [in]to the AIDS condition somewhere down the line."
diagnose liver disease. Nevertheless, Carnow bats a pretty good
Zahalsky's prognosis, as later summarized by a court of ap-
average. In another Agent Orange trial: summary judgment for
peals, is gloomy. "The chemicals have
the defendant. Chemical spill at Times
dampened the immune system so that
Beach: a $14.5-million settlement for two
the plaintiffs will become subject to a
Some cell counts
defendants, followed by jury verdict for
variety of diseases, neoplastic disease
other defendants. Another dioxin case: jury
[cancer] included. The findings al-
award of $58 million, overturned on ap-
ready suggest the possibility of
peal, settlement of $22 million.
leukemia." There isn't a normal im-
are too
Carnow is not, of course, the only player
mune system in the crowd. Not a one.
on the field. Other clinical ecologists come
to the aid of a woman who has "suffered
T
chemical poisoning and damage to her im-
he jury is convinced. It awards $6.2
million in compensatory damages
a surprising symptom
mune system" from formaldehyde vapors
emanating from a carpet. The trial judge
plus $43 million to punish Alcolac for
bars the testimony, but a court of appeals
its iniquity. The trial judge concurs. So
finds that clinical ecology is good enough
does the court of appeals. Its opinion
science for Texas. Clinical ecology proves
runs 371 pages of bloated prose. Cut
for a disease
critical in keeping alive another claim
through the periphrasis, and the appel-
brought by employees of Bridgestone/
late court's logic is simple. Chemicals
Firestone in California. Other courts in
can cause harm. There were chemicals
Louisiana, California again, and South
at Alcolac's plant. Carnow and
described as an
Carolina all weigh in on the side of clinical
Zahalsky take care of the rest. Only one
ecology in worker's compensation claims.
small reservation at the end: The AIDS
One case arrives at a $3.9-million verdict,
metaphor, the court of appeals con-
another at $16.25 million. Other clinical
cludes, is just too inflammatory to be
immune deficiency
ecology-backed settlements for $8 million
used in front of a jury. So a new trial
and $19 million have been reported.
will be ordered for the sole purpose of
The clinical ecologists, though not al-
recalculating damages.
ways successful, routinely do manage to
No, Alcolac is not a typical case. It
is to tort law pretty much what the
syndrome.
give the wheel a great big spin. And for
repeat players, a spin is good enough. On
clinical ecologist is to science: an ab-
the plaintiffs' side, there is little to lose and
erration, interesting because it is so
much to gain. The lawyers and their wit-
peculiar. But if the clinical ecologist does not routinely deliver
nesses can be quite content if jurists remain zealously agnostic,
$49-million verdicts, he can quite often provide a fair shot at
let it all in, and wait to see just what comes out. If the judge is
one. A busy witness can move from glory to disgrace and back
agnostic, clinical ecology goes to the jury. If the jury is agnos-
to glory as fast as he can switch courtrooms.
tic, perhaps it will split the difference. The difference between
Carnow, for example, failed to convince one court that a
nothing (as urged by the defendants) and everything (as urged
railroad employee's involvement in cleaning up a chemical
by the clinical ecologists) may turn out to be a very large
spill caused his "multiple illnesses and diseases which have
number indeed, especially when "everything" encompasses all
been progressive," and another court that the headaches,
aches and chills, constipation and cancers in a 50-mile radius
fatigue, heat intolerance, nausea, numbness, chest pains, and
in the last five years.
depression of another employee were caused by a liquid sol-
What do top-notch scientists from the mainstream think of
vent. More often, however, Carnow delivers at least a split. For
all this? One among them is Stuart F. Schlossman, chief of the
28 reason
OCTOBER 1991
Division of Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy at the
great significance in being on the edge here; the range of
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and professor of medicine at
"normal" is too broad, the boundaries are too blurred. Few of
Harvard Medical School. Like Zahalsky, like Carnow, Schloss-
the Zahalsky-Carnow tests were repeated, Schlossman points
man studies and diagnoses the immune system. The similarity
out, and of the few that were, none showed consistent abnor-
ends there. When asked about Carnow, Schlossman responds
malities. Even the single readings presented no coherent picture
with a short chuckle and then a long sigh.
of impaired immunity. Three claimed abnormalities involved
In print, however, Schlossman works with the swift, sharp
trivial elevations, insignificant in themselves but in any event
precision of a surgical knife. In 1989, he published a postmor-
"clearly inconsistent with 'suppression.' Nine other readings
tem on the Alcolac case in the Toxics Law Reporter. Day-to-day
fell slightly below the "normal" range but were still not re-
living, Schlossman explains, tests the immune system con-
motely low enough to suggest immunosuppression.
stantly, and when the immune system is really in trouble, the
There were, finally, the monoclonal antibody tests-the
symptoms are plain. Real AIDS patients all suffer frequent,
tests that were so high-tech and exotic, so seemingly compel-
unusual, life-threatening infections. They are not, however,
ling, so tremendously significant in the eyes of Carnow and
unusually susceptible to run-of-the-mill infections like colds,
Zahalsky. Nine such tests had been used. Not one, however,
the flu, or bronchitis. Thus, as Schlossman points out, "if a
had been approved for diagnostic uses by the Food and Drug
patient has the kind of routine infections common to most
Administration; all, in fact, bore warnings that they were not
people-even if he complains that he seems to develop one
suitable for any diagnostic purposes. Carnow and Zahalsky
cold or sore throat after another-the astute physician will be
used them anyway. None of the results, according to Schloss-
able to conclude that there is nothing wrong in the immune
man, "even suggest a suppression in any of the plaintiffs'
system without needing any laboratory tests to reach that
immune systems [T]here was no overall pattern to the results
conclusion."
as one would expect if the plaintiffs had all been affected by a
With the exception of Mary Landon, a 71-year-old cancer
common chemical exposure."
patient on chemotherapy, none of the Alcolac patients had
suffered from any kind of recurrent infection at all. "The
inquiry should therefore have stopped right there," Schlossman
O
n one test, nine plaintiffs had results above the reference
concludes. "Without any resulting infections, the finding of
range, and four had results below the reference range. One
damaged immune systems-whether that damage be called
plaintiff had a slightly elevated response to one test, and a
'dysfunction,' 'suppression,' 'depression,' 'total suppression,'
slightly depressed response to the next, "even though those two
or some of the more colorful phrases, makes no scientific
tests are supposed to measure the same thing-total T cells."
sense." Only the elderly cancer patient on chemotherapy
Two other tests were also supposed to measure the same
clearly did have immune-system problems.
thing-natural killer cells-but only one plaintiff had results
In the great tradition of far-siders, Carnow has dodged and
out of the reference range on both.
bobbed his way around this simple, devastating point. In his
A similar degree of confusion surrounded another antibody
Alcolac testimony, he has explained away the absence of infec-
test, which reportedly detected 14 abnormalities. Carnow
tion with what Schlossman terms the "amazing contention" that
testified that one patient's results showed "immature, unpro-
B-cell deficiencies lead to recurrent infection but T-cell defi-
grammed lymphocytes, probably pre-leukemic cells." Schloss-
ciencies don't: "Recurrent infection is the consequence of
man responds: "There is no monoclonal antibody yet
B-cell abnormality, since the B system is that arm of the
developed which is capable of detecting 'pre-leukemic cells' in
immune mechanism which relates to infections. [Linda Sand-
the peripheral blood." There were other errors, ranging from
ers's] abnormality, as with most of the Alcolac plaintiffs, was
trivial to gross. Natural killers, Zahalsky's statements
to the T cells-and they tend to relate to very specific types of
notwithstanding, are not part of the T-4 population. HNK-L,
infections, like tuberculosis and things like that, and they relate
Zahalsky notwithstanding, "is by no means a helper-cell anti-
more to destroying cancer cells."
body." And so on down the line, as Schlossman dismantles one
Here, in reply, is Schlossman: "This testimony is nothing
mumbled, misdirected, mistaken claim after another.
more than scientific bamboozlement. Not only were all tests of
Schlossman writes with a certain quiet authority on the
Linda Sanders's T cells normal-and not only did she not have
subject. Most of the monoclonal tests relied on by Carnow and
a 'very specific type of infection like tuberculosis and things
Zahalsky had been developed by Schlossman's own research
like that' (whatever that means)-but it is utter nonsense to
team at Harvard. Researchers in Schlossman's lab were also the
suggest that an abnormality of cells does not lead to recurrent
first to describe the T4/T8 or helper/suppressor ratio, on which
infections. One only needs to think of AIDS patients to realize
Carnow placed great emphasis. "[T]he expert testimony in
that. As a result of their loss of T-helper cells, AIDS patients
Alcolac was not only outside the mainstream of science,"
suffer many repeated and severe infections."
Schlossman concludes, "it was outside its widest perimeter."
And what about the piles of laboratory tests and pages of
So if it's all so obvious, why couldn't Alcolac's lawyers
numbers? Laboratory tests of the immune system's condition
convince a jury? We will never know. But we do know what
commonly produce results that vary from day to day, and from
convinced the appellate judges. And their reasoning, set out at
individual to individual, by 400 percent or more. There is no
exhausting length, does show how intelligent people can some-
OCTOBER 1991
reason 29
times slide helplessly into junk science's flaccid embrace.
methodology used by Carnow to arrive at diagnosis for each
Alcolac's biggest mistake seems to have been to rely for its
plaintiff here-that of differential diagnosis of risk variables
side of the scientific story on a middle-of-the-road expert,
and confounding factors as to each individual plaintiff-was
inclined (like good scientists generally) to caution and under-
the orthodox methodology of environmental medicine
We
statement: Daniel J. Stechschulte, M.D., a board-certified im-
reject, accordingly, the Alcolac contention that the diagnostic
munologist and internist, and director of the Division of
procedure [was] a new methodology not generally accepted 'in
Allergy, Clinical Immunology, and Rheumatology at the Uni-
the relevant scientific community."
versity of Kansas Medical Center.
As any competent immunologist will readily concede,
chemicals can harm the immune system. Drugs used in
T
he relevant scientific community, however, has other
chemotherapy and for organ transplants certainly do. Very high
views. Though the clinical ecologists say otherwise, their
exposures to chemicals in industrial accidents may on occasion
claims have not been ignored by mainstream science. Far from
have similar effects, though moderate and short-lived.
it-they have been reviewed in depth. The results of such
Stechschulte is competent, and he was skillfully cross-ex-
examinations have been remarkably consistent: Clinical
amined. What about the specific
ecology is medical fantasy, not fact.
chemicals used at Alcolac's plant? Yes,
Most tellingly, the theory finds no con-
they might in some circumstances be
firmation in studies of people who have
toxic to human cells. And to immune-
Chemicals can harm
been exposed to chemicals at levels mil-
system cells? Well, they could be toxic
lions of times higher than those en-
to any cells. And if plaintiffs aren't
countered through environmental
suffering from any unusual infections
pollution. Serious epidemiologists have
quite yet, mightn't those infections
immune system.
studied immune-system responses follow-
materialize later? Yes, disease might
ing high exposures to suspect chemicals
"be just later down the road." Mean-
after accidental spills in the United States,
ingless concessions, because they are
Italy, Japan, and Taiwan. Several of these
so sweeping and vague, but perhaps
There were
accidents involved enormously high expo-
highly significant for someone who is
sures. Serious follow-up studies tracked
eager to be persuaded.
various aspects of the immune system for
The appellate judges, in any event,
many years. As of 1987, with data going
are persuaded. Immunologists for both
chemicals at the
back 40 years, "there had been no pub-
sides agree that "toxic chemicals of the
lished evidence of disease resulting from
kind emitted by Alcolac can adversely
impaired humoral or cell-mediated immu-
affect the immune system." The num-
nity in the subjects studied."
bers seal the verdict. What is outside
the "normal" range is "abnormal." An
Alcolac plant.
A review paper thus concluded, "In light
of the great excess of immunologic capac-
"abnormality" is a disease-actual, in-
ity in the human and the compensatory
cipient, prospective, or whatever, but
shifts in response to injury that are known
an injury any way.you slice it. No need,
to occur in the immune system, it is un-
then, to dwell on the details, on dosages
Case closed.
likely that significant irreversible damage
and exposure levels, on the vast differ-
to the immune system has occurred" as a
ences between chemotherapeutic
result of any of these exposures. Good
drugs and ambient pollution, on the
science has quite firmly established that,
vapid generality of such phrases as "can be toxic to cells." Pure
though scads of toxins might theoretically harm immune-sys-
oxygen or water, as any competent scientist would readily
tem cells and proteins, only a very few, usually delivered
concede, "can be toxic to cells" too, but no matter. Just grab a
intimately, knock out immune response while leaving no vis-
few mildly general concessions from the defendant's side and
ible marks on other body systems.
run. The colorful confidence of a Carnow or a Zahalsky, their
In a systematic examination of 50 patients that clinical
"completely zapped" and "chemical AIDS" diagnoses, their
ecologists had diagnosed as sufferers, Abba I. Terr of the
mind-numbing arrays of mumbo-jumbo charts, tests, and ta-
Stanford University Medical Center found that "[n]o pattern of
bles, overwhelm the diffidence of a serious scientist on the
symptoms emerged to define a disease or syndrome." Physical
other side.
examinations proved completely normal in two out of three
So the appellate judges go firmly on record-in 371 pages,
cases. Laboratory tests showed nothing out of the ordinary
no less-endorsing Zahalsky, Carnow, and the clinical-ecology
either. Thirty-one patients were found to have multiple symp-
movement from beginning to end. On appeal, Alcolac's brief
toms "most likely of psychological origin The circulating
has attacked clinical ecology as "pseúdo-scientific flimflam."
levels of immunoglobulins and lymphocytes in this subgroup
It's nothing of the sort, replies the appellate court. "[T]he
of patients did not differ significantly from those in the other
30 reason
OCTOBER 1991
two, subgroups or in normal persons when the effects of prior
characterizes the clinical ecologists today is their activist faith.
infections were taken into account." None of the patients was
Carnow exhorts the modern physician to political action.
"cured" by the clinical ecologists' ministrations; "in fact, the
"Whether the defense or the plaintiff wins," admits another
number of symptoms reported by most of these patients signif-
like-minded colleague, "we're going to be much more careful
icantly increase after such treatment, probably reflecting in-
in the future about the way we use toxic chemicals as a result
creasing fear of other possible environmental hazards."
of my involvement in toxic tort litigation, and that's my
In 1984, a task force appointed by the California Medical
purpose in this game." Many concede, more or less directly,
Association conducted an independent review of the clinical-
that faith must come before the facts. Carnow allows that "[a]
ecology literature. Clinical ecologists presented their claims
heightened level of consciousness" about the links between
and specifically identified three of the best papers in their field.
environment and disease "is critical to considering the 'disease
Two of those papers, the task force found, failed to define the
syndrome.'
disease being diagnosed or treated and failed to use proper
Anthony Z. Roisman, a plaintiff's lawyer, is just a shade
controls. One claimed to have used double-blind testing but, in
more careful in his credo: "[D]o I believe that immune damage
fact, did not. One reported results that had been crudely fiddled.
is caused by toxic chemicals for which plaintiffs can recover in
And so on, through the three model papers and the rest of the
court. Believe in it? Hell, I've seen it done. I believe." That
clinical-ecology literature. "There is no convincing evidence
is what clinical ecology comes down to. There is no science
that supports the hypotheses on which clinical ecology is
here, but none is needed. As one mainstream student of the cult
based," the task force concluded. "[C]linical ecologists have
has concluded, the clinical-ecology syndrome "constitutes a
not identified specific, recognizable diseases caused by expo-
belief and not a disease." Unlike his patient, or at least unlike
sure to low-level environmental stressors."
his patient's immune system, the clinical ecologist himself is
A 1986 assessment of clinical ecology by the American
an outlier, an aberration, a living example of dysfunction and
Academy of Allergy and Immunology reached similar conclu-
pathology. He is perfectly adapted, in other words, to modern-
sions. "The idea that the environment is responsible for a
day testifying. He is adept at prevaricating, playing on credu-
multitude of human health problems is most appealing," it
lity, scoring verbal points, forgetting inconvenient data, and
acknowledged. But there is no "satisfactory evidence to sup-
dredging up convenient anecdotes. He has experience with
port the actual existence of 'immune system dysregulation' or
persuading, for his clinical practice depends entirely on per-
maladaptation Properly controlled studies defining objective
suading patients first that they are sick, then that they have been
parameters of illness, properly controlled evaluation of the
cured. He has vast experience with conflict, for he is forever in
treatment modalities, and appropriate patient assessment have
conflict with his mainstream cousins.
not been done." The "diagnostic and therapeutic principles
He survives only by hiding and equivocating, for good
used to support the concept of clinical ecology" are "unprov-
science deals ruthlessly with error presented directly in the
en." One by one, other mainstream medical journals examined
open. He is not about to be sandbagged on cross-examination,
clinical ecology and found no "there" there.
for he has survived that sort of attack countless times before.
Through it all, he remains, in the words of Dr. Elliot F. Ellis, a
S
"generally quite charming, often charismatic, reasonable-
o what maintains the faith of the clinical ecologists and
sounding physician with a definite evangelical bent." He will
their patients? Some, especially among the patients, cer-
be, in short, an excellent witness in court.
tainly have an eye on litigation. Terr's systematic examination
He will need to be. Let us visit with Bertram Carnow one
of 50 consecutive patients referred for reevaluation of a clini-
last time. Yes, in court again-where else?-but this time
cal-ecology diagnosis found that 43 were pressing worker's
appearing not as a witness but as a defendant. The plaintiff is
compensation claims and two others were pursuing tort claims
one Paul L. Pratt, Esq., no stranger to courtrooms either, for
against chemical manufacturers. Only five, apparently, had no
Pratt is a plaintiff's lawyer and Carnow's one-time employer.
specific financial interest in being sick, and one of those was
According to published reports about the suit, Carnow "mis-
involved in child-custody litigation.
represented to Pratt the number of times he failed the board
In other cases, patients undoubtedly are sick, distressingly
examination in Internal Medicine and, in addition, lied under
so, but the illness is not centered in their immune systems. A
oath about it."
1983 paper by psychiatrist Carroll M. Brodsky describes her
Pratt claims that had he known the facts, he would never
examination of eight clinical-ecology patients. "[M]ost have a
have hired Carnow. Since Carnow's credibility as an expert
history of overt psychiatric symptoms," Brodsky reports. "All
witness is now ruined, Pratt refuses to pay $643,935.20 in
too frequently they are seen by the same network of physicians
outstanding promissory notes to Carnow, demands reimburse-
who subscribe to clinical ecology, and their self-perception and
ment of payments already made amounting to $1,624,596.29,
diagnosis of 'allergic' to most substances have become an
and seeks over $15,000 in punitive damages. Carnow, for his
organizing principle in their lives, central to their identity and
part, is suing elsewhere for full payment.
life-style."
Money surely contributes to clinical ecologists' zealotry, but
Peter W. Huber is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute
it is probably not their principal incentive. What most clearly
and a columnist for Forbes.
OCTOBER 1991
reason 31
STINS
OFFANI
TENDER
AND PRIVATE
737
GIVING 'TIL
WASHINGTO
IT HURTS
1789
L8C
HOW THE
UNITED JEWISH APPEAL
GULLS DIASPORA JEWS
INTO SUPPORTING
CORRUPTION AND
SERIES
Vice
1988
SOCIALISM IN ISRAEL.
By Barry Chamish
nic
t's Yom Kippur, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar. The
author of Charity USA, to call it "probably the most successful
synagogue is crowded with congregants, their minds focused
money-making machine in the history of philanthropy." Non-
by fasting and prayer. For several hours they've been absorbed
profit Times reports that less than 7 percent of the UJA's budget
in introspection, confessing their sins and asking forgiveness.
is spent on fund raising and administrative expenses. "The UJA
Now it's time for another annual ritual. A speaker ascends the
runs a lean operation, and its fund-raising record is spotless,"
podium while ushers distribute envelopes to the congregation.
writes Wall Street Journal reporter Cynthia Crossen.
Each envelope contains a card with tabs indicating various
But the UJA's reputation for effectiveness rests almost en-
dollar amounts. The speaker exhorts the congregants to fold
tirely on its ability to collect money. Rarely does anyone take
down the tabs. By doing so, they promise to donate money to
a close look at what happens to that money once it gets to Israel,
the United Jewish Appeal. Their generosity won necessarily
where it's filtered through a cumbersome bureaucracy that is
expiate all those sins they've been cataloging. But it can't hurt.
closely tied to a socialist system. Along the way, the flow is
Or can it? North American Jews contribute about half a
diverted by political cronies, redundant workers, and monopo-
billion dollars a year to Israel, mainly through the UJA. In late
listic contractors. The trickle that finally makes its way to the
1990 and early 1991, the organization raised $1.2 billion,
intended recipients is more disappointing than the Jordan River
capitalizing on Saddam Hussein's Scud missiles and the wave
in summertime.
of Soviet immigration to Israel. In addition to Yom Kippur
The appalling inefficiency of private aid to Israel is instruc-
appeals, the UJA's techniques include telephone networks,
tive for anyone interested in helping formerly socialist coun-
pledge dinners, donor books, and special trips to Israel for big
tries make the transition to capitalism. Most free-market
givers. The UJA's fund-raising prowess has led Carl Bakal,
advocates recognize that government-to-government aid, such
32 reason
OCTOBER 1991
as that proposed for the Soviet
SSSSSSSSSSSSS PRIVATE AID TO ISRAEL PROPS UP
Union, is wasteful and counterpro-
ductive. But they may be too quick
A HUGE BUREAUCRACY AND STIFLES NEEDED
to assume that private efforts are, by
contrast, sensible and cost-effective.
FREE-MARKET REFORMS. SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS$
The example of Israel shows that
when private aid is distributed by a quasi-governmental body,
heard a good public-relations plan. They asked me to work for
when the money is spent in a rigidly controlled economy, and
free, since no money was allotted to carry out the project.
when charity comes with no strings attached, the results are
Hundreds of agency workers are severely underemployed
every bit as disastrous as any government boondoggle.
but nevertheless draw good salaries. More than 700 are emis-
saries (shlichim) sent to cities around the world to convince
T
Jews to immigrate to Israel. Many are former military officers
he demeaning effects of the $1.2 billion in economic aid
or obedient civil servants rewarded for faithful service with
that Israel receives each year from the U.S. government
meaningless posts abroad. Most Jews who immigrate to Israel
have been well documented by several commentators. The
come from places like the Soviet Union and Ethiopia, because
money covers a deficit caused mostly by a repressive economic
things are much worse there. The emissaries to Western cities
system. (See "Perestroika in the Promised Land?," October
are a waste of money, yet American donors to the UJA and other
1990.) Israel's aid addiction is prolonging badly needed free-
organizations continue to pay for them.
market reforms and propping up a huge bureaucracy, making
When my wife immigrated to Israel from Scotland, the
the lives of Israelis needlessly difficult.
details were arranged by an emissary in Glasgow, a city with
But a comparable amount of money enters Israel through
all of 5,000 Jews. In a given year, he deals with no more than
private donations, and the effects are the same: corruption,
a dozen immigrants. He goes on speaking engagements to earn
nepotism, and slothfulness. The intention of these charitable
spare cash and costs donors to Israel tens of thousands of dollars
donations is to reduce poverty, but poverty continues to grow,
a year in salary, rent, travel, and administrative expenses.
in no small part because of too much charity.
A friend of mine once lived with a woman whom the Jewish
American donors commonly believe that Israelis are poor
Agency sent to the United States to recruit immigrants. She
because they spend so much on defense. The $6 billion that
found a microwave oven in New York that she wanted to take
Israel spends each year on defense is about 20 percent of the
back to Israel, but it was out of stock. Her schedule had her
GNP. But subtract U.S. military aid to Israel, and Israelis spend
ending her tour in Los Angeles and returning from there to Tel
about the same per capita on defense as Americans do. The truth
Aviv. In the middle of the trip, using her agency expense
is that the Israeli economy is hobbled by heavy regulation, price
account, she flew back to New York to buy her oven. Now for
controls, oppressive taxation, state-sanctioned monopolies,
every batch of microwave popcorn she makes, she can thank
and huge trade barriers. The well-intentioned efforts of Amer-
American donors to Israeli causes.
ican donors perpetuate Israel's dependence on handouts, while
While some employees get perks and generous salaries for
failing to help those truly in need.
doing next to nothing, there never seems to be enough money
The failure can be traced largely to the quasi-governmental
to pay those who do the real work. Esther-who works for the
Jewish Agency, which distributes the money raised by the UJA
agency for a paltry sum while her boss draws a huge salary, gets
and similar organizations. The Jewish Agency predates the
free use of a Volvo, and goes on twice-yearly "exploratory"
state of Israel; it was the governing body of the Jewish commu-
trips abroad-describes a rebellion in her office. The staff
nity in Palestine until 1948. With an official working budget of
demanded a pay raise. The boss said that was impossible but
more than $800 million, the agency manages to run a deficit
suggested that each worker fill out overtime forms, which he
every year, and the interest on its debt is covered by American
would approve. Esther says such fraud is commonplace.
philanthropy. (Moreover, the Israeli government borrows aid
money from the UJA to cover its deficits.)
High personnel costs are one reason for the Jewish Agency's
A
nother source of waste is the misuse of money in construc-
profligate spending; the organization is full of deadwood. Re-
tion projects. For the last 13 years, much of the UJA's
strictive labor laws make firing an agency worker with tenure
money has been directed at a worthy experiment called Project
almost impossible, and much American money goes to feed and
Renewal. An American community adopts an impoverished
house redundant workers. Years ago, for example, the agency
Israeli community and raises funds to rehabilitate it. Last year,
hired a general and war hero for a public-relations job. Politics
The Jerusalem Post sent me to cover the dedication of a
in the agency changed, and he was no longer wanted. But labor
$2.5-million community center in Gan Yavne built with money
rules kept him at his post, and today he runs an office with a
from Winnipeg donors.
secretary and a minimal budget. Another agency employee
I had previously reported on a dozen Project Renewal com-
continues to earn a salary as an editor even though his cultural
munities, but none was like Gan Yavne. In terms of the size of
journal has ceased publication.
the homes and the lots they were built on, the place is little
I once sat in a meeting with these two people in which I
different from New Rochelle, New York. I wrote that this was
OCTOBER 1991
reason 33
SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSKEEPING STORIES OF
tains a firm grip on the American
Jewish press by outright ownership
CORRUPTION AND INEFFICIENCY FROM THE
or heavy subsidization through
advertising. It plants stories in the
AMERICAN JEWISH PUBLIC IS AN OBSESSION FOR
Jewish papers about UJA activities
that appeal to donors but have noth-
THE
UJA.
ing to do with the reality in Israel.
"The Jewish press has kept
the least deserving recipient of foreign aid imaginable. In
American Jews totally ignorant about Israel," says Joel Bain-
retaliation, Keren Yesod (UJA-Canada) launched a smear
erman, a former economics editor for The Jerusalem Post who
campaign against me. One letter to the Post, from a Keren
frequently speaks to American audiences. "They're shocked
Yesod official, warned me not to set foot in Winnipeg, as if
when I explain the extent of the official corruption and even
the UJA ran the town.
more shocked when I tell them what role American money is
playing in the downfall of Israel's morality. No one has even
P
hinted to them that there may be a relation between access to
roject Renewal donors in Montreal also have reason to
huge amounts of unearned cash and hanky-panky."
doubt that their money is being put to its best use. In 1989,
In its efforts to draw a rosy picture of Israel, the UJA finds
former City Councilor Jeff Halper and Idelle Ross, a reporter
no shortage of flacks. It pays writers well, and virtually every
with Israel Radio, began to wonder what was happening to the
English-language writer in Israel has worked for the organiza-
millions donated by citizens of Montreal to uplift the slums of
tion at one time or another. I'm no exception-I worked for the
central Jerusalem. It seemed that little was being done to
UJA in the mid-'80s for more than a year. Shale Siegel, an
improve the neighborhood. They investigated and discovered
ex-officer who was then the UJA's editor, warned me: "Don't
that the project's Israeli director, Dan Waxman, was drawing a
make the mistake of believing you're actually going to be
salary of $120,000 annually. (The average Israeli salary is
writing. You'll arrange words the way we want them. Most
about $8,000.) The monthly rent for the project's office was
writers don't last more than half a year, so don't think this is
$2,000. After the Israeli media publicized these facts, Project
long-term employment."
Renewal's Montreal office fired Waxman and moved the
I liked him, and so did most of the writers. But the sheer
Jerusalem headquarters.
fabrication stabbed at the conscience so deeply that most did
A year later, Ross was reporting for Israel TV news on the
quit within months. One writer had her fill when, she says, "I
dedication of a new recreation center funded by Montreal
had to quote a kid saying he wanted to grow up to be a doctor.
donors. The first 15 seconds of her one-minute report were
The kid wanted to drive a bus, but that doesn't tug at the
spent on a glowing official description of the good that this
heartstrings. So I changed 'bus driver' to 'doctor' for them."
piece of tarmac would do for the residents of the area. The rest
The UJA wants to depict Israel as a sort of Long Island set
of the report consisted of comments from residents, who
in the Middle East. The fact that Israel's answer to the Demo-
demanded to know why millions of dollars had been spent to
crats, the Labor Party, has not won a national election in 14
buy so little. After the first 15 seconds aired, a sudden technical
years does not deter the UJA from hiring as speakers such
glitch wiped out the rest of the report.
has-beens as Abba Eban and Teddy Kollek, who are well paid
The real beneficiaries of Project Renewal largess are the
for dinner engagements. Most American Jews have no idea
neighborhood administrators. In two cases I investigated in
how despised Labor Party leader Shimon Peres is in Israel, nor
Jerusalem, the local technocrats who handled the applications
do they have any clue as to the scope of the corruption that
from residents seeking money for renovations were closely
brought the demise of Labor and is slowly eating away at the
associated with radical political groups (one actually called
credibility of the ruling Likud coalition.
"the Black Panthers") and allegedly had criminal ties. A num-
When a UJA group lands in Israel, it is treated to a show
ber of American communities woke up to the shenanigans and
designed to reinforce false images. Although Sephardic music,
established better oversight, but others continued to naively
by performers such as Ofra Chazeh, has almost totally replaced
trust the Israelis who get the checks.
the European melodies, Americans are entertained with de-
Every four years, when the Jewish Agency elects its execu-
cades-old hora songs. Although the kibbutz movement is $4
tive, American fund-raisers try to take over the organization.
billion in debt and some two-thirds of its young people are
They argue that money is being seriously misallocated and
abandoning it, Americans are taken to a rare successful kibbutz
deep reforms are needed in a hurry. But the agency is an Israeli
to witness the reclaiming of the land.
organization, and years of political appointments make a
On Project Renewal visits, the prettiest girls in town hand
takeover very difficult. After each failed coup, the new Israeli
out roses, and later the townspeople, safely cordoned off from
director fires a lot of low-level staff to prove he's serious about
the Americans, join the dedication ceremony. Speakers, includ-
reform, but the executives drawing huge salaries stay in place.
ing the mayor and other politicians, mostly from Labor, express
Keeping stories of corruption and inefficiency from the
gratitude for the Americans' generosity, and then a cute child-
American Jewish public is an obsession for the UJA. It main-
ren's choir performs a few songs of praise.
34 reason
OCTOBER 1991
The UJA groups are called "missions." There are Singles'
doctors will arrive from the Soviet Union this year. In order to
Missions, Dentists' Missions, and, my favorite, the Hollywood
earn a living, many of the doctors will have to be retrained in
Artists' Mission. By the time I interviewed Jack Lemmon, he
Western methods. Branover estimates that 2,000 of the en-
had been moved to tears by the UJA-orchestrated schmaltz. The
gineers will bring original ideas with them that will die unless
UJA likes to take missions to an air force or army base, give
backing is found for development and the engineers are trained
them a tour or demonstration, and invite them to a lecture by a
in Western patent and marketing methods.
middle-level officer. The visitors leave convinced they have
Here is an area where the UJA and other philanthropic
been privy to top-level military information.
organizations could make a real difference. Until now they
All the inconvenient facts of Israeli life remain hidden. If
have built tennis courts, day-care centers, old-age homes, and
money is needed to aid new Soviet immigrants, no one will find
the like. Opening a college for Soviet engineers might actually
out about the bungling and political infighting that is pre-
lead to the development of products, construction of factories,
venting new construction to house these people. If funds are
and creation of jobs. Of course, these people would wean
needed to upgrade housing, no one will discover that the
themselves from any need for charity, and that's bad for the
housing is falling apart because of shoddy construction, pay-
fund-raising business. "Charity organizations don't want
offs, and inferior materials. Critical thinking is smothered, lest
people to better themselves without their help," Bainerman
it ruin the big night when pledges are gathered for donations.
says. "They make Israelis apathetic, and, the worst crime of all,
The big donors are invited on the President's or Prime
they feed a politico-economic system that is strangling the
Minister's Missions. The honored participants share dinner
whole country."
with Israel's president or prime minister, hear a speech, and
But there are changes that could make American donations
donate. Live Aid raised $90 million from a billion music lovers.
work. First, the UJA and anyone else associated with the Jewish
I've seen half that raised in an hour at the close of a Prime
Agency should divorce itself from that organization and create
Minister's Mission.
a completely private charity accountable to every donor.
American donors are motivated partly by a desire to con-
Money should not be allowed to disappear into the Israeli
tribute to Israel's well-being. But another element is prestige.
bureaucracy anymore.
Big donors become the unelected spokespeople of American
Second, the UJA and allied organizations should sell off
Jews. They get to talk to major Israeli politicians and then get
assets such as dental clinics, kindergartens, and nursing homes.
debriefed by members of Congress back home. They get inter-
This would raise money, and it would employ Israelis with the
viewed on Israeli policy by the American media, which tend to
initiative to buy the properties. And, finally, if the UJA is really
equate money with expertise on Middle Eastern affairs. All this
interested in immigration to Israel, providing small-business
raises their status within their communities.
loans to prospective immigrants would be a better investment
than paying unproductive emissaries. Instead of a tax-deduct-
B
ible Project Renewal, the UJA should establish a Project In-
ut American Jews have begun to recognize that they are
dustrial, aimed at creating real income. Donors would have to
being manipulated. The members of the missions look
trade tax write-offs for dividends. "Whenever I lecture abroad,"
older each year, as younger activists become harder to find.
says Bainerman, "I tell the people the biggest favor American
Some projects fail. In 1990, the UJA tried to raise money to
Jews could do for Israel is to stop giving charity and start
bring indigent Soviet Jews from a transit camp in Rome to the
investing in industry."
United States. These Jews held Israeli visas, though they had
About 800 years ago, the great Jewish scholar Maimonides
no intention of going to Israel. This deception was one reason
described eight levels of charity. The lowest, he said, is tossing
very little money was raised to bring them to the United States.
a coin to a beggar. The highest is enabling the beggar to become
Many UJA workers are not committed to Israel as such;
self-reliant by finding him a job, taking him in as a partner, or
rather, they are professional fund-raisers. A failed campaign
lending him the capital to start his own business.
can cost them their jobs. Yet for all the slick selling, they are
That wisdom applies to the Soviet Union and Eastern
not winning converts. In 1973, they raised $1 billion; in recent
Europe as well as Israel. For socialists who want to become
years, the annual average has been about half that. The old
capitalists, the first lesson should be that capitalists do not
tricks are not having the results they used to.
throw money away. By investing instead of subsidizing, Amer-
This year saw a brief revival. The Iraqi missile attacks,
icans can ensure that their money is spent according to the
combined with the wave of Soviet immigrants, pushed total
discipline of the marketplace, rather than the whim of a bureau-
revenue for 1990-91 to $1.2 billion. But not one penny that
crat. Instead of being squandered, it would help create more
arrives in Israel will help create jobs. A lot of the money will
wealth. The output-in profits, jobs, goods, and services—
be used to build homes for immigrants. This work will be
would be greater than the input. Investment is the kind of aid
supervised by Housing Minister Ariel Sharon, who, according
that makes recipients into donors, beggars into employers.
to a recent state controller's report, runs a ministry loaded with
Maimonides would have approved.
high-paying but useless posts for friends and supporters.
Herman Branover, a professor of engineering at Beersheva
Barry Chamish is the author of The Fall of Israel, which will be
University, estimates that 10,000 engineers and almost as many
published in Great Britain in November.
OCTOBER 1991
reason 35
STATE
PURE
ORKED
BEEF
y
CORNED
AMY WASSERMAN WASSE RMAN
BY THOMAS HARVEY HOLT
our kids into
Green.
turning
schools
Are
dn
Recycled Paper
drowing
jKkLIMmNnOoPpQqRrSs
I
n the repentant 1990s, environmentalism is "in." Recy-
includes anadromous fish, evapo-transpiration, eutrophica-
cling, reusable shopping bags, green marketing, and cloth
tion, carrying capacity, and other terms of bureaucratic and
diapers are high fashion. Now the trend is infiltrating the
scientific art. But some other activities augur ill for the future:
primary and secondary schools, where the young generation is
The EPA suggests letter-writing campaigns and consumer boy-
being taught to be "environmentally literate." Ten years ago,
cotts to demonstrate concern for the environment.
one unit of a social-studies or science class or one chapter of a
As the EPA's programs suggest, environmental education
textbook might have been dedicated to ecology. Today, entire
includes a wide range of activities-from perfunctory field
classes and textbooks focus on the environment, and dozens of
trips to nature centers, where students wander along well-worn
activist organizations are working to shape environmental
trails, to calls to activism, in which students are organized to
curricula nationwide. Environmental education has become a
lobby for particular regulations. There are few formal grade-
growth industry.
school environmental texts available, so schools and teachers
The overt activism that can accompany environmental edu-
generally are left to develop their own programs from press
cation is troubling. More subtle, but equally problematic, are
accounts of particular issues and from literature provided by
the assumptions behind the enterprise: that the goal is to teach
environmental and conservation groups.
children how to make political decisions rather than to under-
"There is no set curriculum," says Dan Mattson, who
stand natural processes; that environmental problems neces-
teaches environmental education to elementary students at the
sarily require political (rather than individual or market)
Dowling School, one of three magnet "urban environmental
approaches; and that environmental values should be given
learning centers" in the Minneapolis Public School System.
special weight in trade-offs with jobs, health, safety, con-
"That's part of the problem. There's an abundance of material.
venience, and other factors.
What we have to do is pick and choose."
Unlike previous attempts at issues-oriented education-
such as peace studies-en-
vironmental education seems
The textbooks
to be taking hold, thanks to
T
he textbooks that do exist often impart an extremist
the efforts of environmental
message: If the population explosion doesn't deplete
groups and the Bush adminis-
the world's resources and cause mass starvation, pollution and
often impart
tration. The Environmental
the destruction of the ozone layer will kill us all anyway. Or
Protection Agency's new Of-
more simply, the world would be a great place if it weren't for
an extremist
fice of Environmental Educa-
all the humans.
tion, created under legislation
Scott Foresman's People on Earth: A World Geography
signed last year by President
declares, "Every twenty-four hours more than 3,000 acres of
message: that
Bush, is working to "ensure
green space are lost around this country. Every year adds up to
that topical environmental is-
at least a million acres Its place is being taken by housing,
sues are part of an en-
schools, business, industries, roads, highways." This lament
the world would
vironmental education
seems to assume that "green space"-which, by the way, does
curriculum."
not mean forest land, since that's actually growing-is an
A strategic plan for the of-
unqualified good, always preferable to the places where people
be a great place
fice indicates that it will be
live, learn, work, and travel.
taking its cues from the
Then there is Harper and Row's A People and a Nation, a
if it weren't for
National Wildlife Federation
1981 civics text still in use. It states: "Ugliness, junk, clutter
and other activist organiza-
and noise scream for attention. What solution is there to 'too
tions. The legislation creating
much' of everything? While billions were spent on the moon
all the humans.
the program requires, among
shot and the war in Vietnam, problems of public life mounted.
other things, that the EPA an-
The United States, like other industrial countries, was plagued
nually present a "Rachel Car-
by pollution of the water and the air. and by hideous grave-
son Award," in honor of the
yards of abandoned cars Strong regulations protecting our
author of Silent Spring, the
natural resources and controlling pollution may be needed to
1962 book that described im-
avert a possible ecological disaster. Yet industry sees such
pending environmental
measures as being too restrictive."
catastrophe.
Demand for textbooks to serve these new classes is so strong
So far, the EPA's efforts
that Addison-Wesley, a leading science publisher, revised a
have been more comical than
college text for high school use. Environmental Science: A
worrisome. A suggested en-
Framework for Decision Making is in its second edition, and a
vironmental vocabulary list
third is on the way. The recurrent theme is that people and
for elementary schools dis-
population growth threaten "the survival of human life." The
tributed for Earth Day 1990
text describes Communist China's forced sterilizations and
38 reason
OCTOBER 1991
abortions as "highly successful" and "innovative" programs to
second, four on the third, eight on the fourth, etc. The father,
control population. And while the book does present
calculating that the first week's allowance would be only $1.27,
point/counterpoint sidebars on various issues, little doubt is left
agrees. This is to illustrate exponential growth. After noting that
about which view students are supposed to adopt: "Modern
the world's population doubled between 1950 and 1987, an NSF
industrial society as we know it cannot continue."
exercise guide advises: "The population explosion is the cause
The works of the alarmist Worldwatch Institute's Lester
of many environmental problems These problems are ex-
Brown, described as "superb," figure prominently in suggested
amples of the limits to human growth that we must face. No
reading lists at the end of each chapter of Environmental
amount of technological or cultural intervention can change the
Science. The work of market-oriented economist Julian Simon,
fact that the Earth and its resources are finite."
on the other hand, is described as "an economic projection
based on past trends that many critics doubt will continue."
Despite its title, Environmental Science places nearly as
much emphasis on political action as it does on science. "You
A
gain, the situation is more complex than the exercise
can take political actions," students are told at the end of a
suggests. Economists such as Julian Simon contend
chapter on "Feeding the World's People." "You might chal-
that the problem isn't so much excessive population growth as
lenge current policies that place military demands above agri-
it is inadequate economic growth. Birth rates decline as coun-
cultural and economic development Support politicians who
tries become industrialized. Simon and other scholars argue
take a strong and sensible stand on world hunger. Write the
that the best way to advance the welfare of "overpopulated"
newspapers with your informed opinions. Start or join discus-
countries and to reduce the population explosion is to foster
sion groups emphasizing the need for personal as well as
economic growth, not stifle it. But the NSF exercise omits this
widespread political changes."
view. Simon also takes issue with the idea that we are in
And what might those changes entail? Among other things,
imminent danger of depleting the world's natural resources. He
"converting the current economic system of unlimited growth
notes that the real prices of most raw materials have been falling
to one of steady-state economics. Government can play a major
during this century, repeatedly
role here" because, as the text notes a few pages earlier,
confounding predictions by
"redistribution would yield a more equitable sharing of re-
limits-to-growth doomsayers.
"Understanding"
sources."
Many of those who shape
Environmental Science isn't alone in its call for activism.
the environmental education
Some texts go out of their way to incorporate demands for
curriculum believe that their
that the world is
environmental activism into totally unrelated subjects. For
purpose is not to weigh con-
example, Macmillan's Eastern Hemisphere, a 1990 sixth-grade
flicting facts, values, and theo-
social studies text, leaps in a single sentence from the Code of
ries, but to instill a sense of
going to hell
Hammurabi, a system of laws recorded around 1780 B.C., to
crisis. "Understanding that the
the tale of a present-day environmental activist:
world is going to hell in a
in a handbasket
"The people of Mesopotamia knew that the Tigris and
handbasket is half of en-
Euphrates rivers were valuable sources of life. As you have
vironmental education," says
read, civilization flourished in 'the land between the rivers.'
Ed Clark, president of the
is half of
Even the laws of the Code of Hammurabi warned: 'If a man
Wildlife Center of Virginia,
fails to honor the rivers, he shall not gain life from them.' In
which tries to instill respect of
modern times, people have often failed to remember just how
animals through school as-
environmental
important the environment is. There is, however, a senior
sembly programs.
citizen in Levittown, Pennsylvania, who reminds us of the great
In a draft paper, a special
value of nature. His name is Ray Profitt and he is a one-man
National Science Teachers As-
education," says
environmental hero. When Ray sees people who pollute, or
sociation task force on en-
dirty the environment, he does not look away." It goes on to tell
vironmental education
one activist.
how Profitt tracks down and reports polluters to the authorities.
suggests a three-step ap-
"This sort of thing is common today in textbooks" at all
proach, calling for nominal,
grade levels, says Gilbert Sewall, president of the American
functional, and operational en-
Textbook Council, a private organization that reviews text-
vironmental literacy. Those
books for accuracy and bias.
buzzwords translate approxi-
Teachers looking for techniques to teach environmental
mately to: general respect for
courses encounter the same messages. One popular exercise,
nature and a gut-level knowl-
suggested by the National Science Foundation, is "The Foolish
edge of man's impact on the
Daughter," which begins with the story of a father who com-
environment (nominal);
plains that $10 is too much for a weekly allowance. His
broader knowledge of the en-
daughter offers him a deal: one penny the first day, two on the
vironment, the ability to ana-
OCTOBER 1991
reason 39
lyze environmental problems and issues on the "basis of sound
eral and city legislation that will prohibit the release of CFCs.
evidence and personal values and ethics," communicating find-
They have created a KIDS S.T.O.P. Starter Kit for teachers or
ings to others, and taking some remedial action on issues of
students which includes blank petitions, personal letters,
particular individual concern (functional); and individual and
pledges and a list of suggested projects."
political action (operational).
"Now what the hell does a second-grader know about
While the first two steps are arguably worthwhile, the third
chlorofluorocarbons?" asks Jack Padalino, president of the
is nothing more than a call to get students involved in political
Pocono Environmental Education Center and chairman of the
battles, a call that will find a ready audience among at least
NSTA task force. There's a difference, says Padalino, "between
some teachers. Indeed, some educators have already turned
an environmentalist and an educator. An environmentalist is an
their classrooms into centers of activism. In an article in The
advocate But the people in schools should be environmental
Science Teacher, Edna Figueroa, a biology teacher at H.M.
educators presenting the balanced view, nonadvocacy."
King High School in Kingsville, Texas, suggests these exer-
In fact, many educators do try to be fair. When Bev Jones's
cises: "Explain the environmental and health problems as-
son Tony told her that Earth First! had made a presentation to
sociated with incineration of wastes on land"; and "Prepare a
his fourth-grade class in Blue River, Oregon, she became quite
bill for consideration by your state legislature that will protect
upset. His father is a timberman who has little affection for an
a particular area of the environment your community is con-
organization that allegedly spikes trees. After Mrs. Jones called
cerned about."
the principal to discuss the matter, however, the school agreed
At Kenai Peninsula Borough School District in Alaska,
to allow a presentation by an industry group.
reports NEA Today, sixth-grade teacher Zada Friedersdorff has
had her students construct miniature "landfills" in glass bottles
to observe how garbage rots. The students will submit their
findings to the local landfill "in the hopes of improving
B
ut the difference between activism and education is
garbage disposal."
often subtle. It involves more than allowing compet-
"Ah! Building good protesters!" responds Sewall, of the
ing interest groups to present their wares. And political action
American Textbook Council.
can find its way into much environmental education-even the
"This is a new kind of citizen-
fairest and most evenhanded.
KIDS S.T.O.P.
ship course, isn't it? Instead of
Consider the way Mary Boeni teaches her elective course
helping old ladies across the
"Science, Technology, and Society" to juniors and seniors at
is working to
street, we go and present a bill
Springfield High School in Springfield Delco, Pennsylvania.
of particulars to the local land-
She tries to present students with a balanced view of en-
fill operator and presumably
vironmental issues. "I call it the PMI breakdown-the Plus,
save the planet
lobby at the local level for
Minus, Interesting or Unresolved. And with that, we look at
amelioration, some kind of re-
known facts, good points, bad points, and information that we
form of some terrible local
have and 'what are we going to do with it?'
from ozone
atrocity. I don't mean to be
Using the Socratic method, Boeni gets students to list what
facetious, but I think en-
they see as the pluses and minuses of, say, nuclear power. Low
vironmental education does
air-pollution emissions might be a plus for nuclear power, and
depletion.
just fine when it sticks to ap-
waste disposal and the "fear factor" might be minuses. She
plied science and descriptive
sometimes breaks the class into groups, which must list the pros
But what do
analysis of some of the major
and cons of some project-a trash-to-energy plant, for in-
problems."
stance-and arrive at a unanimous "go" or "no-go" decision.
Nor do the young lobbyists
The class-as-collective approach suggests that these consensus
second-graders
stick to local issues. Second-
processes are how decision making works, or ought to work,
graders at P.S. 174 in Rego
in the real world. While particular solutions to environmental
Park, Queens, New York,
problems may be challenged, this approach leaves children
know about CFCs?
founded the national KIDS
with the impression that most environmental problems should
Save The Ozone Project
be solved by the political process. The course would be im-
(S.T.O.P.). "They are working
proved by making this assumption explicit and examining it.
to 'save the planet' from the
"IfI had my druthers, there would be kids writing legislators
deadly effects of ozone deple-
saying do this, and there would be kids writing legislators
tion caused by continuing re-
saying do that," says Joe Premo, Minneapolis's coordinator of
lease of chlorofluorocarbons,
elementary science education. "If I've done my job, I would
or CFCs, into the atmosphere,"
expect kids to come up with different points of view. And they
reports Science Scope, a pub-
might take political action on a variety of points of view."
lication of the NSTA. "The
Premo's main concern is that teachers should not use their
children are supporting fed-
positions to push their own viewpoints: "I think getting first-
40 reason
OCTOBER 1991
graders to picket city hall is probably not appropriate," he says.
that it was better to do that which appears to be environmentally
"That tends to be using kids for adult agendas." But he does
sensitive than that which really is."
promote political action, especially by older students. "I think
getting them involved in accessing the political system is a
logical extension of what you are doing." The problem is that
by stressing activism as a solution to environmental problems,
I
t's possible to teach about the environment without in-
educators implicitly urge their students to get involved in
doctrinating students into eco-activism. For younger stu-
green politics.
dents, schools can teach how sewage treatment plants work,
what is involved in recycling, and how ecosystems work. They
can, in short, teach science rather than public policy.
A
High-school students, on the other hand, can grapple with
nd not everyone is as evenhanded as Premo or
some of the public policy implications of environmental con-
Boeni. Some teachers get upset when kids make
troversies. Teachers should deal with all of the important ques-
individual decisions about environmental issues-especially
tions: Does a problem exist? If so, how should we decide on
when those decisions involve concrete actions. Unlike nuclear
how to deal with it? And are the cures more costly than the
energy or endangered species, recycling is something students
disease? Gilbert Sewall suggests a debate format. "Not a loaded
can control themselves. And most teachers seem to have taken
debate, where everyone knows there is a right answer, but a
a cue from Wilford Brimley and presented recycling as "the
kind of 'according to this view x, and according to that view y,
right thing to do."
and some people weigh in with z.
Deborah Rubinstein's eighth-grade class at South Mil-
Joe Premo's Dowling School tries an approach similar to the
waukee Junior High School conducted a newspaper-recycling
one suggested by Sewall. For instance, the school often asks an
lab as part of the Earth Day 1990 celebration. The students
architect "to talk about how to do building, what materials to
made recycled paper "to model the process that reclaims the
use and all that. And each of those kinds of decisions is a
waste paper that we hope their families will save and take to
trade-off-you need strength, you need durability, you need to
recycling centers." More common are school recycling clubs
worry about pollution, will it
and other programs that encourage students to recycle news-
ever decay-the whole recy-
papers, glass bottles, and aluminum cans.
cling business is a very impor-
Most teachers,
Such programs don't always consider such messy details as
tant part of this particular
the toxic sludge produced by deinking newspapers or the
school. We have to trade off
taking a cue from
high energy costs of driving old bottles to glass-recycling
convenience for pollution. Do
plants. And they present recycling not as one choice among
we want to do that, and what
many but as a requirement of good citizenship-and perhaps
are some other options that we
Wilford Brimley,
of the class itself.
have?"
Take the Los Angeles boy who announced to his parents that
Premo's approach suggests
henceforth he wanted his lunch packed in reusable Tupper-
that environmental education
present recycling
ware-style containers; he cited plastic sandwich bags and juice
can be taught impartially. But
boxes as especially wasteful. His father pointed out that there
too often, environmental edu-
are disadvantages to reusable packaging. A juicé container
cation, unlike history or math-
as "the right
might spill, but a juice box couldn't be opened until lunch. And
ematics, leads to some form of
besides, he told the boy, come disposal time a plastic bag takes
action, whether it be petition-
up very little space, while a plastic container may not crush so
thing to do"
ing state legislators or choos-
well when it's eventually thrown out.
ing to recycle. That's the
After reconsidering the options, the boy took his lunch to
unstated goal of many teach-
-a requirement of
school the next day in the usual manner-sandwiches in plastic
ers, even some of the best
bags, juice in a box, and so on. When the teacher wanted to
ones. "You want to have
know why he hadn't followed her suggestions, he recounted
people exhibit behaviors that
good citizenship.
the conversation with his father. When the father went to pick
guarantee that the environ-
up the boy that afternoon, the teacher told him, "I heard what
ment is going to be here, an
you told [your son]. I really wish you wouldn't interfere. We're
environment that's healthful
trying to make the children more environmentally sensitive."
and healing," says Jack
The father explained that he thought the way his son's lunch
Padalino. "That's ultimately
was packed was in fact environmentally sensitive and that the
what it is about."
teacher's facts about juice boxes and lunch bags were wrong.
"That may well be," she said. "But it's what we are teaching
Thomas Harvey Holt is as-
them, and I wish you wouldn't interfere."
sistant editorial page editor of
"It was actually rather amusing," says the man. "She thought
the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
OCTOBER 1991
42 reason
SUSAN LAPIDES
c
H
c
E
CHALLENGES
Opposition to
public-school choice
is fading,
t seems like a dream come true. To longtime advocates of
media. If choice advocates go too
competition in American education, the much-publicized
far, too fast, their reforms-vital
but daunting
adoption of Polly Williams's voucher plan in Milwaukee and
to educational improvement and
the release earlier this year of President Bush's choice-driven
therefore to America's future-
education strategy seem to form the crest of a long-awaited
could fail.
wave of reform, soon to crash through the rickety edifice of the
obstacles await
So far, most choice programs
public-education establishment. New Secretary of Education
have been limited to public
Lamar Alexander and Deputy Secretary David Kearns are
schools, with competition further
strongly pitching a parental-choice program encompassing pri-
restricted by bureaucratic bar-
those who
vate and religious schools, using terminology cribbed from
riers. The momentum to establish
Politics, Markets, and America's Schools, a highly praised
such "controlled-choice" pro-
choice manifesto by John Chubb and Terry Moe. And state and
grams is growing. In Massachu-
support more
local policy makers are enacting new programs, with varying
setts, for example, a statewide
degrees of early success and acclaim, to give parents choices
public-school choice plan pro-
among publicly funded schools.
posed by new Gov. William Weld
But judging the size and power of an approaching wave is
passed the legislature in early
substantive reforms.
often difficult at long distances. You have to be close to it.
1991, with the crucial backing of
That's why it's important for us not to drown in the homilies
State Senate President William
BY JOHN HOOD
and hype surrounding choice, and not to ignore the still-
Bulger and other Democrats. In
powerful undercurrent of opposition beneath the surface. The
Michigan, bills authorizing intradistrict choice among public
adoption of truly meaningful reforms isn't guaranteed. It re-
schools and experiments with interdistrict choice made it out
quires a calm and honest assessment of the choice experiments
of the education committee in the state Senate, although they
to date and a realistic view of the political and legal obstacles
ultimately failed on the floor. And influential Democratic poli-
that lie ahead.
ticians, from Chicago Mayor Richard Daley to Arkansas Gov.
Teachers' unions and other groups with a vested interest in
(and potential presidential candidate) Bill Clinton have en-
the current system wield tremendous power in state legislatures
dorsed school choice in varying forms.
and local school politics. Their lawyers have a number of
One reason for the popularity of public-school choice initia-
weapons to employ, from questions about resegregation to
tives is the record of a few long-term choice experiments. These
constitutional challenges to state aid for religious schools. And
programs give advocates successes they can point to-ex-
the general public, while favoring the concept of choice in
amples of systems that, while far from perfect, offer a better
education, is still largely unfamiliar with the specifics of
education, more freedom, and greater flexibility than the typi-
voucher plans. Their support is broad but not deep.
cal no-choice public-school system.
Even given these caveats, advocates of choice can tri-
umph-but not all at once, like a crashing wave. Instead, they
will need to work gradually, eroding the education estab-
lishment's own power base and letting news of choice's early
O
ne of the oldest public-school choice programs is in
successes trickle down further into the public consciousness.
Cambridge, Massachusetts, a city of 100,000 located
They need to examine the practical, legal, and political ob-
across the Charles River from Boston. Under court orders to
stacles to choice, and determine ways to overcome them. And
desegregate its schools, the city phased in a choice plan over
they need to make allies among educators, business leaders,
three years, beginning in 1979, as an alternative to the busing
politicians, and power brokers in both parties, and the news
that ripped Boston apart. Without the choice plan, it seems
OCTOBER 1991
reason 43
likely that the school system, which still operates under cum-
major objection to choice, even controlled choice among public
bersome court decrees, would have exploded long ago. Cer-
schools, has been that poor parents aren't nowledgeable or
tainly many observers believe the choice system has helped the
responsible enough to make good choices for their children.
city avoid at least the magnitude of white flight and school
Cambridge takes this objection very seriously. It operates a
decay that occurred next door in Boston. Chubb and Moe report
Parent Information Center to provide information packets and
that in 1987, after six years of controlled choice, 89 percent of
to answer questions about school choices. The system also
new elementary students in the district were enrolled in the
employs 13 parent-liaison officers and a number of part-time
public system, compared with 78 percent in 1979.
and volunteer people (speaking every major language in the
city) to serve as intermediaries between parents and the school
system.
"It takes a conscious, active effort on our part" to provide
all parents the information they need, says the system's parent
coordinator, Margaret Gallagher. She and other officials visit
Head Start centers and public housing projects, mail informa-
tion, and make phone calls to parents to tell them about school
choice and remind them of deadlines. "Poor parents are often
overwhelmed by school choice," she says.
More educated or affluent parents may ask about a school's
teaching style, atmosphere, or past performance, says Gal-
lagher, but low-income parents seem most concerned about
how far the school is from their home or whether their children
will fit in with other students who may be better dressed, better
fed, and generally better off. Of course, most schools don't
differ that much from one another, at least within the "alterna-
tive" or "traditional" categories.
Many Cambridge parents send
In Cambridge,
Cambridge's parent information efforts provide its critics
elementary and
with plenty of ammunition with which to snipe at the "con-
middle schools
trolled-choice" approach. Most recently Abigail Thernstrom,
their children to one of the system's
compete for stu-
an adjunct associate professor of education at Boston Univer-
dents (with consid-
sity, evaluated the Cambridge system in a report on school
erable bureaucratic
choice in Massachusetts for the Boston-based Pioneer Institute.
bilingual schools.
intervention), and
She specifically criticized parent information centers in Cam-
several different
bridge and other Massachusetts school systems for advancing
programs operate
the school system's interests over those of parents and for
within the city's single public high school. Parents select at
over-selling their success at informing disadvantaged parents.
least three elementary schools for their child, ranked in order
"Parent information centers too often steer parents into
of preference. The school system's student assignment officer
those schools that have room for members of the racial or ethnic
then takes those preferences and evaluates their compatibility
group to which they belong," she reported. "Often those will
with racial balance, available space, and other controls. The
be the schools with space precisely because they are régarded
system is far from a true market, since unpopular schools don't
as problem institutions."
close down and popular schools don't expand to reflect
Thernstrom also questioned the entire effort. Low-income
demand. But, according to Cambridge officials, 87 percent of
parents, she wrote, are by definition poorly educated and
kindergarteners entering the system receive their first choice.
disciplined-otherwise, why should they be in their present
Cambridge's schools of choice divide into "traditional" and
predicament? More important, it's inherently difficult to tell
"alternative" camps, with some programs unique to Cam-
schools apart by just hearing about them or visiting them once
bridge. For example, the K-3 Maynard School, formerly con-
or twice. "Schools are not quite like a grocery store in which
sidered undesirable by many parents, became one of the most
products can be easily compared," she contended.
popular schools in the district by starting the "Amigos" pro-
Although she stretches the argument a bit too far (suggest-
gram, in which students speak English half of the day and
ing, for example, that teaching styles and classroom environ-
Spanish the other half. The program is a favorite of Cam-
ment, qualities parents value and officials can explain, aren't
bridge's middle- and upper-middle-class white parents, many
really part of a school's educational mission), Thernstrom does
of whom are employed at nearby Harvard University or the
raise some important questions about the capabilities of both
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
parents and information officers in a choice system. Printed
SUSAN LAPIDES
But what about the city's less privileged population? A
materials on Cambridge's schools of choice are bland and
OCTOBER 1991
44 reason
pointlessly repetitive. Most school descriptions use the same
of finding a school they believe will serve their children well,
phrases and codewords to describe their programs-such as
and they will send their children to schools outside their neigh-
"developmental" education, "diversity," "individual needs,"
borhood if necessary. More than 40 percent of parents chose
"mutual participation"--and provide little useful information
non-neighborhood schools last year.
with which to choose among schools.
But the Cambridge experience also holds some lessons
Furthermore, the perfect marketplace for educational qual-
about the limits of controlled choice among public schools:
ity envisioned by some simply doesn't exist in Cambridge.
The current alternatives aren't very different from one another
Gallagher told me that most parents, regardless of education or
and must operate under many uniform regulations, from racial
socioeconomic class, don't put much of a premium on finding
balance to class-size limits, which may impede rather than
out the test scores or other qualitative measures associated with
advance student learning. Rigid racial quotas, for instance,
each school. "The schools with the highest test scores are the
often hurt minority students by keeping them out of a success-
conservative, traditional ones," she says, "but most of the
ful school in their neighborhoods because of the need to attract
population is liberal and likes the open school." While it's
more whites.
difficult to attribute performance to any factor, including
Most of the shortcomings are hardly a secret, however, and
whether a school is traditional or open, the fact is that Cam-
the fame of Cambridge's system doesn't seem to have led to
bridge parents-and, if inflection and emphasis is any guide,
complacency. According to David Thompson, a parent of a
school administrators such as Gallagher-don't seem to eval-
Cambridge second-grader, the main complaint about the
uate schools by results, formally understood, though that has
choice plan among parents is that there isn't enough choice.
been one of the promises of choice proponents.
"There's a groundswell within the parental community," he
Still, this proposition doesn't suggest that even this limited
recently told the Christian Science Monitor, "to provide more
market for education is destined to fail. To point out that
curriculum choices."
regulated markets-or markets in general-are imperfect is
not to say they aren't superior to alternatives. While parent
information centers and other formal mechanisms for promot-
O
ne way to provide more choices to parents would be
ing informed choice may have limited effects, the most impor-
to expand government-funded choice plans to in-
tant source of information is word of mouth-how neighbors'
clude private and religiously affiliated schools. Vouchers
kids did at a given school or later in high school or college.
(known now by the more politically astute term scholarships)
Over time, parents will gravitate to schools that produce
and tuition tax relief are two mechanisms for accomplishing
successful students.
this. But these ideas, with all their promise, represent a signif-
We already have a model for how this informal selection
icant qualitative change in choice, one that many public-school
process might work: private schools. They don't just attract
choice supporters are loathe to embrace. Consequently, while
parents who understand educational terminology and the theo-
public-school choice plans have passed in many jurisdictions
ries of Montessori or who scrutinize school reading lists to
with minimal legal fallout, the few pioneers of broader choice
make sure the classics are included. They rely on reputation,
have found themselves the targets of lawsuits alleging misuse
neighbors recommending neighbors, etc. Having some parents
of public funds, violation of the separation of church and state,
who know what they're doing is probably enough. Just as
and other serious illegalities.
consumers who can intelligently compare cars or computers
The most prominent choice experiment involving private
drive the market toward quality, benefiting car or, computer
schools is the Milwaukee Parental Choice Program, proposed
buyers (like me) who have no idea what they're doing, so also
by state Rep. Polly Williams and passed in the Wisconsin
might parents, operating without perfect information or exper-
legislature with strong support from Gov. Tommy Thompson.
tise, still be able to demand quality in education. One proof of
In 1990-91, the plan gave vouchers of $2,500 each to 259
this is that a large number of poor parents are able to name the
participating students, all from low-income, inner-city fami-
best public or private schools in their communities, at least as
lies, who attended one of six private schools in the city eligible
measured by the success of those schools' students. They just
for the program. Next year a new school, Milwaukee Montes-
can't afford to move into the right district or pay the tuition
sori, will enter the program, and a total of 546 slots in private
necessary to get their own child into them.
schools will be available to eligible students-assuming, of
The record in Cambridge suggests that 1) the system imple-
course, that the state Supreme Court overturns an appeals
mented public-school choice mostly to avoid takeover by the
court ruling that the plan is unconstitutional because it was
courts on racial-balance grounds; 2) the public schools didn't
passed as a last-minute amendment to the budget. (The Wis-
fall apart, and, on the contrary, choice-driven improvement
consin constitution requires that local bills be passed sepa-
may have prevented further white flight; 3) formal and informal
rately by the legislature.)
measures of school performance have improved (achievement
Opponents of the choice plan, such as state Superintendent
scores are up, and parents, students, and staff seem excited
of Public Instruction Herbert Grover, welcomed the news that
about their schools); and 4) parents seem at least mildly capable
the Supreme Court would review the case. They want the plan
OCTOBER 1991
reason 45
struck down on more substantive grounds-such as edu-
Epsom pays "tuition" of $4,600 to the high school in neighbor-
cational inequity. Grover calls the Milwaukee plan "edu-
ing Pembroke for each Epsom student who attends the school.
cational Darwinism." He triggered a countersuit by parents of
Eventually, other board members and town residents came
choice students when he tried to apply state regulations con-
around, and Kelleher and other choice proponents drafted a
cerning special education and teacher certification to the par-
plan. Expecting a legal challenge, the Epsom choice coalition
ticipating private schools, arguing that without such
asked the New Hampshire Revenue Administration and attor-
regulations students would be unprotected. He also says that
ney general about the legality of their plan. The coalition
the choice plan would cause the best students to abandon public
received no objections. Kelleher says the plan is particularly
education.
suited to New Hampshire, which has given local governments
Participants in the choice plan challenge this assumption.
broad powers to grant tax abatements for public purposes. "In
Sister Callista Robinson, principal of the Harambee Commu-
New Hampshire, tax abatements have been granted for every-
nity School, which will take 180 choice students next year, says
thing under the sun," he says, such as encouraging business
that while critics feared the private schools would skim off the
development or helping a taxpayer with sudden financial woes.
cream of the student crop, "what we got were some very good
Before going through with the plan, however, the Epsom
students, some poor, and some average."
board signed a contract with Bolick to give the town legal
Defending the Milwaukee experiment in court is Clint
representation; the town's legal budget of $15,000 wouldn't be
Bolick, vice president of the Institute for Justice in Washing-
enough in case of a lawsuit by the deep-pocket organizations
ton, D.C., a public-interest law firm promoting private prop-
that oppose choice. By January, the board had approved 12
erty and individual rights. Bolick says that U.S. Supreme
abatements for Epsom students attending schools other than
Court cases have established some criteria for choice plans
Pembroke. And, sure enough, in March, Epsom was sued by
that, if met, should guarantee that they will survive challenge
the American Civil Liberties Union and the Epsom School
in federal court: A choice program can't discriminate in favor
Board, represented by the New Hampshire School Board As-
of religious schools; state aid must go to parents, to be spent
sociation. Among the charges against the plan are that it vio-
at their discretion at schools they choose; and the program
lates the constitutional separation of church and state and that
can't create a permanent and pervasive state influence in
it discriminates against residents who do not own property.
religious schools.
The battle over Epsom's tax-abatement plan demonstrates
State constitutions and laws present other obstacles. Bolick
how important clearing every legal hurdle, no matter how
points to the Milwaukee case as proof that "the battle for choice
superficially innocuous, can be. To qualify as an abatement, for
programs will not be easy." The education establishment will
instance, the tax break must be given on a case-by-case basis,
devote enormous resources to challenge choice programs in
not as an entitlement. Otherwise, it would be a tax credit,
court, often on technicalities.
something towns cannot grant as easily. So along with their
more ambitious constitutional challenges, opponents are trying
to pin the "tax credit" label on the plan.
n the low mountains of central New Hampshire, about 10
Bolick gives the antichoice suit a 50-50 chance at trial and
miles east of the state capital of Concord, the small town
expects an appeal to the state Supreme Court. The trial should
of Epsom (population 2,800) has become an important test
be over by mid-September. The Epsom case, like the Mil-
case in the legal battle for broad school choice. Last Decem-
waukee one, illustrates what challenges lie beyond the relative
ber, the town's Board of Selectmen approved a "property tax
safety of "controlled choice." In most states and localities, the
abatement" plan worth up to $1,000 for parents or "sponsors"
path to private-school choice will almost invariably pass
who send their children to a high school other than the nearby
through the courtroom.
public school, Pembroke Academy, including private or re-
ligious schools.
The Epsom plan, says Bolick, "has tremendous potential
B
efore choice plans are adjudicated, however, they
significance for New Hampshire and the United States." Be-
must first be passed by state legislatures, local
cause it was drafted and passed by a town rather than a state
boards, or, in some places, voters by initiative. The elements of
legislature, he notes, the Epsom model could be duplicated in
the education establishment who oppose choice, particularly
other states with similar tax-abatement or tax-credit laws.
when it encompasses private or religious schools, are at least
Jack Kelleher, an Epsom resident and until recently a mem-
as powerful in these political arenas as they are in the courts.
ber of its Board of Selectmen, first came up with the tax
In New Hampshire, opponents of a state voucher plan
abatement idea in 1982. At the time, hardly anyone else sup-
sponsored by former U.S. senator and now state Sen. Gordon
ported the idea. "You would have thought I had the plague," he
Humphrey banished it to a study committee until 1993. "We
says. But Kelleher persisted, arguing that an abatement plan
desperately need choice in education to spur excellence," Hum-
would save the town money, because the cost of sending a
phrey told the Senate. But citing constitutional questions and
student to Pembroke is much higher than $1,000. In fact,
the possibility of "eroding the public school system," a majority
OCTOBER 1991
46 reason
of senators killed the proposal. The state teachers' union and
and state politicians, and they can organize marches, rallies,
commissioner of education had strongly opposed the bill. This
and other events to get on the evening news. But it's important
pattérn has recurred in a number of statehouses where broad
to recognize that the leaders of the establishment don't speak
school-choice plans have been introduced.
for all public educators. The current bureaucratic system hurts
Some of the major players in choice debates across the
many public-school teachers, especially the most innovative
country include:
and successful ones, because rewards are unrelated to their
The Education Establishment. Teachers' unions, associa-
efforts. In Chicago and many other failed urban systems, most
tions of principals and administrators, and even parent-teacher
teachers either send their children to private schools or would
associations (PTAs) are the most reliable and vocal opponents
do so if they could afford to.
of choice reforms, whether they are broadly or narrowly
Even some principals and district and state administrators
drafted. The most frequent argument these groups make against
support choice, or at least have begun to soften their position
such plans is that they would foster segregation by race, socio-
against it. Dale Jensen, executive director of the Minnesota
economic class, and student ability. They also say that "univer-
Association of School Administrators, was a vocal critic of that
sal public éducation" must mean state control and provision of
state's public-school choice experiments, particularly its inter-
that education, in order to promote cultural affinity and demo-
district transfer program. Now he's not so sure. Most forecasts
cratic values; on this point, they have some moderate-to-con-
of dire consequences from choice have been proven wrong by
servative allies who view choice warily as a new force for
four years of operation, he said in a recent interview. Worst-case
educational "Balkanization." And the education establishment
predictions like the one that Minnesota students would switch
plays up the possibility that, under broader choice plans encom-
schools to get into good hockey or other sports programs didn't
passing private schools, state money would fund religious
really materialize. "If one wants to be honest, that was probably
kooks or fly-by-night operators.
going on before, where a parent with a 6-foot-10 son was
Setting aside these rhetorical points, the education estab-
offered a job in a community," he said.
lishment is the most vocal opponent of choice because it has
The News Media. Once an important source of opposition
the most to lose. Controlled choice among public schools may
to choice, many of the country's largest newspapers, including
not pose a serious threat to teachers' and administrators' jobs,
The Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, have endorsed
but it makes people nervous. Pressure from parents to expand
the concept-though they still draw a clear line between pub-
curriculum offerings tends to rock the boat, and mediocre
lic-school choice (good) and vouchers/tuition tax credits (bad).
teachers (who, virtually by definition, make up the bulk of
In Wisconsin, the Milwaukee Journal and Milwaukee Sentinel
union membership) are afraid of falling out.
have opposed Polly Williams's voucher plan, while out-of-state
State aid for students attending private schools threatens the
media and the black-owned Milwaukee Community Journal
establishment more directly. If money travels with the student,
have supported it. Reporters on education beats in many cities
letting someone transfer to a private school means a smaller
are more informed about choice issues than they were a few
budget for the public school. By bringing independent work-
years ago. They ask tougher questions of choice opponents than
places into the system, broad choice breaks up the union
they used to and treat choice proponents as serious reformers
monopoly on teacher supply. And competition challenges calls
rather than extremists.
for higher pay, smaller classes, and other perks-if private
Civil-Rights Groups. While most national civil-rights or-
schools get by with less and do more, why can't public schools?
ganizations oppose choice as segregation in disguise, local
This "vested interest" explanation, though valid, shouldn't
minority groups and political organizations are a more diverse
be overemphasized. Most leaders of the education estab-
lot. In Milwaukee, blacks are the primary beneficiaries of the
lishment are ideologically opposed to an education market.
voucher plan and its most eloquent defenders. Given the history
They see public education as a segment of government-pro-
of many controlled-choice reforms as first-and-foremost
vided infrastructure, to which market competition does not
desegregation plans, they often, enjoy more support among
and should not apply. Fundamentally, many are uncomfortable
minorities than they do among local white liberals. In fact,
with parents exercising judgment over what their children will
public opinion surveys confound the national civil-rights estab-
learn, because they believe a universal public-education cur-
lishment by finding greater support for parental choice among
riculum is the primary force holding the country's diverse
minorities (59 percent in a recent NBC/Wall Street Journal poll)
racial and ethnic groups together. They differ with antichoice
than in the general population.
conservatives only over the optimal content of that cur-
The most persuasive argument for minorities appears to be
riculum, not its role. (Both groups seem to have overlooked a
the fairness one: that wealthy, mostly white families already
vastly more important force that unifies disparate cultures in
enjoy parental choice because they can move to the best school
one country: popular culture.)
district or can afford private schools. Choice plans, especially
Leaders of teachers' and state-employee unions have power-
vouchers, offer poor and minority families the prospect of
ful weapons to translate this ideology into power: They are a
having that power, too. Trying to counter the rhetorical appeal
significant source of volunteers and PAC contributions to local
of this argument, choice opponents have increasingly empha-
OCTOBER 1991
reason 47
sized their contention that private schools would have the real
in a failed 1990 initiative for tuition tax credits, translating
choice in a voucher system by using formal and informal means
nominal public support for choice into votes on Election Day
to select their students. This argument, however, makes the
isn't easy. The initiative lost 2-1, garnering only 32 percent of
all-too-common mistake of assuming that the expensive, selec-
the vote. "We hadn't laid the groundwork to convince the
tive prep school typifies American private education, when in
public that we needed radical change," says Steve Buckstein,
reality that category comprises a diverse range of schools.
who organized support for the choice initiative in Oregon and
Business Groups. Although you might expect business
now heads up the Cascade Policy Institute.
leaders to be a major source of support for market-based
Among the tactical errors choice proponents made, Buck-
reform, until recently they have been co-opted by the education
stein says, were calling the plan a "tax credit" (he plans to use
establishment. Public-school leaders and their allies have used
the term scholarship in the future) and allowing out-of-state
"adopt-a-school" and other partnerships with businesses to
parents to receive the credit for in-state students. The initiative
cultivate political contacts. They have, in many cases, per-
probably shouldn't have included home schooling, he adds,
suaded business leaders that the American education system is
even though ideally no form of education should be excluded.
failing because of resources and reach (suggesting more money
"For voters, including home schools was a negative," he says,
and expanded preschool programs as remedies) rather than
because they raise the specter of state support for kooks and
because of flaws in the system itself.
extremists. This argument may be a red herring, but it works.
As a result, business has often supported the education
Buckstein says the home schooling provision may be dropped
establishment and even opposed choice. Earlier this year, the
in a future initiative.
Committee for Economic Development, a New York City
Another red herring that nevertheless poses political prob-
group of business leaders, called for $10 billion in new federal
lems for choice initiatives is the Richmond County, California,
spending on education and specifically criticized voucher
case. For several years, Richmond operated a highly publicized
plans. State associations and local chambers of commerce in
controlled-choice plan in a largely poor, minority district. It
such jurisdictions as California, Maryland, North Carolina,
even hosted one of President Bush's workshops on school
South Carolina, New Orleans, and Cincinnati have supported
choice in 1990. But earlier this year, the system declared
tax increases, pay raises, and other measures without com-
bankruptcy and had to be bailed out by the state.
mensurate structural reforms.
At the same time, however, there have been a few glimmers
of hope. In February a group of CEOs from 15 Indiana corpora-
S
tate education leaders and teachers' unions blamed
tions proposed a package of reforms, including school choice,
choice, a charge that is likely to reappear should a
for the state. The plan, called COMMIT, at least made it out of
planned initiative reach the November ballot. As Richmond
committee before being bottled up on the Senate floor by the
sank into bankruptcy, however, some 19 other California
Indiana State Teachers Association and its legislative allies. In
districts teetered on the brink of insolvency. Public attention
Chicago, reform-minded business leaders have attempted to do
eventually focused as much on financial mismanagement, the
an end run around the strong teachers' union, first by helping
effects of the recession, and perk-filled teacher contracts as on
to draft and implement a decentralization plan for the city's
the risks of choice. "At first there was a little flurry" of choice
schools and later by putting together and vigorously pushing a
criticism, says Pam Riley, a Richmond parent and director of
"scholarship" plan much like that proposed by Brookings's
public affairs for the Pacific Research Institute for Public
John Chubb and Stanford's Terry Moe.
Policy. But soon, she continues, the focus became the former
To be successful, business groups who want to foster edu-
superintendent's management style.
cation markets rather than throw money at the current system
Still, at every debate on school choice in California (and
will have to organize themselves to challenge the political
elsewhere) advocates must address the Richmond question:
power of unions and to pick away at that power by enlisting the
Won't choice cost more and create a management disaster?
aid of like-minded educators to sell choice to policy makers
Answering the question takes time and effort. This dilemma
and the public. So-far, this hasn't happened, and the education
illustrates the dangers of overselling every choice experiment
establishment's ability to stymie broad choice reform (as op-
that comes down the pike. Proponents should pick and choose,
posed to controlled-choice plans, which are less forcefully
placing the most emphasis on those systems with the greatest
opposed) in state legislatures remains largely unchecked.
amount of freedom for individual schools and longest records
of success. More important, choice proponents have to stress
that controlled-choice plans that exclude private alternatives
n some states, such as California and Oregon, choice
and maintain state regulation over much of school operations
proponents can go over the heads of the legislature,
are a compromise; to be treated only as a first step.
directly to the voting public. But taking the battle for choice to
Some proponents of education markets think such "first
the ballot, via an initiative, doesn't guarantee success or cir-
steps" and compromises are sure to fail. The issue of how far
cumvent union power. As Oregon choice supporters found out
and how fast to implement choice is a microcosm of a larger
OCTOBER 1991
48 reason
debate among free marketeers: whether gradualism is worth its
things have to happen before broad school choice involving
cost. For example, one might fault the deregulation of U.S.
public and private schools can come about. First, the Su-
savings and loans over a decade ago for the catastrophe that
preme Court will have to make a clearer ruling about
ensued because the institutions were given more freedom to act
voucher plans and state support for religion. Without a
but were protected from risk by a safety net, federal insurance.
prospect of passing constitutional tests, few people will put
Partial deregulation, in this case, may have been worse than
much political capital behind vouchers and tuition tax-relief
standing pat.
plans. Second, the public will have to get excited about
Similarly, given the limited prospects for private-school
success stories such as Cambridge and East Harlem, with
choice in the near-term, is controlled choice among public
public-school choice, and Milwaukee, with vouchers.
schools by itself worth the effort? Many critics, including those
strongly supportive of a market in education, don't think so.
"The reality is so far off from the rhetoric," says Myron
Lieberman, author of Privatization and Educational Choice
and other books on school reform. Public-school choice doesn't
challenge the power of unions and the security of teachers
behind certification and tenure rules, he says. Moreover, it has
often been proposed by leaders of the education establishment
to forestall more-comprehensive reform involving privatiza-
tion and private schools. "The problem is that conservatives
lump everything with the word choice in it together," he says,
"but nobody has lost his job in public-school choice. Restruc-
turing has to hurt."
Chester Finn, who served in Ronald Reagan's Education
Having two choices is better
Department under Secretary William Bennett and now operates
the Education Excellence Network in Washington, D.C., used
"Right now, the public is
to think the same way. After all, he says, "piecemeal reform
mildly in favor of vouch-
than a mandatory assignment, and
often slows the course of revolution." But he says now that
ers, but not ardently so,"
since he doesn't see a strong movement toward vouchers in the
Finn says. "But [vouch-
near term, "I have been becoming more pragmatic about this."
ers] have very ardent op-
three choices is better than two.
For one thing, public-school choice would help reform in the
position."
long term by accustoming the education profession to the
It's a classic public-choice problem-a vocal minority with
principle of choice. And while controlled-choice plans such as
access to the tools of the political trade still stands firmly in the
those in Cambridge have many shortcomings, he says, "having
way of reforms enjoying broad but shallow public support. As
two choices is better than mandatory assignment and having
in the case of airline deregulation, radical change in education
three choices is better than having two, and so on." A little
won't make it past the entrenched vested interests without a
competition is better than none at all.
broad-based coalition of free-market advocates (and their Re-
Finn's position brings to mind a different example of gradu-
publican allies) and consumers with something to gain (and
alism: airline deregulation. Despite the lingering impediments
their Democratic allies in city hall, the state legislature, and
to competition in air travel, mostly centering on the continued
elsewhere), along with as many educators as they can find to
government ownership of airports and the air-traffic control
buck the system. To build this alliance, it will be critical to have
system, the last decade or so of airline deregulation has bene-
easily understood examples of choice successes-just as
fited consumers greatly. There is reason to believe that even
deregulation supporters pointed to the low air fares in the
comparatively timid first steps toward education markets, in-
unregulated intrastate markets of Texas and California.
cluding controlled choice, will more closely emulate airline
So choice proponents may have to swallow more gradual
deregulation than S&L deregulation in effect. If parents are
reform than they would otherwise seek, with all the limitations
given alternatives and choice among those alternatives en-
and risks that entails. But the alternative-to be right but
genders institutional change, school improvement, or at least
outmaneuvered-is worse. The trick is not to overestimate the
greater comfort with the idea of competition, controlled choice
rhetorical appeal of choice or to underestimate the power of its
will be a net benefit-while the risk that it will actually make
opposition. Catching a wave, metaphorical or otherwise, is all
schools worse is rather small.
in the timing.
So controlled-choice plans, inherently limited scope,
probably won't hurt the prospects for broader reform. But they
Contributing Editor John Hood is research and publications
SUSAN
won't necessarily help, either, without a strategy for focusing
director at the John Locke Foundation in Raleigh, North
frustration on the controls rather than the choice. At least two
Carolina, and a columnist for Spectator (N.C.) magazine.
OCTOBER 1991
reason 49
THELAW
PENISES AND POLITICS
BY JACOB SULLUM
L
ast year, in a letter to
even though the material did
three radio stations that
not meet the "seven dirty
aired the "Howard Stern
words" test. So the commis-
Show," the Federal Com-
sion reverted to the generic
munications Commission
definition of indecency it had
seemed to acknowledge that
set forth in Pacifica: "lan-
"discussions of penis size are
guage that describes, in terms
not per se prohibited." Still,
patently offensive as
the commission said, when
measured by contemporary
such discussions are presented
community standards for the
as part of a show "dwelling on
broadcast medium, sexual or
sexual matters in a pandering
excretory activities and or-
and titillating fashion," they
gans, [broadcast] at times of
are patently offensive, and
the day when there is a rea-
therefore indecent-and
Tom Leykis says complying with the FCC's indecency standard
sonable risk that children may
therefore prohibited. So the
is like driving on a highway with no posted speed limit.
be in the audience."
FCC fined the stations $2,000 each.
the margins, by discouraging broad-
The FCC emphasized that innuendo
The commission, which until now has
casters from airing controversial mate-
and double-entendre, the staples of shows
limited this sort of analysis to daytime
rial. Most broadcasters are not willing to
like Howard Stern's, could be deemed
and early-evening programming, is seek-
risk getting fined or losing their licenses
indecent. Since the Supreme Court had
ing authority to apply its expertise in such
in order to test the limits. It turns out that
stressed that "context is all-important,"
matters to all radio and TV broadcasts. In
it's not as easy to separate indecency from
the commission qualified its definition; to
May, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the
political speech as Fein implies.
be indecent, a broadcast had to be
D.C. Circuit overturned a 1988 law re-
patently offensive "in context."
quiring the commission to enforce a 24-
T
he distinction became a lot more
The FCC also said that "contemporary
hour ban on broadcast indecency, and the
difficult in 1987, when the FCC
community standards for the broadcast
FCC is appealing the decision. So the
broadened its approach to enforcing a
medium" would be based on the perspec-
Supreme Court may soon be considering
federal law forbidding the transmission
tive of the average listener or viewer. So
what bearing the First Amendment has on
of "any obscene, indecent, or profane lan-
indecency is what the FCC thinks the
discussions of penis size.
guage by means of radio communica-
average person thinks it is.
Some say it has none. "The basic mis-
tion." Until then, the commission's staff
For broadcasters, this standard is hard
sion of the First Amendment, for most
had relied on a narrow reading of FCC V.
to get a handle on. Because "context" is
Americans, is to ensure robust political
Pacifica Foundation, the 1978 Supreme
crucial to the FCC's definition, and be-
speech," says Bruce Fein, a former FCC
Court decision upholding the FCC's
cause the commission fears accusations
general counsel. "The enforcement prob-
authority to regulate broadcast inde-
of prior restraint, it cannot give broad-
lem is a difficult one, but, by and large,
cency. Pacifica involved a midafternoon
casters clear, specific guidelines that
who cares whether they get it right or
broadcast of George Carlin's now-
would reliably tell them how far they can
wrong? You're dealing with things that
famous "Filthy Words" monologue,
go. Instead, it judges broadcasts after the
aren't essential to the First Amendment
which featured the repeated use of seven
fact, on a case-by-case basis.
mission anyway."
"words you couldn't say on the public
The problem of predicting what the
But even those who take this view of
airwaves, the ones you definitely
FCC will deem indecent is not limited to
the First Amendment should be troubled
wouldn't say, ever." For nine years after
broadcasters of the Howard Stern school.
by the vagueness and subjectivity of the
Pacifica, the FCC made it clear that
Tom Leykis, for example, hosts a fairly
FCC's indecency standard. Contrary to
broadcasters would be safe if they stayed
conventional talk show on KFI-AM in Los
the popular impression, "shock jocks"
away from the seven dirty words.
Angeles. He says trying to comply with
like Howard Stern represent a minority of
In 1986, however, the FCC received
the indecency standard is like driving on
those fined by the FCC for broadcast in-
complaints about three broadcasts-in-
a highway with no posted speed limit. A
decency. Moreover, the regulation of
cluding Howard Stern's show-that
cop pulls you over and gives you a ticket.
broadcast speech does its real damage at
struck the commissioners as indecent
"You say, 'How can you give me a ticket
50 reason
OCTOBER 1991
THELAW
if I didn't know how fast I was supposed
against drug tests, it includes references
Similarly, Jim Mueller, counsel for the
to go?' And he says, 'You're just sup-
to Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry.
Children's Legal Foundation, cites the
posed to know.
But it also includes lines like: "I ain't
broadcast of Madonna's "Justify My
gonna pee-pee in no cup/Less'n Nancy
Love" video on ABC's "Nightline" last
F
urthermore, serious purpose,
Reagan's gonna drink it up," as well as a
year as an example of indecency. Yet the
whether artistic, social, or political,
rather graphic description of a symbolic
video, which was too salacious for MTV,
does not necessarily redeem a broadcast.
"urinary moat" around the White House.
had sparked a public controversy, one that
Indeed, both the FCC and the Supreme
It's disgusting, sure, but it's certainly
Mueller himself was clearly interested in.
Court have indicated that, unlike obscen-
political. And any disc jockey who read
How do you cover the issue of indecency
ity, merely indecent material is not
the FCC's definition of indecency would
without covering indecency itself?
"without merit"; it may simply be inap-
have to think twice about playing it.
propriate for children. Hence, in 1987 the
Barry Hansen, a.k.a. "Dr. Demento,"
D
espite such paradoxes, conservative
FCC found excerpts from Jerker, a play
is a big fan of Mojo Nixon, but he says he
activists do not take concerns about
in which two gay men discuss their sexual
wouldn't risk a fine by playing "I Ain't
a chilling effect very seriously. "That's
fantasies over the telephone, to be inde-
Gonna Piss in No Jar" on the air. Hansen,
nonsense," says Joseph Reilly, president
cent. Jerker is certainly raunchy, but it's
who has a local show on KLSX-FM in Los
of Morality in Media. "It's pretended, not
also a critically acclaimed drama that
Angeles as well as a nationally syndi-
real; it's for the talentless, not the
deals with AIDS and homosexuality-
cated show, adds that he stopped playing
talented The rule is pretty plain. There
topics that are, in part, political.
are those who are risk takers, who are
In 1989, the FCC fined a Miami radio
going to try to push the envelope, and
station $2,000 for airing the song "Penis
By regulating broadcast
there are those who are creative enough
Envy," by the Roches. Far less explicit
indecency, the FCC
that they don't feel they have to titillate
than Jerker, "Penis Envy" is also a lot
or descend to the gutter in order to main-
funnier. The song-which begins, "If I
has transformed
tain the attention of the immature."
had a penis a satire of macho atti-
Howard Stern from
As Tom Leykis and Mojo Nixon dem-
tudes.
a vulgar loudmouth
onstrate, not everyone who "pushes the
The FCC stresses that it's the manner
envelope" does so for purposes of titilla-
and not the content of a broadcast that
into a martyr in
tion. But those who do, such as Howard
makes it indecent. Thus the commission
the cause of freedom
Stern, actually benefit from the threat of
might argue that the sexual references in
-and made him rich
FCC action. Like a drug dealer, Stern
these broadcasts were gratuitous and
earns a premium for taking the govern-
therefore "patently offensive." After all,
in the process.
ment-imposed risks that others avoid. His
you can discuss homosexuality and
appeal is based on expectations created
sexual stereotypes without mentioning
by government regulation; his show is
anal intercourse or penises. Still, there's
"Penis Envy" in L.A. after the commis-
shocking (and profitable) precisely be-
no question that the impact would be
sion found it indecent in 1989. "We don't
cause people have come to assume that
different. Moreover, in some cases a
want to get our stations in any more
there are certain things "you can't say on
political message is inextricably tied to an
trouble than necessary," he says. "It's all
the radio." The FCC is making Stern rich.
indecent medium.
a matter of what you can get away with."
It may even make him respectable.
For example, authorities in Hunting-
The regulation of broadcast indecency
When the government tries to suppress a
ton Beach, south of Los Angeles, recently
also threatens news coverage of political
certain category of speech, merely utter-
threatened to prosecute a local bar for
controversies. In 1990, several viewers,
ing it becomes a form of protest: Pushing
sponsoring a "fake orgasm" contest, in-
including the omnipresent Donald Wild-
the envelope is a statement in itself. By
spired by the movie When Harry Met
mon of the American Family Association,
regulating broadcast indecency, the FCC
Sally. Leykis says he wanted to protest by
complained that WGBH-TV in Boston had
transforms a vulgar loudmouth into a
holding his own fake-orgasm contest on
shown some of Robert Mapplethorpe's
martyr in the cause of freedom.
the air. "I didn't do it," he says. "I have to
sexually explicit photographs during a 10
Stern has combined the themes of
worry about whether [the FCC] is going
p.m. newscast. (An exhibit of his work
money and martyrdom in his greatest-hits
to see that as political speech. The point
was opening the next day at a local
album, now available on cassette and
was not to titillate people. The point was
museum.) The FCC considered the case
compact disc. It's called Crucified by the
to taunt the authorities in Huntington
for about eight months before deciding
FCC, and the cover pictures Stern carry-
Beach and point out that what they were
not to fine the station, and then only be-
ing a cross.
doing was wrong."
cause the segment had aired after 10 p.m.,
Or consider the Mojo Nixon song, "I
which fell within a court-ordered safe-
Jacob Sullum is assistant editor of REA-
Ain't Gonna Piss in No Jar." A protest
harbor period.
SON.
OCTOBER 1991
reason 51
MAGAZINES
CAMPUS FOLLOWERS
BY MARTIN MORSE WOOSTER
I
n the first half of 1991, a quiet debate
veyed were professors of public affairs,
beer and a very loud band. If the Ameri-
over the orthodox-left wisdom on col-
88 percent of whom said they were liber-
can professoriat are tenured radicals
lege campuses erupted into a public feud.
als. None of the professors of military
whose only purpose in life is to win the
"Political correctness" entered the media
science polled declared themselves liber-
hearts and minds of their students for
vocabulary in a big way. It was a barroom
als, though 90 percent thought themselves
communist revolution, they are agitators
brawl, with friends and foes of P.C. slug-
middle-of-the-road. Seventy-six percent
whom Mao, Lenin, or Eugene Debs
ging it out in weeklies, monthlies, quar-
of humanities professors (including his-
would have swiftly fired for incom-
terlies, and virtually any magazine that
torians, philosophers, literature profes-
petence.
had space to cover the affair. By the time
sors, and theologians) said they were
Second, the "political correctness" vi-
summer rolled around, various factions
rus has not affected all disciplines equally.
had declared themselves politically cor-
In particular, the hard sciences and math-
rect, anti-politically correct, and anti-
Men interviewing for
ematics have withstood the left-wing on-
anti-politically correct. The New
English and
slaught, largely because their foundations
Republic's Andrew Sullivan was, how-
rest not on a canon of accumulated-but-
foreign-language
ever, the only person to declare himself
changeable wisdom but on laws and prin-
anti-anti-anti-politicall correct.
professorships
ciples based on the results of experiments
The political correctness debate cast a
routinely worry about
conducted over hundreds of years. A fem-
good deal of light upon American univer-
which earrings they
inist named Alison Jaggar charged that
sities. Certainly the feuders involved,
Copernicus replaced "the female (earth)-
particularly on the left, were some of the
should wear. An
centered universe with a male (sun)-
smartest and toughest intellectual pit
aesthetically incorrect
centered universe," but even she could
bulls in America. But all the verbal
earring can determine
not prove that the sun orbited the earth.
scratching, clawing, pushing and shoving
by the P.C and anti-P.C. forces leads to a
whether or not an
A
nd consider economics, a social
wider question: What are American col-
applicant is hired.
science firmly grounded in mathe-
leges and universities like?
matics. Most economists say they are lib-
They are certainly peculiar places. The
erals. In the Wirthlin Group poll cited
best illustration of the essential oddness
liberal, and 15 percent said they were
earlier, the liberal-conservative split
of the academic world was in a New York
conservative. Among social scientists
among economists was 63-20. But if you
Times Magazine report on the annual con-
(including psychologists, sociologists,
polled the members of the American
vention of the Modern Language Asso-
and political scientists), the vote was 72
Economic Association on various ques-
ciation. The reporter noted that men
percent for liberalism and 14 percent for
tions, you would find that nearly all
entering the job market for English and
conservatism. (The remaining professors
economists realize the importance of free
foreign-language professorships
in these surveys thought they were
markets. My guess would be that 99 out
routinely worry about which earrings
middle-of-the-road.)
of 100 AEA members would be opposed
they should wear in interviews. Earrings,
Does this mean that the left has turned
to protectionism and 96 out of 100 would
you see, are important "signifiers" of
the campus into a Stalinesque or Maoist
favor abolition of rent control.
class, privilege, and status, the reporter
institution? Hardly. There are two reasons
Is this uniformity of opinion among
noted, and wearing an aesthetically incor-
why most American colleges don't re-
economists, as Robert Kuttner has
rect earring can decide whether or not an
semble totalitarian states. First, most col-
charged, due to a form of "economic cor-
applicant is hired.
lege students these days are apolitical.
rectness"? No. The reason economists
It is also true that most college profes-
Over the years, I have quizzed recent
favor free trade is not that economists
sors say they are liberals. The
alumni of private and public institutions
think protectionism is yucky but that cen-
July/August American Enterprise has
across the country. They all tell me that
turies of data support the notion that free
two pages of polling data about profes-
about 5 percent of students are devout
trade leads to growth, and protectionism
sors, from a survey by the Wirthlin Group
leftists or liberals and about 5 percent are
to autarky and decline. Kuttner's hard-
and Opinion Research Corp. for the Car-
conservative or libertarian. The only
line socialist views have been vigorously
negie Foundation for the Advancement of
party the remaining 90 percent devoutly
debated--and proven wrong. That is why
Teaching. The most liberal group sur-
support is one involving several kegs of
a tiny minority of economists would side
52 reason
OCTOBER 1991
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They all laughed when I sat down
MAGAZINES
to write "Live Rent-Free For Life"
"You've got to be kidding, there's no such
queue after which you can add another three
with Kuttner on most issues.
thing as free rent," people told mc when they
months for the so-called decision to be
saw the title of my book, the first book ever
handed down. We're now up to three years.
So political correctness remains large-
written that dares poke fun at Rent Control:
Once the verdict is in, the dissatisfied party
ly confined to humanities departments.
New York's best kept dirty little secret. But
can (and usually docs) file a Petition for
But even in the humanities, as David P.
the truth is finally beginning to leak out
Administrative Review (PAR), which sends
through "official" channels. A recent Q & A
the whole shebang back to square one. That
Bryden argues in the spring Public Inter-
column in the NY Times quotes Thomas R.
can take another three years, but realistically,
est, the debate is not over what courses
Viola, spokesman for the state housing
the wait is closer to five additional years. If
agency, who coyly admits that the latest
either party is still not satisfied with the PAR,
are taught, but how they are taught.
waiting time to process a rent overcharge
the case can then be brought before the civil
complaint is now an incredible 27 months.
courts for another two year wait.
Most of the courses proposed by cam-
Before we go any further, let me explain
So what we really have is not 27 months,
pus leftists, Bryden argues, could be as
briefly what a rent overcharge complaint is.
but a TEN YEAR period during which time
easily be taught by liberals or conserva-
After renting a regulated apartment, NY
NOT A PENNY in rent need be paid. At that
tenants have the right to question the
point, any still sane landlord will either go
tives. Consider the demand for more
"legality" of their rent. Anyone can file this
bankrupt or sell the building, which starts the
courses on race, class, or gender. Steven
simple form; there need be no proof of
proceedings all over again from the beginning
overcharge nor is there a penalty if the
with a new owner. Or conversely, the tenant
Goldberg or George Gilder could easily
complaint is unfounded. But unknown to most
can move out and start in on another ten year
teach the politics of gender; Thomas
outsiders, filing this form unleashes a series of
rent hiatus in a new apartment without any
mind-numbing delays of such protracted
fear of penalty or punishment. Do that two or
Sowell or Charles Murray would be su-
extent, they make Mr. Viola's 27 month wait
three times and you can retire to Florida on
perb lecturers on racial politics. A course
look like a rush job.
the money you save in unpaid rent.
The payoff is, while waiting for the housing
Get the full lowdown on rent control, the
on classes in society could easily accom-
agency to make a decision, the tenant is
municipal farce that has destroyed the rental
modate such subjects as the privileges of
legally permitted to STOP PAYING RENT
market of every city foolish
the Soviet nomenklatura and "the anti-
until the matter is finally resolved. To see
enough to adopt it, and see
what life is like under
LIVE
how long this gets to be, let's add a few tiny
bourgeois, antimarket prejudices of intel-
details Mr. Viola forgot to mention. It takes
Bolshevism; American style.
RENT-FREE
Read "Live Rent-Free For
lectuals." Similarly, the Great Books do
six months just to get a docket number from
Life." You'll laugh so hard,
FOR LIFE
the brain-dead bureaucracy that is now
not have to be taught in a "conservative"
backlogged by 18,000 unresolved cases (up
you'll cry. Send $11.95 to
incredible
revelations shout
from 10,000 cases two years ago). The docket
Scott Gardner, Box 248D,
NYC RENT CONTROL
way; Leon Trotsky loved the classics as
1173 2nd Ave., NYC 10021.
by SCOTT GARDNER
number allows you to get on that 27 month
much as Allan Bloom does. Countless
professors teach about politics without
teaching "correct" interpretations.
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liams, a black woman who teaches Eng-
54 reason
OCTOBER 1991
MAGAZINES
lish at Duke, describes how her col-
tion, resulting in the organization's firing
"Revolt Into Style: Graham Greene
leagues wondered why she would write a
all its staff and accumulating a $64,000
Meets the Sex Pistols" do not, by their
book about Sherwood Anderson. "At first
deficit.
words, bring Western civilization to a
I didn't understand what the problem
Any journal that refers to "the stun gun
close. Their writings are unintentional
was, but then it dawned on me: Sherwood
of sociological prose [that] has stupefied
satire, not tragedy. The surest way the
Anderson was a white man, and black
too many otherwise alert readers" has to
politically correct can be checked is by
female academics are supposed to stick to
be cheered. For the foes of political cor-
the healthy and merciless laughter of
black affairs." According to Williams,
rectness have made a crucial mistake-
men and women free to say what they
another black hired at Duke, a Far East-
they have cast their antagonists as tyrants
please.
ern scholar fluent in Mandarin Chinese,
rather than clowns.
felt uncomfortable because he was con-
The authors of such articles as "Jane
Martin Morse Wooster is the Washington
stantly pigeonholed as "the black
Austen and the Masturbating Girl" and
editor of REASON.
Chinese historian." "The university pre-
fers black academics who specialize in
what is called 'the black experience,'
The best way to a man's
Williams says.
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)
the National Women's Studies Associa-
as good as you feel.
NordicTrack, Dept. #300J1,
141C Jonathan Blvd. N., Chaska, MN 55318
OCTOBER 1991
reason 55
WASHINGTON
STILL A RAW DEAL
BY DANIEL J. MITCHELL
R
eporters covering the budget are
ARIZONA REPUBLIC
naively adopting the White House
TRIBUNG MEDIA services
party line that last year's budget agree-
ment was a good deal for the administra-
tion after all. Even some conservative
The way toa
Strong economy
...but what
pundits, including Fred Barnes and Irving
is not the
the heck, it's
Worth a
Kristol, have written positively about the
tax-and-spend
agreement. In addition, a few Republican
policies of the
try.
Democrats
lawmakers who opposed the deal, partic-
ularly Minority Whip Newt Gingrich, have
swallowed administration propaganda that
restrictions on Democratic spending ini-
tiatives are the silver lining to last year's
dark tax cloud.
Indeed, Democrats are publicly com-
plaining that spending caps prevent them
BUSH
from increasing domestic discretionary
BUDGET
spending as fast as they would like to.
This, however, is more an indictment of
NEW
NEW
KNOW
Democrats than it is an endorsement of
the budget agreement. Under the spend-
ing caps, domestic discretionary spend-
ing will climb by 7 percent annually
Once it becomes apparent that last year's
the tax burden, Tax Freedom Day, the day
between 1990 and 1993, nearly three and
budget deal increased rather than reduced
the average taxpayer has earned enough
a half percentage points above the
long-term deficit spending, pressure will
to satisfy annual federal, state, and local
amounts needed to keep pace with infla-
build for a new budget summit, probably
tax obligations, fell on May 8 this year,
tion. It is true that the budget agreement
to occur after the 1992 election. Even
three days later than last year and the
makes it difficult to increase spending
though these higher deficits will prove
latest it has ever occurred.
even more, but this is hardly an argument
how flawed the 1990 agreement was,
While defenders of the agreement pon-
in favor of the budget deal since domestic
Darman's continued presence and the
tificate about the theoretical value of trad-
discretionary spending growth was
prestige garnered from current favorable
ing higher taxes for real controls on
nearly held to the rate of inflation when
press coverage mean the president will
federal spending, the reality is that last
the old Gramm-Rudman law was in force.
likely fall into the same tax-increase trap.
year's deal resulted in the largest spend-
If the current campaign to reinterpret
ing increase in history-a record jump of
the effect of the budget agreement suc-
B
ecause of the threat of future tax
more than $250 billion between 1990 and
ceeds, the unfortunate consequence in-
increases, a favorable reinterpreta-
1992. Indeed, under Dick Darman's stew-
side the White House will be to strengthen
tion of the 1990 agreement will have
ardship, federal spending will have climbed
the power of those advisers, including
catastrophic consequences. Fortunately,
from 22.3 percent of gross national prod-
Budget Director Richard Darman, who
for every clever quote Darman can pro-
uct in 1989 to a projected peacetime re-
led President Bush down the primrose
vide in defense of the agreement, there
cord of 24.9 percent of GNP by 1992.
path. As a result, the already-slim chances
are dozens of facts demonstrating last
The alleged purpose of the budget
of getting the administration behind a
year's deal continues to be a monumental
summit, or so we were told, was to
progrowth proposal such as the tax-re-
mistake. By every criterion important to
reduce the budget deficit. Unfor-
form legislation offered by Sen. Malcolm
economic growth and budgetary re-
tunately, like spending and taxes, the
Wallop (R-Wyo.) and Rep. Tom DeLay
sponsibility, Darman's budget moved fis-
deficit rose-to nearly $300 billion, an
(R-Tex.) will be effectively destroyed.
cal policy in the wrong direction.
all-time record. The 1992 deficit will be
There is an even grimmer consequence
The agreement stuck the American
even larger, climbing to nearly $350
should Darman's campaign to manipu-
people with the largest tax increase in
billion. Oddly enough, even though the
late official Washington opinion succéed.
history. Largely due to this huge surge in
deficit today is approximately twice the
56 reason
OCTOBER 1991
WASHINGTON
You deserve to know the facts about
The "West Bank" and Gaza
Should Israel withdraw from the territories?
size it was when Ronald Reagan left of-
The "intifada," the uprising of Arab Palestinians in Judea/Samaria (the "West Bank") and
fice, the "deficit crisis" seems to have
Gaza has been going on since December of 1987. It has so far caused over 1000 deaths.
disappeared, at least if press coverage is
Many believe that the conflict would end if Israel were to withdraw from the territories,
cede them to the Palestinian Arabs, and allow them to create a Palestinian state in them.
a reliable indicator.
Defenders of the budget deal claim
What are the facts?
these figures on taxes, spending, and the
The suggestion that Israel should give up
existence of Israel an intolerable offense to
deficit aren't meaningful because of fac-
the territories and that good things would
their sense of history and destiny. It is not
flow from that is based on two assumptions,
Israel's administration of the "West Bank"
tors theoretically outside policy makers'
namely 1) that the demands of the Palesti-
that is unacceptable to the Arabs; it is the
control, notably the recession and the de-
nian Arabs for independence from Israel are
very existence of Israel. There is no reason
the source of the Arab conflict with Israel;
to believe that Israel's withdrawal and the
posit-insurance bailout. Legislators can
and 2) that Israel's withdrawal from the ter-
establishment of a Palestinian state would
hardly blame the recession, however, since
ritories and the creation of a Palestinian
appease the Arabs and induce them to make
their tax and regulatory policies caused
state in them would satisfy the aspirations of
peace with Israel.
the Palestinian Arabs, that it would end the
One can speculate as to what would be
the downturn. Nor should lawmakers
hostility of the Arab nations against Israel,
likely to happen if Israel-inadvisedly or
avoid responsibility for the deposit-in-
and that it would restore peace to the area.
ultimately bowing to pressure-were to yield
surance bailout, which will account for
Unfortunately, both of these assumptions
the "West Bank" to Arab control. The
are not in accord with reality. The desire of
murderous fratricidal passions that have
less than one-fourth of the $250-billion
the Arab nations to destroy Israel has been
been played out in Lebanon in the last fif-
1990-92 spending increases anyway.
unrelenting from the day of the creation of
teen years would be repeated in even more
Israel in 1948. It has given rise to five major
violent form. It is an improbable expectation
wars, has caused tens of thousands of
that a state dominated by the murderous
casualties, and untold destruction. The PLO,
PLO would be the first Arab state ever to
Tax Freedom Day,
whose covenant-never changed and never
adhere to anything resembling democratic
amended-unequivocaly calls for the
and human rights principles or that it would
the day the average
destruction of Israel, was founded in 1964,
be a friend of the United States, and not an
long before Israel's administration in the
eager pawn of the Soviet Union.
taxpayer has earned
territories. Thus, the almost single-minded
The Lebanon slaughter would be shifted
enough to satisfy all
obsession of the Arabs to destroy Israel, and
to the new Palestinian state, with Israel
not Israel's refusal to accede to the creation
being a more likely target of its fury. A
annual tax obligations,
of a Palestinian state, is the cause of the
Palestinian Arab state on the "West Bank"
never-ending conflict in the area.
would cut through Jerusalem, touch on the
fell on May 8 this year,
It is difficult for the Western mind to
suburbs of Tel Aviv, and have a long border,
understand the depth of passion on the part
nine to fifteen miles from the sea, with
three days later than
of the Arabs for the destruction of Israel.
Israel's most thickly populated areas. Palesti-
last year and the latest
Among reasonable people, most conflicts
nian militias, armed, not with gasoline
might eventually be amenable to peaceful
bombs and stones, but with helicopters,
it has ever occurred.
and rational solution. But in the Arab-Israel
missiles, artillery and automatic weapons,
conflict, no such solution is in the cards
would have Israeli pedestrians within rifle
for the foreseeable future. The reason is
range, and Zion Square in Jerusalem and
that 300 million Arabs consider the very
Ben Gurion airport within mortar range.
Finally, those tempted to believe last
Few responsible elements in Israel's government and society wish to annex Gaza and the
year's "compromise" is really a good deal
territories of Judea/Samaria (the "West Bank"). But also, hardly any responsible elements
would consider relinquishing those territories for the creation of a Palestinian state. The
after all should recall the origins of the
Palestinian Arabs enjoy full civil rights and have been offered free elections and full
agreement. In May 1990, Washington
autonomy by Israel, in line with Israel's commitments in the Camp David Accords. More-
politicians faced the specter of automatic
over, Israel is ready and has always been ready to discuss the permanent status of the ter-
ritories with responsible Palestinian representatives three years after the implementation
budget cuts that would have reduced pro-
of the autonomy. The situation of Israel and the territories is a bad one-no doubt about it.
jected 1991 federal spending by as much
But the alternative to bad is not necessarily good. In this case, at least at the present time,
as $100 billion to comply with the
the alternative would likely be a catastrophe, which, in its consequences, could even put
the horrible situation of Lebanon in the shade. Real peace in the area will not come by
Gramm-Rudman law. Notwithstanding
Israel's yielding minimum strategic depth to its mortal enemies. It can only come about by
pious pronouncements about deficit re-
the eventual rise of democratic governments in the "front-line" Arab states, governments
duction and the need to make "tough
that would accept Israels existence and could learn to live in peaceful co-existence with it.
choices," the real purpose of the budget
This ad has been published and paid for by
summit was to prevent this $100-billion
sequester from happening and to emascu-
FLAME
Yes, I want to help in the publication of these
ads and in clarifying the situation in the Middle
East. include my tax-deductible contribution
late the Gramm-Rudman law that had
Facts and Logic About the Middle East
in the amount of
imposed real fiscal discipline by slashing
P.O. Box 590359
San Francisco, CA 94159
$
R/24
the inflation-adjusted growth of federal
FLAME is a tax-deductible, non-profit educational
spending by more than half.
501(c)(3) organization. Its purpose is to combat media
My name is
inaccuracies, through public education and publicity.
Your tax-deductible contributions are welcome. They
I live at
Daniel J. Mitchell is the John M. Olin
enable us to pursue these goals and to publish these
messages in newspapers and magazines. Our overhead
Senior Fellow in Political Economy at the
is minimal. Almost all of our revenue pays for our educa-
In
State
Zip
Heritage Foundation.
tional work and for these clarifying messages.
Mail to: FLAME, P.O. Box 590359, San Francisco, CA 94159
OCTOBER 1991
reason 57
THEBOOKCASE
tive value in the yearnings of the en-
slaved.
Out of Bondage
A
nd yet freedom failed to take root in
BY CATHY YOUNG
many societies that practiced
Freedom, Vol. 1: Freedom in the Making of Western Culture
slavery-not only primitive tribes but
By Orlando Patterson, New York: Basic Books, 496 pages, $24.95
such sophisticated ancient civilizations as
Egypt, Mesopotamia, and China. In part,
I
n the ongoing hero-or-villain quarrel
for freedom as a "natural" or "basic"
argues Patterson, this was because
over Columbus, Newsweek was re-
human instinct. But can something that
slavery always remained socially margi-
cently taken to task by an irate reader for
was alien to most of humanity most of the
nal in these cultures, as did, to an even
suggesting that without the European
time be taken for granted as an intrinsic
greater extent, the manumission (release)
colonization of the Americas, the world
part of human nature? Patterson says no:
of slaves. Moreover, distinctions between
today might have been composed of
Since freedom is far rarer than unfree-
the slaves and the nonslave poor were not
democracies in Europe and totalitarian,
dom, it is the emergence of freedom that
as sharp as they were to be in classical
human-sacrificing empires across the
requires an explanation.
Greece and Rome: "Relations of personal
Atlantic. Since the Europe of Columbus's
Patterson's criticism of the West's "in-
dependence affected all areas of
day was anything but democratic, was it
verted parochialism" in assuming that
society." What slaves lacked was a net-
not flagrantly ethnocentric to presume
freedom is a universal ideal may sound
work of kinship ties to protect them; thus,
that the Aztecs or the Incas would not
jarring to some (particularly since the re-
paradoxically, the opposite of slavery
have progressed toward freedom as well
markable appeal of freedom to so many
was not freedom but belonging, and the
if left to themselves?
of the non-Western peoples who have
slave's best hope was acceptance as a
We shall never know how the high
been exposed to it suggests some univer-
full-fledged member of society.
civilizations of the Americas might have
sality, as Patterson himself acknowledges
Here, it seems to me, Patterson's
turned out on their own. But if there is a
at the end of the book). Nonetheless, his
theory suffers from a logical flaw. He
conclusion to be drawn from Freedom,
quest for the origins of liberty and its
admits that in order for slaves to desire
the seminal new work by Harvard sociol-
development into the Middle Ages yields
freedom, freedom had to be a viable so-
ogist Orlando Patterson, it is that even a
richly rewarding results.
cial alternative, something that nonslaves
sophisticated civilization cannot be ex-
Patterson's provocative basic thesis is
possessed. But that means some form of
pected asia matter of course to become a
that the notion of freedom first arose in
freedom had to exist before it was "con-
free society (take China). "For most of
human societies as a result of the institu-
structed" by slaves. Why did it exist in
human history, and for nearly all of the
tion of slavery: "People came to value
some societies and not in others? Climate,
non-Western world prior to Western con-
freedom, to construct it as a powerful
national character, accident of history?
tact," writes Patterson, "freedom was
shared vision of life, as a result of their
That is likely to remain a mystery. I
anything but an obvious or desirable
experience of, and response to, slav-
hasten to add that this in no way detracts
goal." Indeed, "most human languages
ery in their roles as masters, slaves, and
from the bulk of Patterson's sociohistori-
did not even possess a word for the con-
nonslaves." (While, by his own admis-
cal analysis. In any event, he leaves no
cept before contact with the West." On
sion, this is not a wholly original insight,
doubt that the articulation of freedom as
the other hand, although the European
Patterson is the first scholar to make it
an ideal, and the valuation of its impor-
monarchies of 1492 were hardly hospi-
central to his conception of freedom.)
tance, were informed in a major way by
table to freedom as we know it, Patterson
In primitive societies, individuals had
the experience of slavery.
maintains-disputing the widespread no-
no existence apart from the tribe. With
Patterson offers a view of freedom as
tion of a 2,000-year hiatus in the history
persons in their midst who were
a "tripartite value," a "chordal triad"
of freedom in the West-that "freedom
stripped of their full humanity through
whose three "notes" are personal freedom
has been the core value of Western culture
a "social death," members of the com-
(freedom from constraint and interfer-
throughout its history."
munity began to define themselves as
ence by others or the state), civic freedom
Today, as more and more of the non-
the opposite of the slave, gaining their
(political participation), and "sovereign-
Western world embraces this value, it has
"first experience of freedom as a socially
al" freedom (freedom to exercise power
become common to speak of the yearning
valued good." Freedom was also a posi-
over others). While the last may strike us
58 reason
OCTOBER 1991
THEBOOKCASE
as a contradiction in terms, Pat-
common preconception-that
terson shows that it has played a
freedom was irrelevant in the
crucial and often positive role in
Middle Ages-Patterson dem-
the development of the West:
onstrates that the feudal lords
"Men with unrestrained free-
and kings clung zealously to
dom of power" were able to
their "sovereignal freedom,"
"create and transform their
and townsmen to the free status
worlds," freeing those in their
that distinguished them from
power from "the inertial weight
serfs. A peculiarity of the medi-
of tradition."
eval vision was the "divisibility
ofliberties"-specific rights and
P
atterson traces the evolu-
immunities conferred on in-
tion of freedom in ancient
dividuals or groups, and subject
Greece from an elitist ideal of a
to buying and selling. Despite
warrior caste to a much more
overtones of a crude protection
democratic and human vision.
racket, "these bartered liberties
He argues that the oligarchies'
WOW
did constitute the transfer of
willingness to extend political
genuine rights or freedoms.
rights to all freeborn males
Patterson links the Greeks' increasing appreciation
The "note" of personal freedom,
stemmed in part from the need to
of freedom to the danger of enslavement in foreign wars.
while muted, was also, kept alive
have them as allies in the event of a slave
masses. If they cared little for civic lib-
by serf revolts and heresies.
revolt; he also links the increasing appre-
erty, he says, it was because to them it
ciation of freedom-uniting, for the first
meant the elite's freedom to exploit them.
time, all the elements of the triad-to the
T
hirty years ago, it would have been
But this same urban plebs-composed
possible to write a book such as this
danger of enslavement in foreign wars.
mostly of freed slaves or descendants of
with hardly any mention of women and
Patterson challenges the widespread
such, and therefore especially attuned to
their experience of freedom. That this is
view that the Greeks saw liberty only in
the value of "the right to do as one pleased
no longer possible is, I think, altogether a
civic, not personal, terms. Analyzing Per-
without constraint from others or from
good thing. But Freedom exemplifies the
icles' funeral oration in the Second
the state"-passionately cherished per-
dangers of moving too far in the direction
Peloponnesian War (441 B.C.), he finds
sonal freedom.
of a "gendered" approach. Patterson's
that the Athenian statesman articulated a
Ironically, the best guarantee of such
contention is that women were no less
very modern, not to say American, vision
freedom was seen to be a strong imperial
than "the creators of Western freedom
of freedom: "We do not get into a state
power capable of reining in the rapacious
because it was they who first socially
with our next-door neighbor if he enjoys
oligarchy. Thus, the sovereignal freedom
constructed personal freedom as a value."
himself in his own way Each single one
of the emperor became a source of per-
The basis for this conclusion (which is
of our citizens, in all the manifold aspects
sonal freedom for the average citizen. At
likely to overshadow everything else in
of life, is able to show himself the rightful
the same time, new philosophical and
the book) is that in early Greece, slavery
lord and owner of his own person." Other
religious trends evidenced a turn toward
was a woman's fear: In wars of conquest,
Greek thinkers, such as Aristotle, were
inner freedom as mastery over one's pas-
men were usually killed and women
deeply suspicious of individualism and
sions and appetites, freedom as spiritual
taken as captives. Most of the references
excessive democracy-but their very
redemption-culminating, of course, in
to freedom in the Iliad, Patterson finds,
criticism of such notions suggests that
Christianity. One of Patterson's most il-
have to do with fear of the enslavement
they were commonly held.
luminating insights has to do with how
of the city's women. But can this value
Turning to ancient Rome, Patterson
the Christian sense of freedom as a gift
have existed in the consciousness of
has little time for the civic-minded
from, and submission to, an omnipotent
women only when, in the passages cited,
Roman elite, whose notion of liberty, he
God mirrored the Roman relationship be-
the fear is voiced by men?
argues, implied the preservation of its
tween the master and the freed slave and
Even more dubious is the assertion
own legal privileges. and restricted the
between the emperor and the citizen.
that women in classical Greece and in
competition for power to members of the
Refashioned in their image by Roman
medieval Europe, excluded from power,
ruling class. This conception of libertas
ex-slaves, Christianity became "the first,
"construct[ed] a compassionate,
THE BETTMANN ARCHIVE
"fully accepted the right and power of the
and only, world religion that placed free-
womanly version of personal freedom."
state to interfere [with the individual] as
dom at the very center of its theology."
The word womanly seems to imply that
long as it did so in a constitutional man-
It also affirmed the equal worth of every
this compassionate freedom is inherently
ner." Patterson undertakes a spirited
person, regardless of social status, in the
female. The evidence comes from female
defense of Rome's much-maligned
eyes of God. Once again taking on a
characters in Greek tragedies created by
OCTOBER 1991
reason 59
THEBOOKCASE
male writers-and very selectively inter-
'losers,' it sounds distressingly close to
cestry who speaks of Western culture as
preted at that. In discussing Antigone,
a politically correct diatribe. And he un-
his own.
Patterson posits a dichotomy between
accountably neglects to acknowledge
A monumental work by an original
male freedom-as-power embodied by
that the evils which tainted the birth of
and courageous thinker, Freedom can be,
Creon, and female freedom-as-love em-
freedom in the West-slavery and the
by turns, eye-opening and infuriating, but
bodied by Antigone; yet the chorus of
oppression of women-were no less
never boring and always informative.
male city elders takes Antigone's side, as
prevalent in other, unfree cultures.
And, though Patterson claims in the pref-
does Creon's son. Patterson never men-
Yet Patterson's ambivalence has very
ace that the book offers no value judg-
tions Medea, in which a woman murder-
little to do with the fashionable multicul-
ments and is only "a historical sociology
ously asserts her freedom.
tural credo; rather, it is a sobering re-
of our most important cultural value," it
minder that "the tragic interdependence
is also a stunningly passionate work.
of good and evil" is part of the human
Starting with the dedication, "To the un-
"Most human
condition. He does not hesitate to affirm
free of the world," Patterson makes no
languages did not
the unique though flawed greatness of the
secret of his sympathies and his antip-
West, to say that "freedom is undeniably
athies. Whether one shares them or not,
even possess a word
the source of Western intellectual
the passion is refreshing. So is the clear,
for [freedom] before
mastery, the engine of its extraordinary
graceful style uncluttered by jargon,
contact with the West,"
creativity, and the open secret of the tri-
while the sheer scope of Patterson's vi-
umph of Western culture" worldwide.
sion is something all too rare among
says Patterson.
This is a statement to raise the blood
scholars today.
Can something that
pressure of campus radicals-particu-
was alien to most of
larly coming as it does from a descendant
Contributing Editor Cathy Young is a
of slaves and a man of non-Western an-
writer in Middletown, New Jersey.
humanity most of the
time be taken for
granted as an intrinsic
Wandering in the Wilderness
part of human nature?
BY WALTER E. WILLIAMS
The Promised Land, by Nicholas Lemann
Even more telling is Patterson's ob-
New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 416 pages, $24.95
vious discomfort with the fact that the
more emancipated women of late Roman
N
icholas Lemann's story begins in
life, she is called into a tenant interview
antiquity proved as power-hungry as their
Clarksdale, Mississippi, just as
by Chicago's Taylor public-housing pro-
men: "What does it mean that women,
mass mechanization of agriculture
ject after a long wait. At the interview,
once given the chance, could have so
begins to displace black farm workers
she discovers that the housing authority
horribly sublated their personal freedom
and sharecroppers, creating the largest
has a policy against renting to unwed
into monsters of sovereignal power...?
internal migration in U.S. history. In
mothers. She lies about her marital sta-
Perhaps it means that women are human.
1940, 77 percent of black Americans
tus, but the next day Ruby and Luther
But Patterson feels compelled to express
lived in the South. Between 1940 and
Hayes, her common-law husband, go to
the hope that "they were not typical of
1970, 5 million left. Only 50 percent of
the courthouse and get married.
their class of women"-and continues to
the total black population remained in
Lemann passes over this minor inci-
identify the corruption of freedom into
the South.
dent without comment, but it is a telling
power with masculinity.
In a modified John Dos Passos style,
commentary on today versus yesterday.
Lemann treats us to interesting vignettes
While people have always behaved ir-
T
he book, which is to be followed by
of the trials, tribulations, and successes
responsibly, years ago the institutional
a second volume exploring the mod-
of several Clarksdale residents who went
setting and social mores did not support
ern history of freedom, ends on a
up the Mississippi to Chicago in search
or tolerate it as much. Ruby Lee
strangely ambivalent note of warning that
of greener pastures. Ruby Lee Daniels, a
Daniels's hurry-up wedding is one ex-
freedom should not be seen as an unqual-
former farm worker, is one of the people
ample of how institutional requirements
ified good. When Patterson says that "at
whose lives of disappointment and oc-
made fathers live up to their responsibili-
its worst, no value has been more evil and
casional achievement Lemann chron-
ties. The now unheard-of "shotgun"
socially corrosive inducing selfishness,
icles, a technique that adds a nice human
wedding was another; there was also ar-
alienation, the celebration of greed, and
touch to The Promised Land.
rest and the possibility of a jail sentence
the dehumanizing disregard for the
At one point in Ruby Lee Daniels's
for failure to provide child support.
60 reason
OCTOBER 1991
THEBOOKCASE
M
uch of Lemann's book is about the
which no one would defend as successful
for naught. The only income redistribu-
government policies affecting the
in achieving their stated missions. No
tion that occurred was the massive shift
lives of people like Ruby Lee Daniels.
one, that is, except perhaps Nicholas
of income from the people to the govern-
"Washington" is the book's most impor-
Lemann, who criticizes the assessment of
ment. Surely one can point to some iso-
tant and by far its most interesting chap-
the War on Poverty programs offered by
lated successes of the War on Poverty, but
ter. The reader is treated to details of the
Irving Kristol, Ronald Reagan, and
the policy-relevant issue is success per
deals and behind-the-scenes political in-
George Bush. Reagan's assessment was
dollar of expenditure.
fighting behind the passage of the Civil
captured in one of his favorite quotes: "In
All evidence suggests that govern-
Rights Act of 1964. People who criticize
the 1960s, we fought a war on poverty,
ment can do little of significance to in-
the Founding Fathers for having com-
and poverty won."
fluence income short of taking one
promised morality, counting each slave
person's earnings and giving them to
as three-fifths of a person for the pur-
another. After all, the main ingredients of
poses of apportionment, will be inter-
As senator, John
higher income are behavioral factors that
ested in the deals made by John F.
Kennedy voted to add
influence individual productivity, such as
Kennedy. When Kennedy was senator,
sacrifice of present enjoyment to invest in
preparing to run for president, he voted
an amendment to the
human capital. What can government do
along with his Southern colleagues to
Civil Rights Act
to ensure that kids behave in school, do
add an amendment to the Civil Rights
of 1957 that guaranteed
their homework, and give up summer fun
Act of 1957 that guaranteed jury trials for
for remedial education? How can it get
people accused of violating a black's
jury trials for people
parents to postpone the purchase of a
voting rights. In the South, of course, a
accused of violating
luxury item in order to save for a nicer
jury trial meant acquittal for the offend-
a black's voting rights.
home? These and other behavioral factors
ing white. But Kennedy, like Nixon,
are very important to individual develop-
needed the South to win the White
In the South,
ment, but they cannot be easily manipu-
House; thus, he had to devise an early
of course, a jury
lated by government.
version of the "Southern strategy."
trial meant acquittal for
Government has a much greater cap-
Among the seedier Kennedy-clan
acity to eliminate options than to expand
political strategies was an attempt to win
the offending white.
them. Lemann discusses, but chooses not
the black vote by paying off Jet magazine
to criticize, how the extension of the
columnist Simon Booker so he would
minimum wage to farm laborers, in
allow Kennedy staffers to write his
Lemann says: "Rhetorically, the war
1967, created the chemical revolution,
column. To appease segregationists, the
on poverty was made to sound more
which far exceeded the suddenness of the
Kennedy White House offered to give tax
sweeping than it actually was and so set
mechanical revolution. The minimum
breaks to James Farmer, then head of the
itself up to seem as if it ended in defeat
wage made labor-intensive farming far
Congress of Racial Equality, if CORE
when it didn't vanquish all poverty. But
too expensive. In the Mississippi Delta,
would call off demonstrations.
to say that the experience of the late '60s
as a whole, according to a confidential
The main thrust of Lemann's "Wash-
and the early '70s proves for all time that
HEW memo, some 11,000 farm workers,
ington" chapter and the "Chicago" chap-
federal social welfare programs can't
representing 50,000 family members,
ter that follows is a detailed account of
work, or that they cause poverty to wors-
lost their jobs as a direct result of min-
how the idealism of "Camelot," cut short
en, is to cross over into the realm of
imum wages. The fact that this policy
by Kennedy's assassination, evolved into
political fantasy." But the statistics are no
forced many blacks to flee to the
President Johnson's War on Poverty.
fantasy. Today, official poverty among
pathology of Northern ghettos, and over-
Lemann notes the futility of some poverty
blacks is higher than in the mid-'60s.
whelm whatever mediating institutions
programs, such as urban-renewal projects
were available, seems to faze Lemann
that simply destroyed poor neighbor-
ore important, since the U.S. Cen-
not one iota.
hoods and replaced some of them with
M
sus Bureau began collecting the
Daniel Patrick Moynihan, a con-
what were to become today's crime-in-
figures in the 1940s, the distribution of
gressional aide at the time, warned of the
fested high-rise projects. Urban re-
income has remained remarkably stable,
declining black family and recommended
newal-some people call it "urban
with the lowest quintile earning about 6
the Family Assistance Plan, which would
removal"-was a failed policy that
percent or 7 percent of the national in-
give welfare money to intact families as
mostly benefited the developers who got
come and the highest quintile getting
well as female-headed ones. He was
the building contracts.
about 40 percent. During those 50 years,
roundly condemned as a racist. In addi-
Then there were the Office of
the nation has spent hundreds of billions
tion to his hope that the plan would stem
Economic Opportunity, the Job Corps,
of dollars in the name of combating the
the breakdown of the black family, Moy-
and Community Action Programs, all of
"unfair" distribution of income, and all
nihan thought that it would remove the
OCTOBER 1991
reason 61
THEBOOKCASE
incentive for poor people, blacks espe-
cially, to migrate to states offering higher
welfare payments. Lemann says that
Civics from Hell
Moynihan "stoutly denies" this motiva-
BY MATTHEW B. KIBBE
tion. One of the reasons the Family As-
sistance Plan was defeated is that it would
Parliament of Whores: A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government
have made welfare workers redundant.
By P.J. O'Rourke, New York: The Atlantic Monthly Press, 233 pages, $19.95
P
art of Lemann's mission is to argue
with the sometimes-
against the idea, prominent in con-
ugly science of making
servative circles, that today's pathology
little cows and a whole
among many blacks is new and possibly
lot to do with the al-
caused by the poverty programs of the
ways-coercive nature
'60s and '70s. To make his case, he cites
of government fi-
studies in the '30s and '40s by scholars
nance: "The same
such as Hortense Powdermaker, John
look-and for the
Dollard, Charles Johnson, and Gunnar
same reason-ap-
Myrdal. Among other things, they ob-
peared on my own face
served that the typical black family was
when I began reading
matriarchal and that the rate of illegiti-
the 1990 farm bill.
macy was extremely high among blacks
Every five years or so
-some 16 percent, eight times the rate
the U.S. Congress
among whites. Plus, black communities
P.J. O'Rourke: "What the do they do all day, and
votes on a package of
in the South had high rates of murder,
why does it cost so
much money?"
agricultural legislation
sexually transmitted diseases, and
O
nly P.J. O'Rourke could glean a
that does to the taxpayer what [we] did to
bootleg-whiskey consumption.
valuable civics lesson from the ar-
the cow."
Although black families and black
tificial insemination of a cow.
Get the point?
neighborhoods have always had prob-
Imagine you are that cow, in a barn, on
This bovine allegory is only one of
lems, the magnitude and kind of dysfunc-
a farm, somewhere in New Hampshire.
many powerful tools employed by
tion we see today are entirely new. While
Life as a cow isn't all that bad, if only
O'Rourke to construct his twisted, mostly
16-percent illegitimacy was high in the
because you are too stupid and too busy
libertarian view of government and
'30s and '40s, it compares favorably to
going about the mundane business of be-
politics into "a kind of Devil's Civics
the 61-percent (and rising) illegitimacy
ing a cow to know that forces beyond
Text." O'Rourke's political satire is the
rate of today. Only recently has murder
your control completely determine your
198-proof, grain-alcohol type: harsh, out-
become the leading cause of death among
life. Unfortunately, all good things usu-
rageous, and intoxicating to the point of
young black males. Today, thousands
ally end sooner than later, and sure enough,
unpleasantness, like government itself.
upon thousands of black men reach the
one day three men rudely interrupt your
But even when describing an apparently
age of 25 without ever holding a job.
idyllic lifestyle. One of the men, Pete, is
sexual admiration for MK-41 Vertical
These statistics reflect modern black life,
wearing two very long rubber gloves.
Launch Missiles, he is hilarious. "This,"
which is entirely missing from Lemann's
O'Rourke was also there on that fate-
drools P.J., "is the way to waste govern-
stories about people who made the trip to
ful day, and he is thoughtful enough to
ment money."
Chicago to earn $30 a week or more in
share a cow's-eye view of the experience
High school seemed like hell at the
laundry, factory, or restaurant work in-
in his latest book, Parliament of Whores.
time, but I don't recall civics class being
stead of $20 or less picking cotton.
"Getting a cow in the family way is not
anything like this. In fact, I don't remem-
All in all, The Promised Land is a very
accomplished," observes O'Rourke,
ber even taking civics, although I'm sure
well-researched book of great benefit to
"with a bull and some Barry White tapes
I did. As far as I can figure, the lessons of
anyone trying to understand the hopes
in a heart shaped stall." It is instead a
high school civics are still with most of
and failures of the '60s and '70s for black
rather unpleasant procedure, particularly
us; they lurk deep in the subconscious
Americans. Some of the conclusions that
if you happen to be a cow.
mind, torturing the moral sensibilities of
Lemann extracts from his findings blem-
"It's an alarming thing to watch, and I
the rest of the brain. Civic-minded be-
ish an otherwise fine job of reporting.
am glad to say that I didn't watch it be-
havior only occasionally emerges as an
cause I was at the other end," recalls
uncontrollable reflex, like regurgitating
Contributing Editor Walter E. Williams is
O'Rourke. "But I'll tell you this, I will
the Pledge of Allegiance, registering for
John M. Olin Distinguished Professor of
never forget the look on that cow's face."
the military draft, or voting for either
MEDORA HEBERT
Economics at George Mason University.
The moral of the story has little to do
George Bush or Michael Dukakis. No
62 reason
OCTOBER 1991
THEBOOKCASE
EXPERIMENT IN LIBERTY
"The history of civilization is the
one, except maybe George Bush or Mi-
ing tax on those of us who look at a
record of a ceaseless struggle for
chael Dukakis, paid enough attention in
Victoria's Secret catalog with more hope
liberty." (Ludwig von Mises)
high school civics class to know why we
than regret is now up to as much as
actually do these things.
$3,855.60 a year. That means some old
W. M. Gray's book EXPERIMENT
O'Rourke's civics text, on the other
doll whom I don't even know is pestering
IN LIBERTY examines man's first
hand, I would have remembered. Instead
her daughter-in-law with querulous long-
500 year struggle for liberty in the
of the usual lessons, like "How a Bill
distance calls, littering her front lawn
USA. Europeans came seeking lib-
Becomes a Law," we learn that "the U.S.
with plaster ducks, overfeeding her toy
erty and found it. In this century
Government is a sort of permanent frat
fox terrier and haunting the bingo par-
their heirs have traded freedom, re-
pledge to every special interest in the
lors-on my dime."
sponsibility, and opportunity for
nation-willing to undertake any task no
equality, security, and constancy.
matter how absurd or useless." Or,
"voting in the House of Representatives
W
here, you might wonder, do such
Mankind is free to choose, but if he
keen political insights come
continues to choose this course,
is done by means of a little plastic card
from? Like investigative journalism,
individual liberty will disappear.
with a magnetic strip on the back-like a
political humor is only as good as the
VISA card but with no, that is, absolutely
questions asked. The well-placed query
EXPERIMENT IN LIBERTY: The
no, spending limit."
ferrets truth from the most evasive poly-
First Five Hundred Years of Free-
On democracy: "Now majority rule is
ester-clad bureaucrat and insight from the
dom in America, 1492-1992. By
a precious, sacred thing worth dying for.
most vacuous politician. Here, O'Rourke
W. M. Gray. 436 pp. $30.00 hard-
But-like other precious, sacred things,
is no slouch. He asks broad, philosophical
back, delivered. Order from the
such as the home and family-it's not
questions regarding the merits of rent-
publishers: Dixon, Gray, Springer.
only worth dying for; it can make you
seeking behavior within our political in-
210 E. First, Chanute, KS 66720,
wish you were dead. Imagine if all of life
stitutions ("What the fuck do they do all
Phone 316-431-9580, or from your
were determined by majority rule. Every
daý and why does it cost so goddamned
local book store.
meal would be pizza. Every pair of pants,
much money?"); and he asks the specific,
even those in a Brooks Brothers suit,
technical questions required to make
would be stone-washed denim. Celebrity
sense out of the economic and legal quag-
diet and exercise books would be the only
mire surrounding the S&L bailout ("What
PROFESSIONAL
thing on the shelves at the library. And-
the fuck, huh?! I mean, what the fucking
OPPORTUNITY
since women are a majority of the popu-
fuck?!"). It's an ugly job that O'Rourke
lation-we'd all be married to Mel
seems to relish.
Gibson."
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT
So, apparently, do a lot of other
FOR FREE-MARKET
On political parties: "When you
people, such as the readers of Rolling
looked at the Republicans, you saw the
Stone. P.J. O'Rourke's Irrational Affairs
ADVOCACY GROUP
scum off the top of business. When you
column is reportedly the magazine's most
Citizens for a Sound Economy is a 250,000
looked at the Democrats, you saw the
widely read-an amazing feat, consider-
member free-market citizen advocacy group
based in Washington, D.C. We seek an execu-
scum off the top of politics. Personally, I
ing the left-of-center political agenda of
tive vice president to report directly to the
prefer business. A businessman will steal
the vast majority of Stone's writers, and
president, with responsibility for managing
the day-to-day operations of the organization.
from you directly instead of getting the
presumably, its readership as well.
IRS to do it for him."
In fact, some of the best chapters in
The ideal candidate is a strong free-market
On taxes: "Remember that all tax re-
advocate with several years of senior manage-
Whores originated in the pages of Rolling
ment experience in for-profit or non-profit
venue is the result of holding a gun to
Stone-the text most teenagers are actu-
organizations. A background in economics is
somebody's head Thus, I-in my role
ally reading in Civics 101, while the
helpful/desired.
as citizen and voter-am going to shoot
teacher (probably the same one you had)
Our environment is dynamic, growing and
you-in your role as taxpayer and ripe
drones on about the unique structure of
challenging. We are out front and making an
impact on such issues as trade policy, tax and
suck-if you don't pay your share of the
bicameral legislatures and the delicate
budget issues, and deregulation. If your inter-
national tab. Therefore, every time the
balance of power between the three
est, background and experience are up to the
challenge, forward your resume (no calls
government spends money on anything,
branches of government.
please) and salary requirements to:
you have to ask yourself, 'Would I kill my
Maybe your kids are learning some-
Citizens for a Sound Economy
kindly, gray haired mother for this?'
thing in the public schools after all.
Attn: Paul Beckner
470 L'Enfant Plaza, S.W.
On Social Security: "Ninety-two per-
Suite 7112
cent of the nation's mortuary bait gets a
Matthew B. Kibbe is director of federal
Washington, D.C. 20024
Social Security check. A typical current
budget policy for the U.S. Chamber of
retiree's yearly take is $8,674. In order to
Commerce. Nothing written here neces-
pay for this, the Social Security withhold-
sarily reflects the views of the Chamber.
OCTOBER 1991
reason 63
THEBOOKCASE
Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert
known and most notorious of Heinlein's
closed sexual episodes or more
A. Heinlein, New York: Ace/Putnam,
numerous novels, it is a social/political
blasphemous treatment of received wis-
525 pages, $24.95. The original version
satire of some of the basic premises of
dom will not find them in this restored
of Robert Heinlein's classic novel was
today's civilization-in Heinlein's own
edition. What they will find, however, is
published earlier this year, including
words, challenging the "two untoucha-
greater elaboration on Heinlein's charac-
more than 50,000 words he was required
bles" of monogamy and monotheism (al-
ters' challenges to conventional wisdom,
to cut.
though it also challenges many prevailing
making the whole enterprise more com-
The book caused quite a sensation
notions of politics and government).
prehensible and, in my judgment, better
when it was published in 1961. The best-
Readers seeking previously undis-
done. Thirty years after its publication,
the book holds up very well, both as crit-
icism and as science fiction.
The "Politically Correct" are the "Moral Majority" of the 90s
In Stranger, some sort of (non-all-out-
Up from Libertarianism
nuclear) World War III has led to a New
by D. G. Lesvic
World Order in which a U.N.-type Fed-
eration government is the dominant
political authority on the planet. The U.S.
president is reduced to one among many
statesmen, with the Federation secretary
Is It, Legal
answers Murray Rothbard with
general the numero uno world leader—
For You To Be
his own words!
Looking At This?
the George Bush of the day. As if the story
were concocted from today's headlines,
Workers of the World Unite! Vote Libertarian
The Political Economy Club of Los Angeles
5668 Cahuenga Blvd., #313
we find the secretary general (who hap-
T-Shirts $12.00 + $2.00 P&H
North Hollywood, CA 91601
Bumper Strips $2.00 + $1.00 P&H
pens to be an American) manipulated on
The Free Wit POB298HomerAK99603
$4.00 ppd.
many matters of state by his ambitious
I'd Like to Vote for a Democrat-But I Have a Conscience
wife, who turns for advice to her trusted
astrologer. We have a world (conceived
in the '50s) with such commonplaces as
A Comprehensive Case
water beds, fax machines, stereo TVs,
socially acceptable single motherhood,
populist preachers as politically powerful
for School Choice
figures, and exceedingly powerful and
LIBERATING
pervasive government.
All this provides the backdrop for
Heinlein's literal use of the "man from
ESCHOOLS
E
ducation can break the cycle of poverty,
Mars" device to highlight and question the
but today's inner-city schools have
received wisdom on sex, religion, and
become a major element of the poverty trap.
politics. He posits a human infant, the sole
survivor of the first manned Mars mis-
In Cato's new book Liberating Schools:
sion, raised to adulthood by a very alien
Inner
City P:
Education in the Inner City, 11 scholars and
race of Martians with "psi" powers and
educators examine inner-city education and
without gender and sexual reproduction.
edited by David Boaz
The book follows the career of Valentine
propose educational choice as a way to
Michael Smith, from his return to Earth
give all families access to quality schools-an idea
as a young adult to his evolution into a
cult figure, religious leader, and martyr.
drawing attention from the White House to the Milwaukee ghetto.
Though ideas figured prominently in
Contributors include John Chubb and Terry Moe, Pete du Pont, John
most of Heinlein's fiction, he often stated
E. Coons, Sy Fliegel, Bonita Brodt, Joan Davis Ratteray, and Robert
that his main reason for writing was to
make a living by telling stories. With
S. Peterkin. 220 pp./cloth $25.95/paper $13.95
Stranger, he made an exception. This was
the book, more than any other, in which
224 Second St., S.E.
(202) 546-0200
he wished to express ideas, to say his
Washington, D.C. 20003
(202) 546-0728 Fax
piece, to make people think. After 30
INSTITUTE
years, it's clear that he succeeded.
-Robert W. Poole, Jr.
64 reason
OCTOBER 1991
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SELECTEDSKIRMISHES
DO THE CHEAP THING
BY THOMAS W. HAZLETT
M
atty Rich's Straight Out of Brook-
fessional editing machines go for about
opened the gates for scores of new left-
lyn is a sobering film about the
$3,500-and can be rented by the week.
wing publications theretofore economi-
futility of life in the ghetto. Old theme?
The current barrier to entry into filmmak-
cally impossible. Likewise, forget about
Tired plot? Maybe. But there is some-
ing is a MasterCard.
the union label on a Spike Lee project.
thing distinctive in this portrayal; it
As entry costs have plummeted, the
Experts said such vulgar economic
pounds the incessant meanness of the
number of outlets for films has exploded.
forces would breed the culture's subjuga-
projects right into the viewer's soul.
Video peddlers now have not just the
tion to the saga of Ozzie and Harriet. How
How has Mr. Rich achieved such ar-
big-screen theaters and the TV-network
wrong they have become, as offbeat
tistry? Not by dazzling technique. His
triopoly but 70 cable channels, hundreds
flicks and directors of color flourish due
movie is an uneven affair, almost ama-
of new independent broadcast stations,
to new production and marketing effi-
teurish at moments. Not by fancy cinema-
and the direct-to-cassette market as well.
ciencies. They don't all tell the truth
tography, special effects, or studio editing
Add new foreign markets-America is
(Roger & Me was a commercially
tricks: The film is decidedly low-budget.
the South Korea of entertainment soft-
successful gaggle of lies packaged as a
Nor by dint of long years of training under
ware exports-and the ghetto kid with
documentary), but they expand the circle
the masters of the film art. Matty Rich,
moxie becomes bankable.
of democratic debate to a radius unheard
you must know, is but 19 years of age.
of in less profit-hungry nations. To bring
The power of this film comes from the
S
ociety's experts all have their heads
Lenin up to speed, the capitalist gladly
personal vantage point that society has
turned the other way. The com-
sells left-wing activists the audio-visual
bequeathed the young director. Matty
munications schools are self-absorbed in
equipment to frame capitalism, and at an
Rich has come straight out of Brooklyn,
lost worlds and obsolete market defini-
increasingly competitive price.
and the images on screen haven't been
tions, ranting about the increasing con-
prettied up by a Harvard MBA reading
centration of daily newspapers in fewer
scripts at Paramount. As a truth-teller in
hands and corporate censorship of broad-
E
ven friendlier to freedom are the
free-lance filmsters. When George
a medium created for fantasy, Rich offers
cast television, while entirely missing
Holliday videotaped the LAPD pummel-
viewers a megadose of reality.
the show up on the Big Screen: society's
ing a defenseless Rodney King, he in-
But the big picture is this: Rich has
economics-driven atomization of news,
stantly entered America's political arena
shown that today a ghetto kid with some
information, and entertainment services.
as a social critic of great influence. Today,
moxie can become the niftiest thing you
From online databases to cable's explo-
millions of unregulated private citizens
can be on this planet-a filmmaker.
sion of choice to the burst of "alterna-
patrol the precincts of the world, armed
Moxie didn't used to be enough. For
tive" weeklies now serving the
with Japanese video cameras made
decades, would-be directors had to learn
yuppie/counterculture submarket, new
possible by technology and made cheap
on the job. Convincing a production com-
media make Americans less and less de-
by market competition. They delight in
pany to give you the jack to make a fea-
pendent on mainstream news and enter-
taping the offensive actions of agents of
ture without long years of studio
tainment.
the state, from the streets of Los Angeles
apprenticeship (or an uncle on the inside)
It would be easy to attribute this to a
to the back alleys of Croatia.
was about as easy as being the Dodgers'
wave of awe-inspiring technology, since
As a sensation-seeking journalist,
opening-day pitcher without having
the electronics revolution, desktop pub-
George Orwell saw society's horrible fu-
tossed an inning of Little League.
lishing, and the enlargement of the televi-
ture: Science would progress to serve the
Today, however, a good, solid video-
sion dial all seem linked to the science
state in its quest for total control of the
cam can be had for about $700 at any
lab. But that would mistake the invention
individual. He seemed oblivious to the
electronics discount house. That ma-
for the innovation. New tech may spark
reverse possibility: The flowering of
chine, powered by the magic of the mi-
the new product, but it need not: Only
technology now allows the citizen to spy
crochip, will perform cinematic tricks
after the villainous Rupert Murdoch
upon the state. 1984 was a pretty good
beyond those possible just 15 or 20 years
smashed the British newspaper unions
book, but I like our movie version much
ago by full-fledged studio equipment
under the political cover of the early
better.
costing tens of thousands of dollars. A
Thatcher years did British papers switch
used 16mm Bolex, on which big-time
from the old "hot type" printing to com-
Contributing Editor Thomas W. Hazlett
movies are made, can be picked up in
puterized typesetting. Paradoxically, this
teaches economics and public policy at
good condition for under $1,500. Pro-
cost-slashing publishing innovation
the University of California, Davis.
66 reason
OCTOBER 1991
ATLAS ECONOMIC RESEARCH FOUNDATION
"Helping those who are helping change the world"
Atlas advises and supports over 70 public policy institutes in the Americas,
throughout Europe, and in Africa, Asia, and Australia.
FOCUS ON LATIN AMERICA
BRAZIL-Instituto
AÇÃO
Liberal translated
HUMANA
and published a
MEXICO-Rolando
TRATADO
Portuguese
Espinosa, of CEEE,
version of Ludwig
works with scholars
von Mises's
and opinion leaders,
Human Action.
sponsoring educational
field trips to the U.S.
PERU-Hernando
de Soto and the
ILD have helped
thousands gain
legal title to land.
URUGUAY-Atlas
17th International
Workshop will be
held in Punta del
Este, November
20-23, 1991.
CHILE-Arturo Fontaine
and Centro Estudios
Publicos published Para
Combatir la Pobreza (To
Combat Poverty), a
blueprint for social
welfare reform.
ARGENTINA-
Ponciano Vivanco
and Fundacion
Republica organize
seminars to educate
union leaders.
Join our efforts to champion liberty by helping
people work for positive intellectual change.
Atlas Economic Research Foundation is incorporated under Section 501(c)(3) of the
Internal Revenue Service Code. Atlas is independent, nonprofit, and privately funded.
Atlas Economic Research Foundation, 4210 Roberts Rd., Fairfax, VA 22032-1028 Tel: 703/764-2606 Fax:703/764-1577
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VOL. 268 NO. 3
SEPTEMBER 1991
The
Atlantic
THE RETURN OF "SEPARATE BUT EQUAL" / DECODING ANCIENT MAYA
Portraits From Tallgrass Country by
WILLIAM
LEAST HEAT-MOON
A Preview of
$2.95
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02058 0
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making an intelligent decision.
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triumphed in the end.
only human. And living for today
One can easily make the same
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observation about an investment.
Except in the area of investing.
At first glance, it may appear
Where a certain discipline, under-
to be quite attractive. But will it be
standing and patience can
as attractive when you
be quite rewarding.
need it in the years
Take Aesop's
to come?
famous hare and
Such a question
tortoise for instance.
can muddle
As you recall,
the mind
it was the im-
and haunt one
patient hare
during peace-
who looked SO
When racing the elusive hare, the tortoise never lost sight of his goal.
ful moments.
But perhaps we can provide a
you earn. (Something that adds up
word or two of optimism.
quite nicely over the years.)
You see, with nearly one hundred
So if you're thinking about
years experience behind us, we know
making an investment, we suggest
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you resist the temptation to do any-
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Since 1898.
The
VOLUME 268 No. 3
Atlantic
PUBLISHED CONTINUOUSLY
SEPTEMBER 1991
SINCE 1857
n
Page 127
Page 78
Page 45
REPORTS
45 PRAIRYERTH
BOOKS
& COMMENT
In eight years of travels in Chase County, Kansas, the author
114 A FAIRER LIKENESS
learned a "prairie secret": "Take the numbing distance in small
20 NOTES:
doses and gorge on the little details that beckon. The prairie
Lone Star Rising: Lyndon
COMING TO GRIEF
doesn't give up anything easily, unless it's horizon and sky.
Johnson and His Times,
At last, a way to measure
1908-1960,
Search out its variation, its colors, its subtleties." In taking his
unpleasantness.
by Robert Dallek
own advice he found that "the splendid lies within a plain cov-
by CULLEN MURPHY
by DAVID M. KENNEDY
er." A report on the floods, tornadoes, tallgrass, cattle, and (most
of all) people that have formed the county.
24 OKLAHOMA CITY:
119 A VOICE AGAINST
SEPARATE AND EQUAL
ANONYMOUS DEATH
by WILLIAM LEAST HEAT-MOON
The James Jones Reader:
The desegregation of
Oklahoma City's schools in
Outstanding Selections From
87 THE DECIPHERMENT OF ANCIENT MAYA
the 1970s, our correspon-
His War Writings
dent writes, followed
As recently as 1960 only a few glyphs had been deciphered of the
by MICHAEL LYDON
the familiar trajectory: "re-
writing system of the greatest pre-Columbian civilization of all-
sistance, submission, racial
that of the ancient Maya. In recent years this situation has
122 BRIEF REVIEWS
tension, white flight, and
changed dramatically, owing in part to the efforts of a handful of
by PHOEBE-LOU ADAMS
peace, if not always har-
young epigraphers, most of them from the United States. Also
mony." But resegregation
changing are many long-accepted views of Maya civilization.
is now occurring in a very
OTHER
natural way, and some
blacks, satisfied with their
by DAVID ROBERTS
DEPARTMENTS
schools, wonder if this
4
745 BOYLSTON STREET/
is necessarily a bad thing.
CONTRIBUTORS
by JAMES TRAUB
8
LETTERS
HUMOR, FICTION,
TO THE EDITOR
AND POETRY
18 THE SEPTEMBER
ALMANAC
40 PRINCIPLES OF HOLIS-
TIC MEDICINE APPLIED
75 FIRST ENCOUNTERS
TO INFRASTRUCTURE
MAINTENANCE:
94 HONEY
still making vibrant contri-
Joan Crawford and
Bette Davis
A TEST CASE
by ROBERT MORGAN
butions to jazz.
by FRANCIS DAVIS
by EDWARD SOREL
by FRED CATAPANO
ARTS
110 TRAVEL:
125 THE PUZZLER
66 WITHIN THIS TREE
AND LEISURE
AN ASIAN AGENDA
by EMILY Cox
by JANE HIRSHFIELD
AND HENRY RATHVON
Consider the "second city"
106 MUSIC:
approach: avoiding national
78 SOLE CUSTODY
BETTER WITH AGE
127 WORD HISTORIES
capitals and instead seek-
by LYNNA WILLIAMS
At the age of eighty-four,
ing out cities like Chiang
by CRAIG M. CARVER
the alto saxophonist and
Mai and Jogjakarta.
composer Benny Carter is
by JAMES FALLOWS
Cover illustration by
not merely persevering but
Braldt Bralds
THE ATLANTIC (ISSN 0276-9077) is published monthly by The Atlantic Monthly Company, 745 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02116. Second-class postage paid at Boston, MA, Toronto, ON, and additional
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As LONG AS UNLIMITED
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PERFECT EYESIGHT
There will always be a
CHIVAS - REGAL.
12
CHIVAS REGAL
1801
BLENDED SCOTCH
WHISKY
745 BOY STREET
HAT NEED FOR a man to make a trip to Looking-
the Wild; and what I have been preparing to say is, that in
"W
glass, Oregon, when he'd been seeing his own
Wildness is the preservation of the world." In the 129 years
image all across the length of the country?" Wil-
between these two writings The Atlantic has published scores
liam Least Heat-Moon asked in Blue Highways. Literature at
of others that portray the westering of America. There were
its best anticipates reality. The journey chronicled in Blue
two, for example, in the August, 1897, issue. First: "Sloping
Highways took place in 1978, but Heat-Moon's book, pre-
down from a gentle hill toward a creek, the Kansas town
viewed in the September, 1982, issue of The Atlantic Monthly,
shows at a distance its pointed steeples, its great iron water-
anticipated some of America's 1980s self-absorption. Now
tower, and its massive schoolhouse, which stands above the
Heat-Moon is back with a selection of portraits from his sec-
elms and cottonwoods and maples" ("A Typical Kansas
ond book, PrairyErth, which may rival Blue
Community," by William Allen White). Sec-
Highways in its ability to plumb the American
David Rees
ond: "I suppose we need not go mourning the
situation. PrairyErth, which took twice as long
buffaloes. In the nature of things they had to
to write (the author's journeys for the book be-
give place to better cattle, though the change
gan in 1983), is a darker, deeper survey of man-
might have been made without barbarous wick-
kind's historical, ecological, and ethical position
edness" ("The American Forests," by John
on the planet. By drawing a complex map of
Muir).
one isolated Kansas county, "the most easterly
Heat-Moon is in a sense two people, and he
piece of the American Far West.
the last re-
writes about our continent, its leaves of grass,
maining grand expanse of tallgrass prairie in
its geology, and its denizens with both the
America," Heat-Moon moves Atlantic readers
canny worldliness of his Irish and English back-
along the great circle they began with Henry
ground and the mystical time sense of his
David Thoreau in June of 1862: "Eastward I go
Osage ancestors. It is not surprising that he con-
only by force; but westward I go free
The
tinues the great circle that has absorbed this
West of which I speak is but another name for
magazine since its inception. -THE EDITORS
CONTRIBUTORS
awards from the Chicago Book Clinic and
ROBERT MORGAN ("Honey") teaches
the Association of American University
creative writing and modern poetry at
Presses.
BRALDT BRALDS (cover art) was born and
Cornell University. His book Green River:
educated in the Netherlands and moved
New and Selected Poems was published last
JAMES FALLOWS ("An Asian Agenda") is
month.
to the United States in 1980. His work
The Atlantic's Washington editor. He is
has been widely exhibited in the United
writing a book about the future of East
DAVID ROBERTS ("The Decipherment
States, Japan, Korea, and the Nether-
Asia.
of Ancient Maya") is the author of Jean
lands, and has received awards from the
Stafford: A Biography (1988) and Iceland:
Society of Illustrators and the New York
WILLIAM LEAST HEAT-MOON ("Prairy-
Land of the Sagas (1990). He is working
Art Directors Club.
Erth") is the pen name of William Trog-
on a book about Geronimo and the
don. Trogdon holds a bachelor's degree
Apaches.
FRED CATAPANO ("Principles of Holistic
in photojournalism and a doctorate in
Medicine Applied to Infrastructure
English from the University of Missouri.
JAMES TRAUB ("Oklahoma City: Sepa-
Maintenance: A Test Case") is the depu-
He is the author of Blue Highways, a por-
rate and Equal") is a free-lance writer
ty vice-president for auxiliary services at
tion of which first appeared as the cover
whose articles on race-related issues have
Columbia University. He is at work on a
story in the September, 1982, Atlantic.
appeared in The New Republic and
collection of short stories.
Harper's. He is the author of Too Good to
JANE HIRSHFIELD ("Within This Tree")
Be True: The Outlandish Story of Wedtech
FRANCIS DAVIS ("Better With Age")
is a poet whose most recent collection is
(1990).
writes frequently about music for The At-
Of Gravity & Angels (1988).
lantic. His second book, Outcats: Jazz
LYNNA WILLIAMS ("Sole Custody")
Composers, Instrumentalists, and Singers,
DAVID M. KENNEDY ("A Fairer Like-
teaches fiction writing at Emory Univer-
was published last year.
ness") is the William Robertson Coe Pro-
sity. Her collection Things Not Seen and
fessor of History and American Studies at
Other Stories will be published next spring.
TERRY EVANS (cover-story photographs)
Stanford University.
lives in Kansas and specializes in photog-
The September Almanac was compiled
raphy that involves people and the prai-
MICHAEL LYDON ("A Voice Against
with the assistance of Gail Cleere, on be-
rie. Her photographs illustrated the At-
Anonymous Death") is a musician and
half of the U.S. Naval Observatory; Jac-
lantic cover story for November, 1989,
writer who lives in Manhattan. He is
queline Bogard, of Del Monte Foods;
"Back to Eden." Evans's book Prairie:
working on a book of essays about litera-
James R. Tischer, of Woodland Biomass
Images of Ground and Sky (1986) received
ture, Real Writing.
Power; and Nielsen Media Research.
4
SEPTEMBER 1991
CAMRY
MURPHY'S LAWBREAKER.
If ever there was a car with a reputation for working like it's
supposed to, this is it. The Toyota Camry. A car with such a herit-
age of quality and reliability, it serves as a welcome relief from the
usual uncertainties of automobile ownership.
But don't mistake Camry's dependable nature for a lack of sophisti-
cation. From a powerful 16-valve electronically fuel-injected engine to
ventilated front disc brakes and power rack-and-pinion steering, the
Camry is one of the most advanced passenger cars you can buy. Add to
that the fact that it's a Toyota, and you have just about the perfect car.
Eat your heart out, Murphy.
"I love what you do for me."
TOYOTA
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26
34
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HWY MPG
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unsettling question.
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truck with one of those
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idea how hazardous it
you wondering whether
it does either.
Which means, first and foremost, that they're
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trained to handle their rigs. In good or bad
gency response teams to the site of serious
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We want you to know.
The
Atlantic
Editor
WILLIAM WHITWORTH
Washington Editor
LETTERS THE EDITOR
JAMES FALLOWS
Senior Editors
JACK BEATTY, C. MICHAEL CURTIS,
CORBY KUMMER, BARBARA WALLRAFF
Managing Editor
CULLEN MURPHY
Art Director
JUDY GARLAN
National Correspondents
THERAPY FOR CHILDREN
kindle joy in our hearts. On second
KATIE LEISHMAN, NICHOLAS LEMANN
thought, my original perception makes
Associate Editors
PETER DAVISON (poetry),
SUE PARILLA, MARTHA SPAULDING
An
n otherwise helpful article, "Ther-
a lot more sense than the bizarre no-
apy for Children," by Katharine
tions put forth as science by the child
Staff Writer
PHOEBE-LOU ADAMS
Davis Fishman (June Atlantic), was se-
analysts. What sensible parent would
Staff Editors
riously flawed by its acceptance of the
sentence a child to a lengthy exposure
ELINOR APPEL, AVRIL CORNEL,
STEVEN CRAMER, ERIC Haas,
myth that for "normal" children,
to this type of "therapy"?
AMY MEEKER, LUCIE PRINZ
mourning lasts one year. Grief educa-
DONALD HOPE
Art Staff
ROBIN GILMORE-BARNES, Associate Art Director
tors, therapists, and counselors are
Richmond, Vt.
ELIZABETH URRICO, Assistant Art Director
coming to realize that grief is one of the
GILLIAN KAHN, Art Assistant
major turning points in the life of chil-
Assistants to the Editors
LESLIE CAULDWELL, ANN LEOPOLD,
dren at any age. Children who are
K
atharine Davis Fishman did a fine
job of presenting readers with a
KAREN SONTAG (archivist), KATHRYN SYLVESTER,
LOWELL WEISS
grieving over the death of a parent or
working knowledge of child therapy.
Editorial Promotion Manager
sibling may normally express their
My only criticism is that the author re-
SARAH FINNIE ROCKWELL
grief for an indeterminate period of
gards parents as consumers, in the
Contributing Editors
Roy BLOUNT, JR., FRANCIS DAVIS,
time, especially if the grief is related to
same manner that they are consumers
GREGG EASTERBROOK, SEYMOUR M. HERSH,
a violent and unexpected death.
of camps and schools. Parents certainly
TRACY KIDDER, MICHAEL LENEHAN,
JAMES ALAN McPherson, CONOR CRUISE O'BRIEN,
Fishman does not clarify how diffi-
have an obligation to investigate a
THOMAS POWERS, WILLIAM SCHNEIDER
cult it is for a child to express pain and
therapist's training and credentials,
suffering to adults who are reluctant to
and a right to feel comfortable with the
acknowledge, for lots of reasons, the
therapist's personality and style. How-
child's difficulties. Children do not
ever, parents almost always have very
Chairman
have the vocabulary to express their
strong feelings about bringing their
MORTIMER B. ZUCKERMAN
pain and are often quieted by parents,
children for treatment. These feelings
Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
FRED DRASNER
teachers, and counselors who don't ex-
may enhance or detract from their
pect that serious experiences of death,
child's treatment. The author refers to
President and Publisher
IRA ELLENTHAL
violence, suicide, and murder will be
parents as "suffering, intimidated, and
Circulation & Consumer Marketing
expressed by children over long peri-
guilt-ridden." Parents may also be an-
CINDY J. STILL, Associate Publisher
PETER WATT, Circulation Business Manager
ods of time. At Fernside Center for
gry at their child, their spouse, the
KRISTEN EIMILLER, Circulation Promotion Manager
ADRIENNE ISELHART, Assistant Promotion Manager
Grieving Children, in Cincinnati, we
child's school, even perhaps at the
MICHAEL P. PRESTO, Director, Retail Marketing
see many children from three to eigh-
therapist they have yet to meet.
Advertising
teen who, having found support for
Though the author mentions Kazdin's
JAYNE YOUNG, Associate Publisher
JAMES SHERIDAN, Vice President
their grief experiences, move on in
finding that 94 percent of child thera-
DONNA PALMER, Vice President, West Coast
their development. This rarely takes
pists work with parents, the author's
FRANCES V. BROUDY, Advertising Director
MEREDITH WELCH, Marketing Director
place in a year.
discussion of this work is sparse.
DEBORAH B. FARNHAM, Promotion Director
TAYLOR GRAY, Research Director
It is time for the psychological and
I would advise parents that before
EDWIN COOPER, Marketing Consultant
social-work communities to add the
they walk into a therapist's office for
MATTHEW BARBA, SARAH BENENSON,
MARA HART FILO, LINDA NIEPOKOJ SHAUGHNESSY
area of children's grief to their lists of
the first time, child in hand, they dis-
Operations
priorities.
cuss their own thoughts and feelings
KIMBERLY SMITH JENSEN, General Manager
STEVE SUNDERLAND
with a spouse, a friend, or-best yet-
JAN MORRIS, Production Director
JOSEPH O'CONNELL, Production Director Emeritus
University of Cincinnati
the child's new therapist. Most child
MARTHA JEVSEVAR, Business Manager
Cincinnati, Ohio
therapists would be pleased to know
KAREN WESOLOWSKI, Special Projects Manager
SANDRA CICCONE, MICHAEL DRNACH,
that they and the parents are in the
RAYMOND FORD, DEBORAH HOFFENBERG,
MICHAEL JONES, DAN O'KANE, LIAM O'MALLEY
D
Γ. Charles Sarnoff certainly cap-
same corner.
tured the poetry of childhood.
Gila HARTSTEIN
Editorial/Business Office
Now when I kiss my children good-
Jewish Board of Family and
745 Boylston St., Boston, MA 02116, (617) 536-9500
night I see them as biologically celi-
Children's Services
New York Advertising Office
bate soldier-dwarfs one day closer to
Brooklyn, N.Y.
599 Lexington Ave., N.Y., NY 10022, (212) 326-5350
Chicago
West Coast
Detroit
ludic demise. Silly me: I used to be-
Christopher Schuba
Donna Palmer
Mara Hart Filo
lieve that they were miraculous beings
(312) 482-8099
(213) 479-4729
(313) 353-4000
K
atharine Davis Fishman seems to
(415) 389-8439
recently arrived from beyond the be-
treat the classificatory system of the
yond, come to redeem the world and
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Men-
8
SEPTEMBER 1991
® MONTBLANC ® ® Solitaire®
SOLITAIRE
The art of writing.
MONT
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Available at fine jewelers, department stores, quality stationers and other select retailers.
Koh-I-Noor Inc. (800) 877-4810. In Canada, (416) 670-0300.
tal Disorders, Third Edition, Revised,
O
ne idea in "Therapy for Chil-
disservice by distorting the field's de-
as if it provided an accurate description
dren" that deserves further con-
mographics and falling into a boy's net-
of specific disorders. Children and
sideration is the possibility that a diag-
work in her interview choices.
adults do not read the DSM-III-R be-
nosed condition may be more a
CATHERINE MONK
fore they develop symptoms and do
reflection of society's intolerance than
Brooklyn, N.Y.
not know how to behave in order to fit
a measure of a true problem. Unfortu-
the named condition. While classifica-
nately, actionist professionals are
have one bone to pick with Katherine
tion is useful, at the least it needs to be
ready, and seem to be more than will-
Davis Fishman. She identifies the
accompanied by a dynamic description.
ing, to do their thing.
"types of practitioners available [as]
And while I appreciate Fishman's in-
A return of strong traditional family
psychiatrists, psychologists, or social
tent not to become mired in theoretical
values wouldn't hurt. Furthermore, a
workers." Nowhere does she mention
differences, parents seeking treatment
controlled clinical trial may reveal that
master's-level trained therapists other
for their child need to recognize that
the wisdom and services of Grandma
than M.S.W.s. Her cautionary state-
psychodynamic approaches are not all
may be just as effective as a gang of
ment that "many 'therapists' hang out
alike. In traditional Freudian psycho-
professionals.
shingles without adequate credentials
dynamic approaches the therapist re-
JOHN F. HART
of any kind, and consumers should be
lies heavily on drive theory, which
Blair, Nebr.
wary" (after defining "adequate cre-
tends to understate the interpersonal
dentials" as M.D.s, Ph.D.s, or
influences on personality and develop-
W
hen the cover story of a magazine
M.S.W.s) can be interpreted as warn-
ment, including cultural factors as well
deals with a subject as special-
ing people away from competent
as familial ones.
ized as your cover story did this time, I
trained therapists who simply have dif-
The interpersonal psychodynamic
can't help feeling shortchanged.
ferent (read "smaller") "tribal affili-
approach, derived from the teachings
ERWIN FUCHS
ation[s]." I have a master's degree in
of Harry Stack Sullivan, views devel-
Seattle, Wash.
"existential, phenomenological, thera-
opment differently, and assumes that
peutic psychology" from Seattle Uni-
personality, style, and pathology are
T
he Atlantic remains on our active
versity. This accredited two-year pro-
the result of many influences. In addi-
subscription list because of in-
gram, which includes a nine-month
tion, the presence and identity of the
depth articles like "Therapy for Chil-
clinical internship, is at least as rigor-
therapist or analyst is a vital part of the
dren," by Katharine Davis Fishman.
ous as any M.S.W. program. Granted,
treatment. Sullivan did not work di-
BONNIE B. FALLON
clinical social workers are the dominant
rectly with children, although his ap-
Marblehead, Mass.
master's-level practitioners of psycho-
proach is quite applicable to the treat-
therapy in the United States today; for
ment of them. And although he used
onsidering the theoretical and
example, an M.S.W. is the only mas-
language as the central form of com-
technical complexities of clinical
ter's degree accepted by many insur-
munication, he was aware of all the
therapy and the state of war between
ance companies. But this speaks more
nonverbal means of communication.
differently oriented practitioners, I
to powerful lobbying than to superior
Additionally, he saw the therapist as a
found "Therapy for Children" infor-
ability as a therapist.
participant-observer, very much aware
mative and evenhanded. However, I
EMILY M. DAVIES
of the input of the therapist and fully
am appalled by the choice of spokes-
Chugiak, Alaska
using the relationship between a pa-
persons. Despite the article's own sta-
tient and an analyst.
tistics that there are more female than
STANLEY SPIEGEL
male psychologists and social workers
"T
herapy for Children" was infor-
mative and certainly helpful for
Supervising Analyst
and roughly an equal number of psy-
those parents who need reassurance
William Alanson White Institute
chiatrists (57 percent male, 43 percent
and need to choose the most appropri-
New York, N.Y.
female), three men are profiled. Fur-
ate therapy. However, Katharine Davis
thermore, other men in the piece are
Fishman overlooked an entire group of
was amazed at Richard Chasin's han-
quoted as clinic directors or authors
therapists who are prepared to engage
dling of the four-year-old boy's enco-
(Kissinger, Catlin, Kazdin, Parloff, Sil-
in therapy with children: marriage,
presis as if it were merely a behavior
verman) while women are primarily
family, child counselors. MFCC thera-
problem. Thousands of silent sufferers
relegated to the role of talking only as
pists have a master's degree in counsel-
should be told that this physical symp-
therapists about cases (Roth, Laura
ing or in a related field, have interned
tom, source of family conflict and
Chasin). And look at those numbers: of
for 3,000 hours under supervision, and
heartbreak for the school-age child, is
the professionals interviewed, eight
have passed a rigorous oral and written
not self-limiting, is not "outgrown,"
are men and three are women (includ-
licensing exam.
and is not responsive to scolding, pun-
ing Combrinck-Graham)!
PATIENCE SHUTTS
ishment, or rewards.
Women may not have the "requisite
Huntington Beach, Calif.
It can be cured at the encopresis
beard," as Katharine Davis Fishman so
clinic of any large pediatric center,
glibly puts it, and I have no doubt that
Katharine Davis Fishman replies:
such as the Children's Hospital in
years of sexism have kept the profes-
In my article Philip Kendall suggest-
Seattle.
sion's higher echelons male-dominat-
ed that a grieving child might get along
BARBARA M. GOLD
ed. But Fishman has done your read-
without professional help during the
Edmonds, Wash.
ers, the profession, and women a
first year of mourning, but if grieving
10
SEPTEMBER 1991
disrupts the child's life after that, some
them. That, I believe, is what social
Interview, but must have stored that
therapy might be helpful. While Steve
workers call "empowerment," and it's
information in another part of my brain.
Sunderland would, apparently, go fur-
why I wrote the article.
Although I do think I made it reason-
ther and start therapy immediately for
The first issue that Stanley Spiegel
ably clear that not all psychodynamic
all grieving children, I assume it's the
raises seems to be a hot button with
therapists are Freudians, I wish I had
implied distinction between "normal"
professionals, even though they them-
included a phrase explaining that Sulli-
and "abnormal" or "maladaptive" that
selves have put DSM-III-R together
vanians are more participatory.
gives him trouble.
because, as he says, classification is
To Barbara Gold, Richard Chasin
Donald Hope is fortunate indeed
useful. I stated specifically that the
says he doesn't believe that all enco-
that his children are well and happy,
book is only "a point of departure for
presis has one source or is simple to
and can be described as he perceives
diagnostic consultation." Many par-
help. But it seemed harmless to try a
them. It is only when the miraculous
ents haven't the foggiest notion wheth-
dramatic family situation, and he him-
beings have, for example, hysterical
er their children's problems merit
self was surprised at how responsive
night terrors that won't go away that
treatment, and while it would be nice
this child was to this intervention.
Sarnoff's idiom
John Hart ought
might be called
to know that good
into play, in order
therapists are (to
to make the be-
varying degrees)
ings feel better
True beauty
mindful of the
and ready to kin-
social context of
dle joy once more.
their patients'
Sarnoff, inciden-
tally, puts forth
comes from within.
problems. I didn't
meet a therapist
his treatment as a
(or a parent) who
"mixture of art
wouldn't claim to
and science," but
And we have the
believe in "strong
if parents don't
traditional family
like the vocabu-
values," but what
lary, they should
seek another type
face to prove it.
specifically those
values might be
of therapy for
varies with the in-
their children.
dividual and the
If Gila Hart-
tradition he or she
stein would reread
was brought up in.
my article, she
If Grandma can re-
would find expla-
lieve a child's suf-
nations by Drs.
fering and clear
Sarnoff, Falcone,
up the symptoms,
Kendall, and Cha-
sin of how they
WILD
she should by all
means have at it.
work with parents.
The particular ses-
TURKEY
The kids I saw,
alas, were beyond
sions I reported
Grandma's reach.
dealt with chil-
8 years old, 101 proof, pure Kentucky.
Catherine
dren alone be-
Monk's praise does
cause adults know
KENTUCKY STRAIGHT BOURBON WHISKEY ALC BY VOL 50.5% AUSTIN NICHOLS DISTILLING CO., LAWRENCEBURG, KY © 1990
much to mitigate
less about what
the harshness of
they experience in
her objection to
therapy. The field of child therapy in-
to say "If you're miserable and the
the presence of so many males in my
cludes, besides the skilled practition-
child seems to be too, check out ther-
article. My purpose was not to talk
ers I described, some charlatans and
apy," parents (especially those who
with practitioners who had been sorted
high-pressure salesmen, as well as
might disagree with each other) often
out by sex but to work with profession-
good clinicians whom parents might
feel the need for something more con-
als who were both distinguished in the
just find uncongenial. Since therapists
crete. So they get out DSM-III-R, they
field and willing to make time for me.
see outpatients at most a couple of
look up childhood disorders, and if a
My book on the subject will cast a
hours a week for a few years, whereas
collection of symptoms described
wider net and, perhaps, quiet the gen-
parents live with their children, and
therein sounds familiar, they're more
der police.
since parents are where the buck stops,
comfortable consulting a professional.
As for Emily Davies and Patience
I suggest once more, in disagreement
As for the second issue, I can only
Shutts, I have some sympathy for their
with Dr. Hartstein, that they should
say, "Oops!" Sullivan's work did come
complaint, and I have no doubt that
behave like skeptical, well-informed
up in conversations I had with several
each is competent to work expertly
consumers, and keep their wits about
therapists, and I've read The Psychiatric
with children.
SEPTEMBER 1991
11
CAN POETRY MATTER?
Dana Gioia replies:
allowing fiduciaries to accumulate divi-
I cannot argue with Barbara Adams's
dends at a greatly increased rate, and
As
a poet tenured in academia, I
sad assertions that America defines
second to reward enterprises for fi-
think most of what Dana Gioia
success financially and that our educa-
nancing through debt rather than equi-
("Can Poetry Matter?," May Atlantic)
tional system is too narrowly pragmat-
ty, because interest on debt counts as
says about the isolated state of poetry
ic. But if De Crevecoeur observed the
an expense but dividends on equity do
today is sadly true. I disagree, howev-
ill effects of our materialism, a later
not. Large-scale debt financing not
er, with his reasoning about why this
French visitor, Alexis de Tocqueville,
only reduces the exponential gain from
condition exists.
noted with surprise how many nine-
equity investment but also dilutes the
Americans are now and always have
teenth-century American homes con-
ownership function of equity and pro-
been indifferent to poetry. De Creve-
tained well-thumbed copies of Shake-
motes the outrageous theft of equity
coeur pointed out in 1782 the debilitat-
speare and the Bible. Whatever its
represented by current patterns of ex-
ing effects of a pluralistic, materialistic
materialistic obsessions, our nation
ecutive compensation.
society on the literature it would pro-
also has immense spiritual potential.
Far from being irrational speculators,
duce and support. Immigrants are by
Surely the ambition of artists and intel-
our modern investors are playing pre-
necessity opportunistic and materialis-
lectuals must be to nourish this energy.
cisely the role that the U.S. tax code
tic; obviously, when they come from
It is encouraging to remember that
directs them into. Adding another tax
every culture in the world, they have
while American culture has always had
on equity will not solve the problems
no common literary tradition and no
a down side, masterpieces do get writ-
Fingleton describes.
understanding of the importance of
ten and win-however slowly-their
BRUCE P. SHIELDS
one in gluing together a society's high-
readership. The challenge for artists
Wolcott, Vt.
er values.
and intellectuals is to be realistic with-
Success in the United States has al-
out being discouraged-or, to twist
Eamonn Fingleton replies:
ways depended on income and, to a
Ms. Adams's own metaphor, to be
Bruce Shields is right that fiduciaries
lesser extent, on education. Our edu-
saints without being sissies.
get nice tax breaks, but I doubt if re-
cational system serves vocational
moving the breaks will remove the fi-
needs, not the higher values of a meri-
duciaries. In any case, no one under-
torious democracy which were envi-
HIGHLY SPECULATIVE
stands better than the fiduciaries that a
sioned by Jefferson, Adams, and
small trading levy would have a big im-
Franklin. Donald Trump, for all his ve-
E
amonn Fingleton ("Finance: Highly
pact on reducing trading volume.
nality, was the role model adopted by
Speculative," June Atlantic) points
most of my students until General
out a serious problem in contemporary
S
ince it marks the end of the week-
Norman Schwarzkopf came along to
American finance, but his solution
end and heralds the start of yet an-
tap their love of more obvious vio-
would intensify the problem. Here are
other work week, I would suggest that
lence-a violence inherent in our ob-
four causes of the present speculation
any Monday qualifies as "black" for a
solete frontier attitude. Poetry is for
and volatility in the equities market.
sizable portion of the labor force. Octo-
sissies. Frost recited a poem at Kenne-
First, the sharply progressive gradu-
ber of 1989 included five such "black
dy's inauguration like a clergyman giv-
ated tax on income. This has two rel-
Mondays": the second, the ninth, the
ing the country its dose of religion.
evant effects on finance: the first is to
sixteenth, the twenty-third, and the
The modernist poets to whom Gioia
throw most long-term (pension-relat-
thirtieth. None of those black Mon-
refers-Robert Frost, T. S. Eliot, and
ed) investment on behalf of individuals
days, however, should be confused (as
Gertrude Stein-had to go to Europe
into the hands of fiduciaries, and the
Eamonn Fingleton has confused one)
to find an audience before America
second coincides with the problem of
with Black Monday, October 19, 1987.
would deign to wake up from its stupor
the treatment of capital gain, whereby
That Monday was "the most devastat-
of greed and hypocritical piety to rec-
an investor does better to realize a se-
ing day in the history of financial mar-
ognize their native genius. William
ries of small gains than to realize a sin-
kets at least since the bursting of the
Carlos Williams did indeed stick it out
gle large one.
South Seas Bubble in the 1720s or the
here, but he got very little readership
Second, the tax code treats all long-
collapse of the imaginative speculative
outside the coterie of émigré poets in
term gain as equally subject to tax. For
structures of John Law in Paris in the
England and Europe. Why bother with
individuals this provides no incentive,
same years," according to John Ken-
poets?, Americans ask. They don't
and for fiduciaries strong disincentive,
neth Galbraith, in his The Great Crash,
make any money.
to keep large unrealized gain in an in-
1929. A doubly black Monday for
Real poetry breathes and has a
vestment portfolio.
many investors.
heartbeat, but Americans never get
Third, the tax on estates, as de-
FRANK GROSSMAN
close enough to hear it. Unless and un-
signed, rewards owners of enterprises
Ottawa, Ont.
til we forge a unified culture that is di-
who break up and distribute their hold-
vorced from pluralistic greed and self-
ings during their lifetimes. Many en-
The mistake noticed by Frank Gross-
serving violence, poetry will remain
terprises expire at the demise of the
man (and others) was the result of an
isolated-it will be read only by saints
owner because of tax complications.
in-house editorial glitch, not a misread-
and sissies.
Fourth, the double taxation of divi-
ing of history on Eamonn Fingleton's
BARBARA ADAMS
dends serves first to squeeze private
part.
Newburgh, N.Y.
investors out of the equity market, by
-THE EDITORS
12
SEPTEMBER 1991
ILLIBERAL EDUCATION
ty member opposed to the establish-
place" it with something new. The
ment at Duke of a chapter of the
Western-culture requirement was
D
inesh D'Souza's article "Illiberal
National Association of Scholars wrote
modified in 1988 by faculty vote, and
Education" (March Atlantic) raises
to "the university provost demanding
is thriving in its updated form, under
important questions about contempo-
that [NAS] members be barred from
its new name, Cultures, Ideas, and
rary scholarship and its relationship to
serving on academic committees that
Values (CIV).
critical issues facing a changing Ameri-
have any say on matters affecting the
As before, freshmen must complete
can society. But in two instances in his
curriculum. The Duke faculty rejected
a year-long sequence of courses
article about which I have intimate
the demand. On this point, at least,
(known as tracks) from among eight
knowledge, D'Souza is in error. On
the old standard of academic freedom
choices-seven of which continue
Duke's recruitment of a number of
seems for the time being to have pre-
from the former Western-culture pro-
scholars in the humanities, he writes,
vailed." D'Souza fails to note that I im-
gram. One track, "Europe and the
"Oddly the university's administration
mediately rejected the suggestion and
Americas," began on an experimental
seems to have had little idea of the na-
reaffirmed the administration's com-
basis and has now been fully integrated
ture of its acquisi-
into the program.
tions even as its
"Europe and the
humanities de-
"TEN YEARS AGO, OUR LOVE BECAME LEGAL.
Americas" stud-
partments were
THIS ANNIVERSARY, I'M BREAKING ALL THE RULES."
ies European tra-
transformed."
ditions alongside,
Not true.
and in interaction
In the early
with, other im-
1980s, with the re-
portant compo-
tirement of a large
nents of culture
number of faculty
in the Americas.
members in the
Major European
department, sev-
texts are read
eral respected
alongside texts
people from the
from North, Cen-
English and other
tral, and South
humanities de-
America and the
partments pro-
Caribbean from
posed that with
the fourteenth
thoughtful invest-
century to the
ment we could re-
present. It was
establish Duke as
this one track that
a leading center of
was the subject
scholarship in the
of so much atten-
humanities. Duke
tion and misun-
set out to do that
THE DIAMOND ANNIVERSARY BAND.
derstanding.
with full knowl-
As a result of
edge that many of
the change from
the professors we
Western culture
sought were at
This year. tell her you'd marry her all over again.
to CIV, faculty
the cutting edge
members can now
of literary scholar-
A diamond is forever.
more easily incor-
ship, which by
Suggested retail price for rings $2,000-$4,500
For more information, call 800-777-8220
BEST®
porate addition-
definition meant
al classic works
that they would
that had been
be controversial. We also assumed that
mitment to academic freedom, a posi-
excluded from the previous reading
these people would help to attract out-
tion that was endorsed later by the
list. In fact, a comparison of readings
standing students to Duke in a field
Academic Council. What explanation
across tracks shows that both Plato and
where student interest nationally had
can there be for this omission of my re-
Machiavelli are read in six of the eight
been moribund. Judging from the ex-
sponse unless D'Souza wanted to tell a
tracks, and Shakespeare and Aristotle
traordinary demand for admission to our
story that supported his thesis?
in all eight. Obviously, many of the
humanities departments and the ex-
PHILLIP A. GRIFFITHS
books from the previous Western-cul-
ceptional quality of these students, we
Provost
ture requirement are still used.
succeeded in achieving our objective.
Duke University
The mandate of the revised CIV
D'Souza also asserts that the Duke
Durham, N.C.
curriculum remains to provide a com-
administration colluded with the so-
mon intellectual experience for all
called radical fringe to deny free
ontrary to Dinesh D'Souza's allega-
Stanford freshmen. It is through a reg-
speech. Here D'Souza borders on in-
tions, Stanford did not "abolish" its
ular process of curricular revision that
tentional deceit. He writes that a facul-
Western-culture requirement or "re-
the undergraduate curriculum re-
SEPTEMBER 1991
13
sponds to changes in knowledge and
most blatantly ideological among
ed, and, one presumes, dedicated by
changes in the world.
them.
local politicos, in 432 B.C.
THOMAS WASOW
I am in favor of an inclusive ap-
KENT SHAW
Dean of Undergraduate Studies
proach that exposes liberally educated
Vergennes, Vt.
Stanford University
students to the best that has been
Stanford, Calif.
thought and said in both Western and
Mr. Shaw is not the only one of our
non-Western cultures, but unfortu-
correspondents to have misread John
Dinesh D'Souza replies:
nately Stanford's CIV curriculum, in-
Sedgwick's text, which refers to the
Phillip Griffiths raises two such mi-
cluding the controversial "Europe and
Pantheon, originally built by Marcus
nor cavils that I read his letter as confir-
the Americas" track routinely results in
Vipsanius Agrippa in 27-25 B.C. and
mation that my major criticisms of
the assignment of works, such as
reconstructed in its present form by
Duke University are essentially cor-
Frantz Fanon's Wretched of the Earth,
Emperor Hadrian around A.D. 125.
rect. I clearly stated that his universi-
that are less representative of Third
-THE EDITORS
ty's intention was to place itself at the
World thinking than of the political
"cutting edge." My point was that this
stances of Stanford professors. This is
pursuit of literary fashion was exacting
bogus multiculturalism.
ADVICE & CONSENT
a high cost in terms of the diminution
of intellectual standards, both in the
PX LIQUOR
T
0 set the record straight, I did not
hiring of faculty members and in
write that 80 percent of the Bolshe-
course content. In numerous conversa-
viks' Cheka agents were Jews, as Fa-
tions with Duke administrators I de-
E
ither Kathleen Cushman or the au-
ther Andrew L. J. James maintained in
tected lots of enthusiasm for controver-
thor of the book she reviews, Mili-
Letters to the Editor (January Atlantic).
sy and publicity but little or no
tary Brats ("Government Issue," June
Nor did I write that Jews who served in
understanding of ideas such as reader-
Atlantic), has been separated from the
the Cheka tortured prisoners out of
response theory and deconstruction.
pleasure of shopping in post exchanges
"grief."
Second, I did not mean to slight Pro-
and commissaries for too long. What-
Citing George Leggett's definitive
vost Griffiths; indeed, I am pleased to
ever the causes of alcoholism in the
study on the Cheka, I wrote in Red Vic-
see him rejecting the demands of the
military may be, "heavily discounted
tory: A History of the Russian Civil War
"cutting edge" when they reach ab-
tax-free booze sold at base liquor
(p. 314) that "Jews made up nearly
surd extremes. But it's far from clear
stores" is not among them. Prices at
eighty percent of the rank-and-file
why this omission could be considered
package stores on bases with which I
Cheka agents in the Ukraine." The
nefariously calculated to support my
am familiar are comparable to those at
Ukraine is only a small part of the Sovi-
thesis. My goal was to compliment
liquor stores in the areas surrounding
et Union, and despite turbulence
Duke's governing bodies in this case
them; in fact, it is often possible to get
there, the portion of the total Cheka
for rejecting Stanley Fish's demand
better bargains-for instance, in case
forces assigned to it in 1918-1921 re-
that members of the National Associ-
lots-on the "outside."
flected that fact.
ation of Scholars not be permitted to
V.T. BOATWRIGHT
I also pointed out on the same page
serve on tenure committees.
Stonington, Conn.
that the Cheka represented an early
As for Stanford, the university used
example of the Bolsheviks' readiness
to have a Western Civilization require-
Kathleen Cushman replies:
to use national, religious, and ethnic
ment that included fifteen classic
Major Doug Hart, of the Pentagon's
antagonisms to set various nationalities
works. It replaced this popular se-
Public Affairs Office, points out that
against one another in the lands under
quence with Cultures, Ideas, and Val-
Class VI liquor stores on military instal-
their control. I hardly need add that
ues (CIV). The abbreviation makes
lations are exempt from state taxes on
the successors of the Soviet Union's
the new course sound like the old
liquor; abroad no federal tax is charged
founders are reaping that bitter harvest
course, and is designed to convey the
either. Thus, in states where alcohol
today in Georgia, Armenia, Azerbaijan,
impression that little has changed. But
is not taxed, prices may indeed be
the Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, not to
this is not the message that Stanford
comparable to those in civilian stores
mention such more-recent Soviet ac-
communicated to student and faculty
nearby.
quisitions as Lithuania, Latvia, and
activists who charged the old curricu-
Estonia.
lum with having a Eurocentric white
W. BRUCE LINCOLN
male heterosexual bias. And although
PUT CONCRETELY
Distinguished Research Professor
the new sequence includes some West-
Department of History
ern classics (Marx is a particular favor-
ohn Sedgwick's exposition on con-
Northern Illinois University
ite- one overrepresented white
crete ("Strong But Sensitive," April
DeKalb, Ill.
male here," one Stanford professor
Atlantic) was as sturdy as his subject,
tells me), the CIV legislation explicitly
just the right aggregate of fact and fan-
requires professors in all eight tracks to
cy. But much as we may admire the
D
Γ. Jeff Miller's April Letter to the
Editor was one of the most beauti-
give "substantial representation" to
achievements of the Romans, it was
fully concise pieces of writing to ap-
works by women, minorities, and na-
the Grecian team of Ictinus and Callic-
pear in The Atlantic in a long time.
tives of the Third World. The "Europe
rates who supervised the construction
A. T. KLINE
and the Americas" track is simply the
of the Parthenon, which was complet-
Miami, Fla.
14
SEPTEMBER 1991
FOCUSING ON
EDUCATION
THIS IS THE THIRD IN A SERIES OF PUBLIC-SERVICE ADVERTISEMENTS SPONSORED BY ROCKWELL International CORPORATION ABOUT
THE NATION'S EDUCATION CRISIS. THEY ARE PUBLISHED TO ENCOURAGE INFORMED DISCUSSION AND DEBATE.
DUCATION "RESTRUCTURING"
In the not too distant past, the sci-
E
has captured the imagination of
entific-management movement, led by
policymakers, business leaders,
people like Frederick Taylor, de-
governors, state legislators, ed-
scended on schools and businesses
ucation-association leaders, and citi-
alike, stopwatches and clipboards in
zens at large. Almost everyone in the
hand. Using a "scientific" approach
education business is absorbed with it.
to management, schools were "teach-
Almost everyone, that is, except teach-
er-proofed": designed in the hope
ers. Yet without their support and in-
0
that they would run whether or not
volvement, education restructuring
the teachers were any good, echoing
will never be more than a dream.
similar practices on the nation's as-
As we all know, schools can be no
sembly lines. The assembly line, it
better than their teachers. Indeed, giv-
Empowering Teachers
must be remembered, was a triumph
en the state of American education, it
of the "dumbing down" of work, mak-
is a wonder there are so many dedi-
ing it routine enough for unskilled
cated and caring teachers, men and
BY DENIS P. Doyle
workers to do. And while no one talks
women who tolerate bureaucracy, un-
any longer about teacher-proofing the
satisfactory working conditions, low status, and low wages.
classroom, most teachers in America are familiar with its legacy.
The hard truth is that in many respects teaching looks more
What about the high-tech assembly line? In the most mod-
like blue-collar than white-collar work. Only in private schools
ern manufacturing firms, of course, the routinized work has
and a handful of the best public schools are teachers treated as
been so "dumbed down" that robots perform it (and do a bet-
professionals, with the opportunities and obligations profes-
ter job, because they never get bored or distracted) while the
sionals enjoy. Most teachers must work to the clock, use text-
human beings on the line do what they're good at: trouble-
books adopted by a remote bureaucracy, submit lesson plans
shooting and problem-solving.
for administrative approval, and employ tests and measures
What is the lesson for schools? At least as a trial, we should
imposed by a third party. Other professionals-lawyers, doc-
begin an experiment: teacher-run schools. Teachers can form
tors, architects, accountants, clergy-work for themselves. Hos-
cooperatives or partnerships or collaboratives or, as Dale
pitals and law firms, accounting partnerships and architectural
Mann of Teachers College recently suggested, teacher ESOPs—
firms employ administrators to do the partners' or senior staff's
Employee Stock Ownership Plans. It works in the business
bidding, not the other way around. Few teachers have access
world, why not in schools? This is not an idle question. If teach-
to the simple things other professionals take for granted: a
ers are to become true professionals, they must seize the mo-
telephone, for example, or a decent faculty lounge where they
ment and demonstrate to their own satisfaction-as well as their
can have a cup of coffee and share notes with colleagues. Teach-
clients'-that they really can do it right.
ers are limited in their choice of opportunities for professional
How to begin such a radical experiment? One step at a time.
growth and renewal, something most professionals expect rou-
A great virtue of American federalism is that each state solves
tinely. Most important, teachers are not in charge of their pro-
its problems its own way; so too can the nation's 15,000 school
DRAWING BY JEAN-FRANÇOIS ALLAUX
fessional lives. Unions bargain, but bread-and-butter issues are
districts. Bold and visionary schools can experiment and when
not the same as professional issues.
the evidence is in, the others can follow suit.
What explains this unproductive state of affairs, and what
might we do about it? Much of the blame is traceable to a bad-
Denis P. Doyle is an education analyst and a senior fellow at the Hud-
son Institute. With David T. Kearns, the deputy secretary of education,
ly out-of-date business metaphor. And the solution lies in a
he is a co-author of Winning the Brain Race: A Bold Plan to Make Our
modern, high-tech metaphor.
Schools Competitive (ICS Press).
THE VIEWS IN THIS ESSAY ARE THOSE OF THE AUTHOR AND DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE VIEWS OF ROCKWELL International CORPORATION.
Rockwell International
LASSIC
Vladimir
HOROWITZ
Horowitz-The
THE LAST RECORDING
H.M.S.
GILBERT
ASHKENAZY
LONDON
CARLATTI
BRASS
Romantic Journey
sonatas
Last Recording
(Sony Classical)
405.985
H.M.S. Gilbert &
Ashkenazy. Live In
London Brass-Romantic
Sullivan. Highlights from
Moscow. He plays and
Scarlatti: Sonatas.
conducts Beethoven's
Journey (Teldec)
418.541
A. Newman, harpsichord
H.M.S. Pinafore, others.
Third Piano Concerto. Also
(Newport Classic) 402.321
Elders, Rochester Phil.
(Pro Arte)
411.728
Mussorgsky/Ravel, more
(MCA Classics)
411.504
TAKE ANY 8 COMPACT
S
H
B
E
Kiri Te Kanawa-Italian
William Albright-The
Roger Norrington-
Wagner: Overtures.
Mozart: Violin Concerto
Opera Arias (Angel)
Complete Rags Of Scott
Mendelssohn:
Tannhauser; Lohengrin;
No. 2; etc. Cho-Liang Lin;
416.032
Joplin (Musicmasters)
Symphonies No. 3
Die Meistersinger; more.
Leppard, English Chamber
Puccini: Tosca. Eva
414-722/394-726
(Scotch), No. 4 (Italian).
Tennstedt, Berlin Phil.
Orch. (Sony Class )410-373
Marton; Jose Carreras;
Brahms: The Piano
London Classical Players
(Angel)
330.134
Tchaikovsky: Ballet
Juan Pons; Tilson-
Quartets Op. 25, 26, & 60.
(Angel)
414.110
Christopher Parkening/
Music. From Swan Lake;
Thomas, cond.(Sony
Ax/Stern/Laredo/Ma(Sony
Beethoven: Overtures.
David Brandon-Virtuoso
The Sleeping Beauty; etc.
Classical) 414-359/394-353
Classical) 413-724/393-728
Sir Colin Davis,
Duets (Angel)
413.823
Batiz, Royal Philharmonic
Anthony Newman-
Smetana: Ma Vlast ("My
Barvarian Radio Orch.
Bach: Goldberg
(Musicmasters) 402.115
Mozart: Complete Music
Homeland"). Libor Pesek,
(CBS Master.)
345.199
Variations. Glenn Gould
Handel: Water Music.
For String Orchestra
Royal Liverpool Phil.
Roger Norrington-
French Impressions-
(CBS Master.)
343.251
Marriner, Academy of
Brandenberg Collegium
(Virgin Classics)
410.621
Schubert: Symphonies
Tortelier and English
Tchaikovsky: 1812 Over.;
St. Martin-in-the-Fields
(Newport Classic) 413-880
No. 5 & 8. (Unfinished).
Mozart: The Complete
Chamber Orch. Play Music
Marche Slave; etc. Ozawa,
(Angel)
401.638
Piano Sonatas, Volume 1.
London Classical Players
Of Debussy, Faure, etc.
Berlin Phil.(Angel) 343.244
Best Of The Canadian
Brass (CBS)
401.596
(Angel)
414.102
Philippe Entremont, piano
(Virgin Classics) 376.004
Chopin: Four Ballades;
(Pro Arte)
409.953
Schubert: Impromptus,
Sonata No. 2. Andrei
Beethoven: Symphonies
Jean Pierre Rampal/S.
Brahms: Sonata No. 3;
Opp. 90 & 142. M. Perahia
Kudo-Concertos For Two
Gavrilov(Angel) 343.103
Nos. 4 and 5. Norrington,
3 Intermezzi, Op. 117.
(CBS Master.)
343.707
Flutes. Mozarteum Orch.
Great Opera Choruses.
London Classical Players
Emanuel Ax, piano
409.375
Brahms: Piano Concerto
Richard Hickox, London
(Angel)
400.184
Salzburg (Sony Classical)
(Sony Classical)
418.228
Anthony Newman-
No. 1. Peter Serkin;
Symphony and Chorus
Brahms: Violin Concerto;
Beethoven: Four Great
Robert Shaw, Atlanta
(MCA Classics)
404.210
Bruch: Concerto No. 1.
Anner Bylsma-J.S.
Bach: Sonatas For Viola
Sonatas (Newport Classic)
Sym.(Pro Arte)
363.127
Jean-Pierre Rampal/
Nadja Salerno-Sonnen-
CARLO MARIA
Marielle Nordmann-
berg; De Waart, Minnesota
Da Gamba (Sony Classical)
376.046
Wynton Marsalis Plays
Trumpet Concertos by
Music For Flute And Harp
Orch.(Angel)
400.135
418.400
Carlo Maria Giulini-
(Sony Classical)
404.228
Midori-Paganini
Mussorgsky: Pictures At
YEVGENY
Haydn, Hummel, L. Mozart.
The King's Singers-On
Caprices
The Beautiful Blue
An Exhibition; Stravinsky:
KISSIN
Leppard, National Phil.
Chopin: Piano Concertos
(CBS Master.)
389.791
Danube. Music of Johann
The Firebird
IN TOKYO
(CBS Master.)
343.624
Nos. 1 & 2. Murray Perahia;
Beethoven: Piano & Violin
(Sony Classical)
413.625
Mehta, Israel Phil.
Sibelius: Symphony
Sonatas. Vol 1. I. Stern,
Strauss II (Angel) 414.367
(Sony Classical) 403.337
Beethoven: Symphony
No.1; Oceanides. Rattle,
E. Istomin(CBS Master.)
Holst: The Planets.
No. 9 (Choral). Norrington,
Birmingham Symphony
Debussy: Afternoon Of A
341.982/391.987
Andrew Davis, Toronto
London Classical Players
Orch.(Angel)
343.467
Faun; others. Batiz, Sym.
Debussy: Images; Jeux;
Sym.(Angel)
352.534
Orch. State of Mexico
(Angel)
365.619
etc. Rattle, Birmingham
Roger Norrington-
(Musicmasters) 402.255
Sym. (Angel)
404.707
Issac Stern & Jean-Pierre
Midori-Bartok: Violin
Schumann: Symphonies
Sharon Isbin-Road To
Handel: Music For The
Rampal-Vivaldi: 6
Concertos 1 & 2. Zubin
Nos. 3 (Rhenish) & 4.
The Sun (Estrada Do Sol)
Royal Fireworks; more.
Double Concertos
Mehta/Berlin Philharmonic
Yevgeny Kissin-Kissin In
(Sony Classical)
417.535
(Sony Classical)
414748
Tokyo (Sony Classical)
London Classical Players
Latin Romances For Guitar
Malgoire, La Grande Ecurie
413-161
(Angel)
414.094
(Virgin Classics)
413.179
(CBS Master.)
346-015
Leonard Bernstein,
Bernstein Conducts
Debussy's Greatest
LIGHT CLASSICS
conductor-The Encore
Bernstein. New York Phil.
Hits-Clair De Lune; etc.
Collection, Vol. II
(CBS Master.)
355.784
Ormandy, Bernstein, etc.
John Williams, Boston
Ballet's Greatest Hits-
(CBS Master.)
371.054
A Night At The Opera-
Bernstein: "Candide".
(CBS Master.)
330.605
A Mozart Gala. Pinza,
Pops Orch.-Music Of
(Vol.2) Ormandy, Boulez,
Original Cast Recording
Rachmaninoff's Greatest
Domingo, Te Kanawa,
The Night; Pops On
etc. (CBS Master.) 388.751
THE AMADEUSUMOZART
(CBS Master.)
355.768
Hits-Graffman,
many more (CBS) 416-131
Broadway 1990
Bernstein: Fancy Free
Bernstein, Ormandy, etc.
405.993
Ballet's Greatest Hits-
The Movies Go To The
(Sony Classical)
& Facsimile (Complete
(CBS Master.)
330.589
(Vol. 1) Copland, Boulez,
Opera. Callas, Gedda, etc.
Ballets); Candide Over.;
Puccini's Greatest Hits.
Kostelanetz, etc.
Bach's Greatest Hits (Vol.
(Angel Studio)
372.342
etc. Slatkin, St. Louis
Te Kanawa, Pavarotti,
(CBS Master.)
388.744
2)-Biggs, Gould, etc.
Leonard Bernstein,
Sym.(Angel)
349.688
Marton, Carreras, Tucker
(CBS Master.)
330.571
cond.-Marches Greatest
Bolling: Sonatas For
405811
Brahms' Greatest Hits-
(CBS Master.)
Hits. N.Y. Philharmonic
Two Pianos. Claude Bol-
Beethoven's Greatest
Bernstein, Entremont, etc.
(CBS Master.)
414.813
More Mozart's Greatest
ling and Emanuel Ax
Hits-Fur Elise; others.
(CBS Master.)
333.864
Frederica von Stade-My
Hits. Szell, Ormandy etc.
(CBS Master.)
388.546
Bernstein, Entremont, etc.
Funny Valentine-songs
(CBS Master.)
405.258
(CBS Master.)
330.563
Dinner Classics-The
The "Amadeus" Mozart
Johann Strauss' Great-
by Rodgers & Hart.
Ormandy, cond.-
Viennese Album
-music featured in the hit
McGlinn, London Sym. &
Classical Jukebox Vol.I
(CBS Master.)
386.508
film (CBS)
416.123
est Hits-Emperor Waltz;
Chorus (Angel)
414.789
etc. Ormandy, Phila. Orch.
Philadelphia Orch.
Dinner Classics-The
Leonard Bernstein,
(CBS Master.)
330.548
Thomas Hampson-An
(CBS Master.)
403.378
Italian Album
conductor-The Encore
Old Song Re-Sung.
Tchaikovsky's Greatest
Show Boat-Broadway
(CBS Master.)
386.490
Collection, Vol. II
American Concert Songs
Hits (Vol. 1)-Bernstein,
414763
Show Album. Von Stade,
(CBS Master.)
371.054
(Angel)
Dinner Classics-The
Ormandy, New York Phil,
Cole Porter: Kiss Me Kate.
Hadley, Stratas; McGlinn,
French Album
Leonard Bernstein,
etc. (CBS Master.) 330.555
cond. (Angel)
402.586
(CBS Master.)
386.482
First recording of the full
conductor-The Encore
Amore-The Great Italian
Collection, Vol.
BERNSTEINSONGBOOK
score. McGlinn, cond.
Greatest Hits Of The
John Williams Conducts
(Angel) 413-773/393-777
Love Arias. Te Kanawa,
Trumpet. Schwarz, others
(CBS Master.)
371.047
The Star Wars Trilogy
Erich Kunzel's Greatest
Pavarotti, Marton, more.
(CBS Master.)
380.006
Claude Bolling: Bolling's
(Sony Classical) 414730
Hits. Rochester Pops
(CBS Master.)
402.081
Igor Kipnis-Greatest Hits
Greatest Hits
Chopin's Greatest Hits-
(Pro Arte)
411.405
Cole Porter: Anything
Of The Harpsichord
(CBS)
369.751
Entremont, Ormandy, etc.
Leopold Stokowski-
Goes. McGlinn, London
(CBS Master.)
379.990
Tchaikovsky's Greatest
(CBS Master.)
333.856
Fantasia/Remasterd
Mozart's Greatest
Symphony & Ambrosian
Greatest Hits-The Flute.
Hits (Vol. 2)-Bernstein,
Hits-Theme From Elvira
Original Soundtrack
Chorus(Angel)
401620
Rampal, Robison, etc.
Ormandy, Phila. Orch., etc.
(Buena Vista)
410.043
(CBS Master.)
379.982
(CBS Master.)
Madigan; Rondo Alla Turca;
364.216
Bach's Greatest Hits,
Mozart At The Movies-
more. Gould, others
The Bernstein Songbook
Vol. 1.-Toccata & Fugue;
Music heard in Amadeus,
John Williams-Greatest
Greatest Hits-The
(CBS Master.)
330.613
-Selections from West
etc. Biggs, Casals; etc.
Out Of Africa, M.A.S.H.,
Hits The Guitar, Vol. 1
Violin. Stern, Zukerman,
Kiri Te Kanawa Sings
Side Story, On The Town,
(CBS Master.)
330.530
etc. (CBS Master.) 401612
(CBS Master.)
379.974
etc. (CBS Master.) 379.966
Gershwin(Angel) 359.745
etc. (CBS)
371.088
SONCI
KANAWA
SONY
ITZHAK PERLMAN
Nadja Sonnenberg
stave paich
DANIEL BARENBOIM
Murray Perahia-
MURRAY
The Aldeburgh
PERAHIA
Recital
VIVALDI
(Sony Classical)
The
416.222
Kiri Te Kanawa-Verdi &
Brahms: The 3 Violin
Nadja Salerno
Steve Reich-The Four
Puccini (CBS Master.)
Sonatas-Itzhak Perlman
Sonnenberg-Vivaldi:
Sections; more
343.269
and Daniel Barenboim
The 4 Seasons. Orch. Of
(Elektra/Nonesuch) 416.651
(Sony Classical)
409.367
St. Lukes (Angel) 416248
DISCS FOR 1e
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Vladimir Horowitz-
Tchaikovsky: Piano
Mozart: Requiem. Giulini,
Early Romantic
Richard Strauss: Also
Favorite Chopin
Concertos Nos. 1 & 3.
Philharmonia Orch.
Overtures-Weber,
Sprach Zarathustra; Don
(CBS Master.)
355.156
Feltsman; Rostropovich,
(Sony Classical)
408.575
Mendelssohn, Berlioz, etc.
Juan. Tennstedt, London
Vladimir Horowitz In
National Symphony Orch.
(Sony Classical) 409.227
Brahms: Symphony No. 1.
Norrington, London
Phil. (Angel)
404715
Concert, 1967-1968
Tennstedt, London Phil.
Classical Players
Debussy: Images; Jeux;
(CBS Master.)
386.532
Tchaikovsky: Violin
(Angel)
332.668
(Angel)
406.090
etc. Rattle, Birmingham
Stravinsky: Firebird,
"HUMORESOUE"
Concerto; etc. Zukerman;
Copland: Appalachian
Beethoven: Symphonies
Sym. (Angel)
404.707
Jeu de Cartes. Esa-Pekka
FAVORITE VIOLIN ENCORES
Mehta, Israel Philhar.
Spring (complete); John
Salonen, Philharmonia
Nos. & 6. Norrington,
Copland Conducts
ISAAC STERN
(CBS Master.)
336.461
Henry; Letter From Home;
(CBS Master.)
385.203
London Classical Players
Ravel: Bolero; Rapsodie
etc. Slatkin, St. Louis Sym.
Copland-Billy The Kid
The King's Singers-20th
(Angel)
373.985
Isaac Stern- Humoresque
Espagnole; Ma Mere
(Angel)
373.563
(Suite), Portrait (H. Fonda,
Anniversary Celebration
Favorite Violin Encores
L'Oye. Thomas, London
Andres Segovia
Luciano Pavarotti-
narrator), more. London
(CBS Master.)
405.720
Sym.(CBS Master
Collection., Vol. 4.
Pavarotti in Concert
Sym. (CBS Master.)
Sampler (Angel) 385.021
367.482
Dvorak: Symphony No. 9
Baroque guitar
(CBS Master.)
373.548
(New World); American
Handel: Messiah High-
(MCA Classics)
Mahler: Symphony No. 1.
Bizet: Carmen and
375.998
Suite. Libor Pesek, Royal
lights. A. Davis, Toronto
Maazel, Vienna Phil.
L'Arlesienne Suites 1 & 2.
Liverpool Philharmonic
Sym.(Angel)
381.277
Mahler: Symphony No. 4.
Kathleen Battle, Soprano;
(CBS Master.)
349.936
Ozawa, Orch. Nat'l De
(Virgin Classics) 383.182
Lorin Maazel, Vienna
Bach: Brandenberg
France(Angel)
331.595
Dvorak: Slavonic
Berlioz: Symphonie Fan-
Dances, Op. 46 & 72.
Concertos; etc. Ransom
Prokofiev: Peter & The
Phil.(CBS Master.) 332.866
tastique. Norrington,
Wilson, Gerald Schwarz,
Wolf; Saint/Saens:
Maazel, Berlin Philharm.
London Classical Players
(Angel)
379.248
MIDORI MEHTA
L.A. Chamber Orch.
Carnival Of The Animals.
(Angel)
382.747
DVORAK
CONCERTO
(Angel) 372-367/392-365
I. Perlman, K&M Labeque;
Gershwin: Rhapsody In
Rossini: Overtures.
VEW YORK
Gershwin: American In
Mehta, Israel Philharmonic
Blue; etc. Tilson Thomas,
Marriner, Academy of St.
Paris; Cuban Overture;
(Angel)
331.322
L.A. Philharmonic
Martin-in-the-Fields
Yo-Yo Ma-Great Cello
etc. Slatkin, St. Louis Sym.
(CBS Master.)
339.226
(Angel)
378.695
Canadian Brass-Bach:
Concertos (CBS Master)
(Angel)
371.096
Art Of The Fugue
Mozart: Symphonies Nos.
Tchaikovsky: Symphony
401-604/391-607
Rimsky-Korsakov:
(CBS Master.)
366.740
40 & 41 (Jupiter). Kubelik,
No. 4; Romeo & Juliet.
Borodin: Sym. No. 2;
Scheherazade; Russian
Bavarian Radio Symphony
Abbado, Chicago Sym.
Prince Igor Overture &
Easter Over.; Mehta, Israel
Mozart: Eine Kleine
(CBS Master.)
339.044
(CBS Master.)
Polovtsian Dances. Batiz,
Phil.(CBS Master.) 371.021
Nachtmusik; Pachelbel:
378.679
Prokofiev: Sym. No. 1
Sym. Orch. Of Mexico
Copland Conducts
Canon; more. Marriner,
Dvorak: Violin Concerto;
(Classical); Suite "Love
Britten: The Young
(Musicmasters) 378.034
Copland-Fanfare, Rodeo,
Academy of St. Martin-in-
Romance; Carnival Over.
Of 3 Oranges." Maazel,
Person's Guide To The
Orch.; 4 Sea Interludes
Elgar: Enigma Varia-
Midori; Mehta, NY Phil.
Appalachian Spring, more.
the-Fields(Angel) 367.375
Orch. National de France
(Peter Grimes); others.
tions; Pomp & Circum-
(CBS Master.)
386.573
LOS & Columbia Sym.
Bartok: Concerto For
(CBS Master.)
341.297
(CBS Master.)
367.953
stance Marches. Andrew
Orchestra; Suite From The
Stravinsky: Rite Of
Marriner, Minnesota
New Year's Concert 1990.
Davis, Philharmonia Orch.
Beethoven, Bruch: Violin
Miraculous Mandarin.
Orch.(Angel)
336.966
Mehta, Vienna Phil.
Spring; Symphony In
(CBS Master.)
Mehta, Berlin Phil.
376.905
Concertos. Isaac Stern
Three Movements.
(Sony Classical) 407.189
Handel: Arias. Sung By
(CBS Master.)
353.177
(Sony Classical) 403.410
Jose Carreras-Italian
Salonen, Philharmonia
Kathleen Battle (Angel)
Opera Composers' Songs
(Sony Classical) 409.342
407.155
(Sony Classical) 408.591
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THE
EMBER ALMANAC
GOVERNMENT
of Media and Markets, women
September 1, as of today all
now account for 41 percent of
new convertibles, small
those who watch NFL football
trucks, and vans must be
games. Most women aren't just
equipped with lap-and-shoul-
fair-weather fans; 37 percent
der safety belts in rear forward-
of the loyal audience (those
facing seats. 3, opening day for
&
who watch games "frequently
sufficient quantities of dry ag-
the first public school in the
Is any one hiccup cure better than
or almost always") are women,
ricultural waste to supplement
nation to be run by a private
the others?
up from 33 percent in 1980.
the wood waste that they also
company. According to a plan
Although doctors believe they
Nearly half of all American
use. The price of peach pits,
agreed to by public-school offi-
have located a "hiccup cen-
women have bought items that
after transportation costs are
cials, the newly built South
ter," in the upper spine, they
bear an NFL logo. In recogni-
deducted, has doubled during
Pointe Elementary School, in
cannot recommend a "best"
tion of the growing prominence
the past three years. Overall,
Miami Beach, Florida, will be
treatment. A surprising num-
of female football fans, a line of
agricultural wastes generate
run for a five-year trial period
ber of folkloric hiccup reme-
women's fashion apparel, NFL
enough electricity to power al-
by Education Alternatives, a
dies do appear to have medical
Spirit, has been licensed by the
most half a million homes a
Minneapolis-based company
validity. Some cures-among
NFL.
year, a significantly greater
that already runs two private
them, eating granulated sugar,
quantity than that generated
schools in other parts of the
hard bread, or crushed ice, and
by solar-power plants.
country. The school, which of-
drinking from the far side of a
fers a low student-teacher ratio
glass-work, doctors think,
100 YEARS AGO
and demands substantial par-
because they irritate the soft
Woodrow Wilson, writing in
ental involvement, is located
palate or the pharynx, and so
the September, 1891, issue of
in a community that is largely
may inhibit impulses transmit-
THE SKIES
The Atlantic Monthly: "The
poor and Hispanic.
ted by the vagus nerve to the
modern critic is a leader of
hiccup center. Others-in-
September 9, New Moon. 10,
fashion. He carries with him
cluding breath-holding and
a rare conjunction of the elu-
the air of a literary worldliness.
breathing in and out of a paper
sive planet Mercury and the
If your book be a novel, your
bag-appear to be effective
bright planet Jupiter occurs, at
6:00 A.M. EDT, 45 minutes
reviewer will know all pre-
because they disrupt respira-
before sunrise. 23, Full Moon,
vious plots, all former, all pos-
tory rhythm and, it is thought,
sible motives and situations.
also known this month as the
inhibit the diaphragm's ability
to contract. In cases of persis-
Harvest Moon. Today is also
You cannot write anything ab-
solutely new for him, and why
ARTS & LETTERS
the occasion of the Autumnal
tent and so-called intractable
should you desire to do again
September 25, Scarlett
hiccups, more-drastic measures
Equinox; the sun rises precise-
what has been done already? If
O'Hara's 55-year-long wait for
may be called into play: drug
ly in the east and sets precisely
it be a poem, the reviewer's
another shot at Rhett Butler
in the west, and will be seen
therapy, acupuncture, hypno-
head already rings with the
comes to an end today, when
sis, and negative-reinforcement
directly overhead at noon by
whole gamut of the world's
Alexandra Ripley's Scarlett: The
techniques.
those who live along the Equa-
metrical music; he can recog-
Sequel to Margaret Mitchell's
tor. 28, Venus, in the south-
nize any simile, recall all turns
Gone With the Wind, for which
DEMOGRAPHICS
east, reaches its greatest
of phrase, match every senti-
Warner Books paid $4.94 mil-
September 1, the first nation-
brightness-17 times brighter
ment; why seek to please him
lion, appears in bookstores in
ally televised game of the Na-
than Sirius, the brightest
anew with old things? If it con-
40 countries. Warner is reveal-
tional Football League's 1991
star-early this morning.
cern itself with the philosophy
ing nothing about the book's
regular football season (the
ENVIRONMENT
of politics, he can and will set
contents. No bound galleys
Minnesota Vikings versus the
himself to test it by the whole
have been sent out in advance
This month is the end of the
Chicago Bears) is to be broad-
history of its kind from Plato
for review. One big question is
cast today. NFL games are
harvest season for peaches
down to Henry George. How
how the ending of Ripley's
watched by twice as many peo-
used for canning and, conse-
can it but spoil your sincerity
book compares with that of
ple as watch any other sport.
quently, the time when peach
to know that your critic will
Mitchell's ("Tomorrow, I'll
Perhaps surprisingly, during
pits and peach-orchard prun-
know everything? Will you not
think of some way to get him
the past decade the audience
ings become a valuable com-
be tempted of the devil to an-
back. After all, tomorrow is an-
for televised football has be-
modity in their own right.
ticipate his judgment or his
other day"). The final sen-
come increasingly female. Ac-
These, along with other agri-
pretensions by pretending to
tences of earlier novels by Rip-
cording to the Simmons Study
cultural wastes, are now in
know as much as he?"
ley include "She put her sore
high demand as fuel for bio-
feet gingerly on the stairs for
mass power plants. Such
the climb to her cold, empty
plants are becoming increas-
bed" (Charleston) and "My most
ingly common (there are more
Yet
utterly beloved Mary, you taste
than 100 in California), to the
like my favorite, red beans and
point that operators in some
rice" (New Orleans Legacy).
states must scramble to buy up
18
ILLUSTRATIONS BY CATHARINE BENNETT
SEPTEMBER 1991
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REPORTS & COMMENT
NOTES
suffering, this last category being
from Chicago who testified in the case,
widely held to encompass such intangi-
that hedonic loss (his term, from the
Coming to
bles as "loss of companionship" and
Greek hedone, meaning "pleasure")
"loss of enjoyment." Over the years,
was a legitimate consideration. It also
Grief
however, intangibles have loomed
accepted as valid the complex econom-
ever larger in the eyes of lawyers and
ic models that Smith employed to esti-
juries, and in a 1984 case that was
mate the monetary value of the hedon-
The calibration of misery
heard in Illinois, Sherrod V. Berry, a
ic loss involved in Sherrod. Smith's
federal court agreed for the first time
economic models needn't be ex-
that a life's forgone pleasures-the
plained here; suffice it to say that
pleasure of residing among one's fam-
they derive from a calculation of the
OPENED THE mail a few days ago
ily, of singing in a choir, of gardening or
value of a human life, which in turn is
I
to find a letter from a friend, and
playing tennis, of a first kiss or a sum-
based on a cold-blooded, Chicago-
with it an article from the Journal
mer day-constituted a whole new
school analysis of what Americans, as
of Humanistic Psychology, which he
category for which damages could be
individuals and through governments,
commended to my attention. The ar-
awarded, over and above any award for
pay to preserve and protect human
ticle, titled "Panetics," was written
pain and suffering. In coming to this
life. For the purposes of computing he-
by R.G.H. Siu, who is a chemist, a
conclusion the court accepted the ar-
donic loss, Stan Smith estimated the
former director of the Justice Depart-
gument of Stan V. Smith, an economist
value of the life of a typical thirty-year-
ment's National Institute of
old at between $500,000 and
Law Enforcement and Crimi-
$3.5 million. (His estimates
nal Justice, and the author of
are always presented to juries
several books, including Micro-
as a range-what he calls a
bial Decomposition of Cellulose.
No sooner had I glanced at
the article's abstract than a le-
gal term I had recently
"hedonic loss"-
$1,0
"zone of fairness.") With sums
like these at stake, it is not sur-
prising to find lawyers for the
plaintiffs in hedonic-loss cases
speaking eloquently to juries
came forcefully to mind,
of life's unfolding pleasures, its
along with the realization that
vast, ineffable bounty: a Pacif-
hedonic loss might soon have
ic sunset beneath an amber sky
some competition.
a soft breeze caressing a
I'll come back to panetics
stand of pines
the trill of a
in a moment. First: are you
mountain stream cascading
familiar with hedonic loss? It
over polished stones
the
is a concept that has by now
warm unknowingness of a
spread from the federal court
newborn's smile.
system to the state courts,
I don't have any legal train-
and from lawsuits involving
ing, and I don't know whether,
wrongful death to those in-
in terms of justice or efficiency,
volving personal injury. Brief-
sonal-injury cases the plaintiff
used to be able to seek dam-
000
the concept of hedonic loss
ly, in wrongful-death and per-
makes sense. It has certainly
provoked much comment and
much opposition. What seems
ages from a defendant for loss
most remarkable about the
of earnings, for the cost of
concept to me, though, is its
medical care, and for pain and
implicit assumption that the
20
ILLUSTRATION BY MICHAEL BARTALOS
SEPTEMBER 1991
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OKLAHOMA CITY
so tattered that they had to leaf
it had become an inconvenience and
through the first few pages to divine
an irritant rather than a moral affront.
Separate and
the subject. Former students recall
And now the school board had come
trudging several miles north to school
to propose a return to the status quo
Equal
from the neighborhood where blacks
ante. In 1977 a federal judge had con-
were confined. There were no school
ceded that schools could be excused
buses for black children.
from the busing plan as the neighbor-
To many black parents, a
On a summer evening twenty-three
hoods around them became integrated.
desegregated school is less important
years later, in 1984, a group of school-
By 1984 blacks were sufficiently scat-
than a good one. A growing number even
board members ventured up to North-
tered across Oklahoma City that many of
prefer to send their children to an all-
east High School to speak with parents
the schools could be integrated without
black school, if it is nearby and the
and community leaders. In the inter-
busing. A committee of the school
equal of any in the system
vening years the world had turned up-
board, led by a black man, was propos-
side down, and it was about to turn up-
ing a return to neighborhood schools at
side down again. The first great
the elementary school level. The only
change had taken place in 1972, when,
schools that would become "racially
N 1961, WHEN a black dentist named
after a decade of dithering and appeals,
identifiable" would be right there in the
I
A. L. Dowell sued the Oklahoma
the school board had implemented the
Northeast neighborhood, which had
City School Board for refusing to
Finger Plan, a desegregation plan that
gone from all white to all black.
grant his son Robert admission to all-
called for the mandatory busing of
The striking thing about the meet-
white Northeast High School, the
both black and white children. The
ing at Northeast High that evening is
city's black population was living under
Oklahoma City schools followed the
that the great majority of parents spoke
Jim Crow. Robert Dowell was enrolled
trajectory of desegregated urban school
in favor of the new plan, despite the
in the only black high school in town-
systems all over the country: resis-
fact that it would return many of their
Douglass, located about a mile from
tance, submission, racial tension,
children to segregated elementary
Northeast. Douglass teachers from
white flight, and peace, if not always
schools (an option of the plan allowed
those days remember the hand-me-
harmony. By the end of the 1970s the
black parents to send their children to
down textbooks they had to work with,
school bus had lost its totemic status:
a white-majority school, using trans-
The photographs in this article were taken at Oklahoma City's Longfellow Elementary School and at the Millwood School, in a nearby district.
24
PHOTOGRAPHS BY SKEETER HAGLER
SEPTEMBER 1991
portation provided by the school
board). Civil-rights activists bitterly re-
proached the board members for
marching backward. But the activists
constituted a distinct minority, and
they were seen as remnants of an older
order. "It was very painful," says Susan
Hermes, who chaired the school board
at the time and is an advocate of the
plan. "Many of these people have
fought for civil rights all their lives.
The most difficult part for them is to
let go of that and let people work to-
gether in other ways."
The NAACP Legal Defense Fund
took the school board to court, as it had
two decades earlier. After five years the
matter landed in the Supreme Court.
The case was expected to provide the
most important busing decision of re-
cent years. In mid-January of this year
the Court concluded, with a restraint
somewhat disappointing to both sides,
that a school board can be released
from court-ordered busing and can even
permit some resegregation as long as it
has taken all "practicable" steps to
eliminate the "vestiges" of past discrimi-
nation. The case was remanded to fed-
eral court, where it remains.
In his dissent Justice Thurgood Mar-
shall condemned the decision as a re-
versal of the progress made since 1954,
when the Court nullified the principle
of "separate but equal" in Brown V.
Board of Education. Many civil-rights
activists, including those in Oklahoma
City, have expressed fear about just
this point. But most of the parents and
"To make a shoe this comfortable, there is only one way
teachers and administrators I spoke
with recently during a week in Oklaho-
to look at leather. My Dad's way."
ma City viewed the neighborhood plan
Like his father, Dan Marshall takes a hands-on approach to
for elementary schools in nonracial
leather. He looks for consistent color character and uniform
terms. Black parents often repeated
grain texture. He feels for the break that will allow each shoe to
what was said during the 1984 discus-
retain its look and fit year after year. He knows there are no
sions at Northeast High: they believed
in integration, but they were more con-
short cuts to the one-shoe-at-a-time comfort of Sebago
cerned about the quality of their chil-
Classics. Like father, like son.
dren's education. And they believed
that their children could get an equal
education in a racially separate set-
ting-a historic change from the era of
forced segregation.
I asked Arthur Steller, who came to
Oklahoma City as superintendent of
schools six years ago, whether desegre-
gation had become irrelevant. Steller, a
poised, dark-suited Yankee who is
white, had obviously given a lot of
SEBAGO
thought to the question. He replied,
America's World-Class Footwear™
"People have said historically that we
need to have black youngsters in white
SEPTEMBER 1991
25
schools because that's the only way
may affect their hearts and minds in a
schoolchildren were attending schools
they're going to get a good education.
way unlikely ever to be undone."
with white children. But the passage of
At one point in time that may have
Black children had a right to equal
the Civil Rights Act of 1964, President
been true. However, there's nothing
education, and segregated education
Lyndon Johnson's personal commit-
that makes that inherently true if you
could not be equal.
ment to advance the civil-rights agenda
can eliminate the inequity of resources
The NAACP lawyers who argued
despite the political costs of doing so,
and if you put a focus and attention on
Brown were explicit on this score. Rob-
and a series of decisions at the federal
reducing the achievement gaps be-
ert Carter, now a federal judge in Man-
and Supreme Court levels all worked
tween minority and majority students.
hattan, has written, "When we fash-
together to compel recalcitrant school
It's more important for us to desegre-
ioned Brown, on the theory that equal
boards to design and implement bus-
gate educational results than it is to
education and integrated education
ing plans. From 1968 to 1972 the pro-
physically desegregate students."
were one and the same, the goal was
portion of southern black children at-
When I asked Steller whether he
equal educational opportunity, not in-
tending schools that were at least half
would contemplate returning all levels
tegration." It was mere common sense,
white shot from 19 percent to 45 per-
of schools to a neighborhood plan, he
in the world of Jim Crow, that black
cent. Then progress stalled; the fig-
didn't blink. "You could," he said. "We
children could not get a decent educa-
ures have remained essentially stable.
just haven't gotten in any discussion of
tion without access to white facilities.
Southern schools are in fact more de-
that particular issue yet."
That segregation also had a stigmatiz-
segregated than northern ones. In most
ing effect on black children seemed no
of the great northern cities desegrega-
HE CAMPAIGN to desegregate
less obvious, though the proof consist-
tion either was never seriously tried or
T
the schools was conducted as
ed largely of controlled experiments in
was tried only after so many whites had
part of the civil-rights struggle,
laboratory-like settings; one famous
left the city for the suburbs that there
not the education-reform movement,
example was Kenneth Clark's survey
simply weren't enough of them to go
so most people assume that the inte-
of children's racial attitudes using
around. (In a 1974 ruling involving De-
gration of the schools was an end in it-
white dolls and black dolls.
troit, the Supreme Court struck down
self, as was the integration of lunch
The nature of the Brown decision
a "metropolitan solution," of a kind
counters and bus terminals. But that's
and of the expectations it raised meant
that had also been tried elsewhere, in
not quite so. The Brown decision did
that desegregation could be both a suc-
which children would be bused be-
not repudiate the doctrine of "separate
cess and a failure. It could be a success
tween city and suburb.) New York's
but equal" as a simple violation of the
because the schools were integrated
schools have never been significantly
equal-protection clause of the Four-
and because those schools helped knit
desegregated, nor have those of Chica-
teenth Amendment. Rather, the Court
the races together. It could be a failure
go, Philadelphia, or Detroit. But in
concluded that "in the field of public
because blacks could continue to lag
most cities with a more equal racial bal-
education the doctrine of 'separate but
behind whites educationally. That's
ance in the schools-among them Buf-
equal' has no place." This was so be-
more or less what has happened.
falo, Milwaukee, Pittsburgh, St. Paul,
cause state-sponsored segregation, ac-
Desegregation has generally taken
Louisville, Nashville, and Portland,
cording to contemporary sociological
root where courts have ordered it, not-
Oregon-desegregation is a fact of life.
research, "generates a feeling of inferi-
withstanding appalling exceptions like
Desegregation, though, has not
ority [among excluded black children]
Boston. Ten years after Brown less
brought blacks the expected educational
as to their status in the community that
than two percent of southern black
advantages. A task force in Milwaukee
found that in the system's fifteen high
schools, all but one of them integrated,
blacks were scoring an average of 24 on
a reading test on which white students
were averaging 58. At every grade level
and on virtually every index blacks
lagged far behind whites. In 1990
black children nationwide scored al-
most 200 points lower than whites on
their combined math and verbal SATs.
Of course, it is unreasonable to ex-
pect the "integration effect" wholly to
compensate for the socioeconomic
deficit with which many black children
arrive in school. The real question is,
How large is the effect? Hundreds of
scholars, maybe thousands, have de-
voted themselves to this question.
Their findings do not make a strong
battle cry for a cause as unpopular as
mandatory busing. A study of the stud-
ies, by Robert Crain and Rita Mahard,
26
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"Maybe if someone else cared if
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wear a suit-but I don't see too many people like that where I live,
and they sure don't see me.
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"I need more to look up to than a poster."
Here are two reasons why kids stay in school: because they
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Unfortunately a lot of very promising students aren't convinced
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harmony almost to the exclusion of
educational matters. State legislators,
who hadn't shown much concern for
public education when it was segregat-
ed, lost all interest now that it was inte-
grated. Oklahoma City today spends
less money per pupil than Birmingham
or Jackson, and less than half as much
as Pittsburgh or St. Louis. As a result
of all this neglect, children in the late
seventies and early eighties were faring
worse with every year they stayed in
school: elementary students who
scored above the national average on
achievement tests were becoming be-
low-average high school students.
Black parents as well as white voted
with their feet. Millwood, a formerly
all-white neighborhood that constitut-
ed a separate school district, became a
middle-class black enclave. Millwood
had only one school building, which
concluded that most evaluations of de-
ten finagled the placement of their
housed all the grades, and it became
segregation in terms of achievement
children in the neighborhood school,
the separate-but-equal facility of
are somewhat favorable; Crain and Ma-
which left other schools too heavily
choice for black parents. Russell Perry,
hard posit an average gain of four IQ
black. Children were shuttled all over
the publisher of Oklahoma City's black
points. Gary Orfield, of Harvard Uni-
town. The burden fell most heavily on
newspaper, The Black Chronicle, told me
versity, probably the leading scholar of
black parents, as it generally does with
that "eighty percent of black parents
desegregation issues, concedes that
desegregation, because at levels up to
would send their children to Millwood
"nothing makes a huge difference" to
the fifth grade all busing was from
if they could find a way."
test scores, including integration. Or-
black to white areas. Blacks, few of
Many of the black parents I spoke
field argues that the most beneficial ef-
whom had much choice, stayed in the
with mentioned the Millwood school
fects of desegregation come later, with
system, and whites, especially affluent
with undisguised envy. Sandra Stut-
college and career prospects. Yet an-
ones, left. Local private schools quick-
son, who recalled the years she spent
other overview, from 1988, concludes
ly learned to mail their literature to
at the integrated Northwest Classen
that "the impact of desegregation on
parents whose children were complet-
High School as the formative experi-
college attainment is positive, though
ing fourth grade and facing the pros-
ence of her life, said nevertheless, "I
not strong, for Northern blacks." Data
pect of being bused to schools in black
would give my eyeteeth to get my kids
on career attainment are sketchy.
neighborhoods. Enrollment in public
into Millwood." School authorities,
It may be that Kenneth Clark's ex-
schools has dropped from 71,000 at the
she said, have begun cracking down on
periments with dolls don't have much
time of desegregation to 37,000 today.
nonresident parents trying to sneak
to do with the real world of the schools.
The racial composition of the student
their children in. "I just haven't found
(They were widely criticized by other
body has gone from 75 percent white
a way of getting an electricity bill with
social scientists in the ensuing years.)
to 45 percent white. Today, as you
my name on it and an address in Mill-
Thirty years ago, when southern gov-
drive along the city's ruler-straight four-
wood," she told me.
ernors, school boards, and sheriffs
lane roads, your eye is drawn to aging
It was in this demoralized atmo-
were barring the way to the school-
red-brick structures with school names
sphere that the school-board commit-
house door, this question didn't really
incised into the masonry and real-es-
tee introduced its proposal to return to
matter. As one study after another has
tate signs out front: ghostly reminders
neighborhood schools at the elemen-
declared the schools a national dis-
of the system as it once was.
tary level. One reason the idea encoun-
grace, especially over the past decade,
The problem wasn't just a matter of
tered so little resistance from black
the debate over busing has been re-
whites fleeing blacks, or even whites
parents is that their children were the
placed by a far more pragmatic ques-
fleeing busing. By the mid-seventies
ones being bused in the first through
tion: What works?
racial hostilities had abated, and the as-
the fourth grades. Even the Urban
signment system had become less ec-
League, which had helped shape the
N 1972, THE first year of its school
centric and disruptive. But the schools,
Finger Plan, initially supported the
I
busing plan, Oklahoma City lost
like urban schools generally in the
proposal, though the NAACP opposed
more than 20 percent of its enroll-
1970s, were in a tailspin. Many of the
it. Leonard Benton, the head of the
ment. The school board had a terrible
well-to-do parents who left had been
Urban League, recalls that parents had
time trying to bring the composition of
mainstays of the system, and their chil-
been complaining about the busing of
each school within 10 percent of that of
dren had been high achievers. School
young children from the outset, on
the system overall. White parents of-
administrators had focused on racial
grounds of equity. "The real concern
30
SEPTEMBER 1991
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AS
among black parents," Benton says,
by race, gender, and socioeconomic
rollment consists of two white, one
"was the unfairness of the one-way
status. Each school would be responsi-
Hispanic, and about 250 black chil-
busing." Benton now supports the es-
ble for reducing gaps to within specific
dren. Seventy percent of the children
tablishment of a giant "educational
limits and for applying the tenets of
are eligible for the federal free-lunch
park" to which all children would be
the effective-schools movement in
program, which means that Longfel-
bused. The proposal sounds wildly ex-
whatever ways seemed relevant.
low is one of the least impoverished of
pensive and cumbersome, but Benton
Schools were encouraged to bring low
the Dowell schools. Many, if not most,
claims that it would correct the inequi-
achievers into before-school and after-
of the kids come from single-parent
ty and provide quality education.
school programs, and also programs on
families, and at the end of the day a
Arthur Steller took over as superin-
Saturdays and during vacations. Steller
grandparent or an elder sibling is likely
tendent of the Oklahoma City public
and the school board raised graduation
to come fetch them. Still, the sur-
schools in 1985, the year the elemen-
requirements, eliminated many elec-
rounding streets are lined with houses,
tary school neighborhood plan was im-
tives, and stressed advanced-place-
not apartment blocks or projects. It is
plemented. His previous posting had
ment courses.
not nearly so mean a setting as that of
been Mercer County, in the most
From 1988 to 1990 Oklahoma City's
the average inner-city school. In the
backward region of West Virginia.
black students moved from the 43rd to
playground the basketball court was
Steller was a convert to the "effective
the 49th percentile on achievement
cracked and the rims had been torn off
schools" movement, whose tenets had
tests; blacks from the most disadvan-
the backboards by middle-school stu-
been laid out a decade earlier by the
taged backgrounds jumped from the
dents on one of their regular rampages,
late black scholar Ronald Edmonds. Ed-
36th to the 45th percentile. White stu-
but the principal, Beverly Story, as-
monds had insisted that social scientists
dents also advanced-from the 65th to
sured me that new rims would arrive in
like James Coleman and Christopher
the 68th percentile. The "Dowell
a few days. The school was clean and
Jencks were flat wrong in concluding
schools"-the ones that under the
orderly and at least superficially well
that, as he put it, "family background
neighborhood plan have been effec-
equipped. The students were quiet
causes pupil performance." What count-
tively resegregated, so that they are
when they were supposed to be, and
ed, he said, were the characteristics of
virtually all-black-each receive
noisy the rest of the time.
the school. In schools that focus on basic
$40,000 in additional program funding,
Longfellow has become a Dowell
skills-schools with high expectations
and students in them have recorded
showcase, because over four recent
and a secure sense of authority-any
the largest advance, from the 34th per-
years achievement levels have risen
child can learn, Edmonds argued. The
centile in 1986-1987 to the 48th in
from the 35th percentile to the 62nd.
racial composition of the school was
1989-1990. The system-wide dropout
Teachers at Longfellow attribute the
largely irrelevant. "Desegregation,"
rate has also fallen considerably during
improvement to Story's focus on basic
Edmonds said, "must take a backseat
Steller's tenure. Earlier this year the
skills and her insistence on retesting
to instructional reform."
American Association of School Ad-
and reteaching until a child has
ministrators gave Steller its annual
achieved mastery. Story talks about the
N OKLAHOMA CITY, Arthur Steller
award in recognition of these changes.
extra funds she's able to pry loose from
I
committed himself to desegregat-
The Dowell schools have become
the school board on short notice, but
ing educational results. Steller in-
the basis on which Steller's experiment
even more about Edmonds's effective-
structed every school in the system to
is judged. I spent a morning at Long-
schools tenets and the renewed in-
break down achievement-test results
fellow, an elementary school whose en-
volvement of parents, who now live
much closer to where their children go
to school, usually only a few blocks
away. Story, who, like Steller, is white
and a Yankee, acknowledges the argu-
ments for integration, but says, "A lot
of these kids weren't making progress
in desegregated schools. The advan-
tage of the neighborhood schools is
that you can target aid to them much
more easily."
Still, as an experiment in separate-
but-equal the Dowell schools have a
long way to go. Last September the
POOL
Equity Committee, which had been
KUWAIT
charged by the school board with mon-
itoring the treatment of black students
once the neighborhood plan went into
effect, kicked up a mighty storm by
claiming that the all-black schools were
worse than a group of "comparison
schools" in the city, which it had se-
lected-not only in test scores but also
SEPTEMBER 1991
34
Lay Down Your Arms
in "teacher performance" and in some
kids from the projects butted up
cases physical facilities. The report ar-
against privileged whites in Classen's
rived a month before the school board
hallways, told me that although those
was to defend the neighborhood plan
days are gone, black students still com-
before the Supreme Court. It was a po-
plain of bias from white teachers.
tentially disastrous conjunction, and
Oklahoma City's principal gangs,
the board took the extraordinary step
the Bloods and the Crips, have mem-
of rejecting the report and firing the
bers at Classen, but the principal,
paid "equity officer." Arthur Steller
Richard Vrooman, has succeeded in
produced hundreds of pages of
minimizing their presence. Students at
memos, statistics, and directives to re-
Classen say that "Northeast is a gang
fute the committee's findings, which
school," but at their own school an at-
he charged were motivated by a "per-
mosphere of harmony appears to reign.
sonal political agenda"-to subvert the
Classen is 40 percent white and 35 per-
Ah, to read without aching arms and
board's argument before the Court.
cent black, with the remainder Asian,
dented elbows. Now you can with our
The report was tendentious and al-
Hispanic, and Native American. No
Reader's Table from Denmark. It adjusts
most certainly unfair, given the strides
student or teacher I spoke with could
easily to hold your book at just the right
made by black students and especially
remember a recent racial incident in-
height and angle. Reading becomes
those in the Dowell schools, but it was
side the school. Both the official school
surprisingly comfortable in a chair, in bed,
also a sign that the black community
attitude and spontaneous comments
or beside a desk. An intelligent design and
intends to hold Steller to his promises.
reflected the belief that desegregation
a handsome piece of furniture in
The fact is that family background does
is a good thing.
mahogany, teak, cherry, or black ash.
strongly influence pupil performance,
One morning I asked the students in
$195 + $9.75 shipping via UPS ground
but black parents are even less inclined
Elizabeth Grove's eleventh-grade Eng-
Assembly required
than reform-minded school administra-
lish class what, if anything, it meant to
MC/VISA/AMEX/Check Florida add 6%
tors to accept the idea of predestined
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them to be going to an integrated
800-544-0880 or 407-276-4141
outcomes. The equity-committee re-
school. A black girl sitting up front,
port also touched a sensitive nerve-
Katrina Watson, had just said that she
LEVENGER
the expectation of blacks that whites
had as many white friends as black
TOOLS FOR SERIOUS READERS
will deny them their fair share. Thel-
friends, that race wasn't an issue, when
975 S. Congress Ave., Code ART14, Delray, FL 33445
ma R. Parks, the president of the
Erin Bixler, a timid-looking pale
board, who voted to accept the report,
blonde girl sitting behind her, piped
says, "There are still pockets of segre-
up. Erin had grown up in Bethany, an
gation in the system." Some black par-
all-white suburb just west of Oklahoma
ents have seized on a supposed pre-
City. When her family moved, she was
ponderance of inexperienced teachers
enrolled at Taft, a middle school near
in all-black schools to argue that their
Classen. "I was scared to death," she
children are not getting the education-
said. "I didn't know anything about
al opportunities given to others. In the
black people. We'd hear all these
Dowell schools, Parks says, "those
things in Bethany about how you were
teachers just assume that the black
going to get beaten up in those
children are going to fail," and thus re-
schools, you were going to get killed."
inforce the students' low expectations.
After a few weeks of terror she discov-
ered that she had nothing to be afraid
T
HE PASSION play of court-or-
of. Now Erin considers her friends in
dered desegregation remains in
Bethany hopelessly benighted. "The
the memory of veteran teachers
schools there all have air-conditioning
in the Oklahoma City schools, but lit-
and they're carpeted and everything
tle of it is visible in the schools them-
else, but I like it more here."
Guess which baby's mother
selves, and the surprise is how little at-
As I was leaving, another student
smoked while
tention anyone pays to the issue of
beckoned me over. His name was Ryan
integration. A few years ago a fight at a
she was pregnant.
Veirs, and he had arrived just last De-
sandwich shop erupted between a
cember from the little town of Quin-
white student and a black one attend-
If you're pregnant, see a doctor now.
ton, in eastern Oklahoma. His story
Fight low birthweight.
ing Northwest Classen High School,
was like Erin's only more so. "There
March of Dimes
and when the members of their respec-
Campaign For Healthier Babies
wasn't a black within twenty miles of
tive factions joined them, a minor race
Quinton," he said in a deep drawl. "It
riot ensued; but this was cited to me as
was heavy, heavy KKK." When he ar-
March of
an anachronism. Racial issues tend to
rived at Classen, he fully expected to
Dimes
be more subtle now. Charles Albritton,
Birth Defing Defects
have to fight for his life. He joined the
a guidance counselor at Classen who
wrestling team, which turned out to in-
recalls the bad old days when black
clude only one other white kid. To his
SEPTEMBER 1991
35
As a procedure designed to help
blacks-as an education reform-de-
segregation has not been terribly suc-
cessful in Oklahoma City, or in a great
many other places. But as a cure for the
pathology of racial hatred and racial
fear, it may have accomplished a great
deal. Racial familiarization may have
more significance for black students
than for whites, for whom the white-
dominated larger world is a natural
home. "Every black kid who's going to
make it has to cross that line at some
point," Gary Orfield, at Harvard, says.
"And the sooner you cross the line, the
better."
Desegregation is not an "issue" at
Classen, and a number of teachers
were upset that I talked about it.
There are no interracial discussion
groups, as there were in the early days
of the Finger Plan. Nobody talks about
amazement and utter relief, he was be-
thought that it worked the other way as
the hardship of getting on a bus, or
friended by the other members of the
well, but older students assured me
leaving the home neighborhood. De-
team. He told me with great pride that
that there was virtually no such thing
segregation is simply there, a fact of
he now regularly hangs out with his
as a black who "acted white."
life that stretches beyond the memory
black friends.
One day at the Taco Bell just south
of all the kids and many of the teach-
A high school is probably one of the
of Classen, I found two tables of black
ers. Racial difference-in achieve-
most highly ramified social organiza-
and white kids killing time over lunch.
ment, background, manner-is simply
tions in the universe, so I was scarcely
A black freshman, James Williams, im-
there too, generally acknowledged, at
in a position to say, after a few days, ex-
mediately appointed himself the
least among students. It's not a utopia,
actly how integrated Classen is. In the
group's designated talker. He enjoyed
but it's a mingled world. This seemed
cafeteria blacks, whites, Asians, and
a measure of fame as the wide receiver
to me to be more than enough justifica-
Hispanics generally isolated them-
who had caught the touchdown pass
tion for the pain and suffering Oklaho-
selves; the same was true in the park-
that had ended the Classen Knights'
ma City went through to desegregate
ing lot as the students drove home. But
astounding forty-two-game losing
its schools.
they thought of racial and ethnic
streak. When I asked about desegrega-
grouping as natural. There was group
tion, James said, half jokingly, "I think
HE POSSIBILITY is not altogether
identity, but there was latitude for in-
it really has an effect on white people."
T
remote that by the fiftieth anni-
dividual nonracial choice. I heard both
After James's monologue wound down,
versary of the Brown decision,
sides on the question of whether a
one of his white friends said, with
thirteen years hence, school desegre-
black kid would come under pressure
mock gravity, "I'm actually black. I'm
gation will be a historical artifact and a
for dating a white; it was a riskier
just white on the outside." So am I,
curiosity. The suburbanization of
choice for a black girl.
said another.
whites and the urbanization of non-
Teachers generally seemed to take
It's paradoxical, but scarcely absurd,
whites has made desegregation im-
what desegregation researchers call the
to suggest that desegregation provides
practicable in an increasing number of
"color-blind" attitude. I asked one
as much of a benefit to white students
places. In the forty-seven school sys-
teacher of an honors class whether
as to blacks. I was scarcely the first per-
tems that make up the Council of the
tracking had the effect of separating
son to notice the sense of relief and
Great City Schools, nonwhite students
students along racial lines. No, she
pride that white students felt in having
constitute three quarters of the enroll-
said; her class faithfully represented
achieved nonchalance with blacks. A
ment; in 1988 the Hispanic enrollment
the school's racial balance. In fact I
study of five desegregated schools by
overtook that of whites. At the same
counted four black students and about
two scholars, Janet Ward Schofield and
time, desegregation has lost its advo-
twenty whites-far from the school's
H. Andrew Sagar, found "a reduction
cates, one by one-first the White
overall racial balance. Another teacher
in the almost automatic fear with which
House and Congress, then the courts,
said that she had stopped noticing who
many students, especially whites, re-
then the bulk of black intellectuals and
was white and who was black. Many of
sponded to members of the other race."
activists. The sudden appearance in
the students made no such pretense.
Schofield and Sagar also criticized the
recent months, in New York, Milwau-
When I asked about interracial friend-
predominant view of desegregation as
kee, Detroit, and elsewhere, of pro-
ships, several kids said to me that only
"a procedure designed to help blacks,"
posals for "Afrocentric" schools de-
whites who "acted black" had many
rather than "to foster a two-way flow of
signed specifically for black students is
black friends. A ninth-grade girl
information and influence."
signal proof of the declining prestige of
36
SEPTEMBER 1991
"What you'll find at the end of Bermuda's
integration. When I called up the
longest resort beach is no mirage."
NAACP in Louisville to ask about the
John Jefferis, General Manager
city's famously successful desegregat-
ed system, the head of the education
Actually, it's more like an
committee, John R. Whiting, said that
oasis. A bastion of taste
the chapter was looking seriously at
and civility set among the
the Afrocentric-school proposals. "We
palms in this 34 acre
don't worship at the shrine of racial bal-
tropical (yet oh-so-close-
ance," he admonished me.
by) getaway.
It may be that Brown, having served
Here you'll lounge in
its express purpose of making equal
your private room or suite
and get away from it all.
education accessible to black children,
Enjoy 24-hour tennis
can now safely be retired. It may be
courts, a sparkling pool,
that desegregation isn't needed. At the
a complete health spa
time of the decision, the black legal
and, of course, our pink
scholar Derrick Bell has written, it was
sand beach. Our highly
acclaimed culinary
a legal as well as societal impossibil-
delights are never far
ity to provide equality in schools
away, thanks to our
that blacks were required by law to
three restaurants.
attend, in a system where such at-
tendance was a badge of inferior-
Whatever you fancy, the
Elbow Beach Hotel will
ity.
Brown is significant because
it ended the legal subordination of
most surely become your
blacks, removed the barriers that
personal oasis in this
prevented blacks from going to
trying world.
school with whites, and made it pos-
THE ELBOW BEACH HOTEL BERMUDA
sible for black parents to gain an
For Reservations Call Toll Free, (800) 223-7434.
equal educational opportunity for
Elbow Beach Hotel, Paget, Bermuda. John R. Jefferis, President and General Manager.
their children wherever those chil-
(809) 236-3535. Telex: 32-68 ELBOW BA.
dren attended school.
We should thus think of the offspring
of Brown as including not only North-
west Classen High School but also the
equity committee and the effective-
schools movement and Arthur Steller's
commitment to desegregating educa-
tional results.
And so school desegregation has lost
its momentum, lost much of its con-
stituency, and may even have lost its
reason for being. What remains by way
of justification for this cumbersome
and intrusive process is the unmeasura-
ble effect of growing up with schools
like Classen. Some integrated environ-
ments might have the effect of rein-
forcing prejudices, and this point has
been made by scholars of desegrega-
tion. But if they replace otherness with
familiarity, if they help dissolve fear
SPAR FOR THE COURSE
and contempt-is that so very little?
As the age of desegregation gives way
They're contentious and contagious. They beat spar.
to the age of truly separate-but-equal,
They're The McLaughlin Group. (Clockwise from left)
we might do well to recall something
Jack Germond, Eleanor Clift, John McLaughlin, Fred Barnes,
Morton Kondracke, and Pat Buchanan.
that Gunnar Myrdal wrote in An Ameri-
Made possible by a grant from GE.
can Dilemma, almost fifty years ago:
"The American Negro problem is a
THE McLAUGHLIN GROUP
problem in the heart of the American.
Check your local listing for station and time.
It is there that the interracial tension
has its focus. It is there that the deci-
We bring good things to life.
sive struggle goes on."
-James Traub
SEPTEMBER 1991
37
AIG Issues Forum
America needs a ne
fastand effective clean
AN ALARMING LACK
OF PROGRESS IN CLEANUP.
When Congress enacted the Federal
Superfund program in 1980, the goal was to
quickly clean up America's most dangerous
hazardous waste sites. Congress and many others
assumed there would be only a relatively few such
sites and that cleanup costs would be limited.
Now, after a decade of trying to make
Superfund work, it's clear these assumptions were
wrong and that a quick fix was never possible.
What's wrong with Superfund and why has SO
little been accomplished?
The problem is twofold. First, the real scope
of our nation's hazardous waste situation is far
greater than Congress anticipated. With 1,200
priority sites already identified, growing numbers
DANGER
of sites are being found in every state. The
Environmental Protection Agency expects that by
NO TRESPASSING
the year 2000, there may be as many as 2,000
priority sites.
HAZARDOUS SUBSTANCES PRESENT
With rapidly rising cleanup costs, which
now average about $25 million per site, the
eventual price tag is staggering. According to a top
government agency, cleaning up all of America's
delayed cleanup and enormous legal, consulting
hazardous waste sites could take from 30 to 60
and other costs unrelated to cleanup.
years and cost up to $500 billion!
COMPOUNDING THE PROBLEMS
A second problem is Superfund's alarming
INSTEAD OF SOLVING THEM.
lack of progress in cleanup. A decade and billions
of dollars later, fewer than 60 out of the 1,200
This is because working out who pays and
sites have actually been cleaned up.
how much for cleanup is very difficult. Under
Why? One major reason is Superfund's
Superfund, anyone who simply used or owned
liability system. It requires that cleanup be paid for
the site at any time could be liable for the entire
by establishing liability-who sent what waste, how
cleanup bill. Users can include major corporations,
much and where-and then negotiating or
small businesses, local governments, hospitals,
litigating with those believed to be responsible.
nursing homes, schools, even individuals. And it
While this sounds good in theory, it hasn't
does not matter who caused the harm or whether
worked in practice. Instead, the result has been
they did anything wrong. Superfund's retroactive
W system to achieve
up of our environment.
liability provision makes parties pay for past
liability provisions would still apply for future
actions based on today's standards.
pollution, as would all other state and federal
For example, at 422 sites almost 14,000
environmental laws designed to promote
parties have been notified that they could be
responsible waste management.
liable. In turn, many of them are identifying still
One way this fund could be financed would
others who contributed in some way to the
be by adding a separate fee to commercial and
presence of waste at each site. And since
industrial insurance premiums in the United
Superfund liability deals with past waste disposal,
States. Even a modest assessment, say 2% of
the record of users can go back 25, 30 or even 40
premiums and an equivalent amount for self-
years and can number in the hundreds.
insureds, would provide about $40 billion over the
The result? The focus on cleanup has been
next decade - more than enough to clean up the
lost as private and public parties spend years in
1,200 highest-priority sites. Without endless time
difficult but unavoidable negotiations and
and money spent on legal debates about liability.
litigation, trying to work out agreements that
A national advisory board consisting of
would provide funds for cleanup. At some sites,
private individuals, industry and public officials
more money has been spent resolving complex
could be charged with overseeing the program.
factual issues than on cleanup itself. This does a
We also suggest giving consideration to
lot for lawyers and consultants, but very little for
establishing local technical monitoring committees
the environment. And of course, these costs are
in each community. These groups of local citizens,
eventually passed on to all of us as consumers in
representatives of industry and others would work
higher prices for goods and services. Isn't it time
with the Environmental Protection Agency and
to stop this wasteful process and get on with
their own state on the particular cleanup site-
cleaning up our environment?
from the very beginning of the cleanup effort.
At AIG, we think SO. There is little to be
gained by arguing over waste disposal that
You CAN HELP.
happened long ago. America needs a system that
will promote fast and effective cleanup, reduce
We've waited long enough and spent enough
money in the courtrooms. Now it's time for
unnecessary legal fees, spread the cost of cleanup
action. A cleaner America should be all Americans'
broadly, and encourage responsible waste
shared goal and shared responsibility.
management practices today.
To express your views, or if you would like
A PROPOSED SOLUTION:
further information about AIG's proposed
THE NATIONAL ENVIRONMENTAL TRUST FUND.
National Environmental Trust Fund, write to
Mr. M.R. Greenberg, Chairman, American
To accomplish this, we have proposed
International Group, Inc., 70 Pine Street, New
creating a National Environmental Trust Fund,
York, NY 10270.
similar to the National Highway Trust Fund. Its
resources would be used exclusively for cleaning
up old hazardous waste sites. Superfund's tough
AIG
World leaders in insurance
and financial services.
Hypertension Hyper
Astro-
helicopter
NEGATIVE
WEAKENED
Nutritional
Aura
Low
vibes
Key
Self-
Deficiency
Anxiety
2
devpressure
ESTEEM
r
Stress
K
ZONES
Points
1
HEAVY
LACK
Traffic
of
bio.
EmotiONAL
thythms
thins
Suppor T
Rogers
PRINCIPLES OF HOLISTIC¹ MEDICINE
APPLIED TO INFRASTRUCTURE
MAINTENANCE: A TEST CASE
BY FRED CATAPANO
INTRODUCTION
nicely punctuated question "Could ho-
has generally been resisted by the en-
Though successfully practiced in
listic engineering be applied to the re-
gineering profession. 10 While several
the East for centuries,² holistic medi-
mediation of infrastructure deteriora-
recent efforts have been made to intro-
cine-that is, the treatment of the en-
tion, and if so, how?"
duce holism in transportation plan-
tire physical and emotional configura-
Taking as a test case New York City's
ning,¹¹ these attempts have been uni-
tion of the patient instead of the solely
ailing Williamsburg Bridge,⁸ we strove
formly laughable. Monographs from
medical aspects of the condition³-has
to discover which, if any, holistic prin-
other disciplines, however, have, in
only recently been accepted by the
ciples could be employed in the main-
isolated instances, touched on the pos-
American medical community,⁴ and
tenance of this historic and decrepit
sibilities for holistic applications in the
has, in fact, begun to be embraced by
structure.⁹
field of capital-plant maintenance:
other professions, as its efficacy has
Bettina Collingsworth has suggested
been established. 5,6 Last year the
SUMMARY OF RESEARCH
that the introduction of labor-saving
Skepticism Committee of the Ameri-
The perception of infrastructure ele-
mechanized repair equipment, such as
can Society of Civil Engineers commis-
ments as sensitive and sentient organ-
jackhammers, has resulted in the loss
sioned the author⁷ to investigate the
isms responsive to holistic treatments
of the "personal" aspect of mainte-
1
See Alistair Cooke-Simm, "Whatever Happened to the 'W' in 'Holism'?" Annals of the Anglo-American Orthographic Society, XII (2), pp. 31-40.
2 For an illuminating overview, see "Why the Japs Never Get Sick," Medical Corps Bulletin, U.S. Army of Occupation (Tokyo: 1946), p. 17.
3 An excellent summary of the field is Ann Meaculpa, M.S., "You Have Only Yourself to Blame: A Holistic Approach to Health and Illness," Psy-
chosomatics Today, June, 1985, pp. 42-57.
4 Cf. "How You Feel May Indeed Determine How You Feel" (editorial), N. Amer. Jrnl. Obvious Med., XIX (3), p. 4.
5 E.g., Francis X. Postfacto, Esq., "A Lawyer's Nirvana: Maybe Your Client Is a Total Legal Basket Case," ABA Guide to Profits (New York: Upper
East Side Press, 1982), pp. 114-239.
6 E.g., Steve Leisure, D.D.S., "Why Stop at the Mouth? Holistic Dentistry and the Country Home," Dental Dollar$, April, 1986, pp. 12-40.
7 B.A., M.A., Ph.D., inter alia.
8 Documented in To Hell in a Handbasket: The State of the City (City of New York: Office of the Mayor, 1988), pp. 752-806.
9 See "DEATHTRAP!!!" New York Post, May 27, 1987, p.1.
10 E.g., Walt Macho, "To Hell With This 'Touchy-Feely Engineering' Crap" (interview), Engnrg. News, April, 1988, pp. 78-82.
11 Notably the highly publicized 1990 Big Sur Conference on Macrobiotics and Highway Resurfacing, reported in Transactions of the California Acad-
emy of Cosmics and Groovy Sunsets (no volume numbers, no pagination).
40
ILLUSTRATION BY LILLA ROGERS
SEPTEMBER 1991
SUE GRAFTON
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AL 9/91
nance; she has urged a return to the
ness of millions of tons of overhead wa-
a sense of civic value and societal
more "caring" hands-on practices of
ter pressure as a quotidian fact of life,
contribution.
22
earlier times. "It is no accident," she
they have hypothesized the presence
Alter the paint scheme. Experience in-
asserts, 12 "that the Great Wall of China
of high levels of immunosuppressive
dicates that primary-color infrastruc-
is extant. Just think of all those deli-
chemicals in mortar joints near those
tures such as the Golden Gate Bridge,
cate little Chinese hands lovingly lay-
cute little traffic signals on the ceiling
the Blue Ridge Parkway, and the Yel-
ing stone upon stone, and think of how
of the Lincoln Tunnel.
low Brick Road turn out to be relative-
good that wall must feel.
Hypertension may be a heretofore
ly maintenance- and trouble-free,
Performance-related insecurity has
unconsidered risk to certain cold-cli-
while neutral-shade structures, such as
been identified as a valid phenomenon
mate roadways that undergo seasonal
Zane Grey Viaduct, in Arizona, and
by P. J. Coomeraswamy and others, 14
salting, according to Morton Free-
Hollywood's Shirley Temple Black
who have suggested that phrases such
man. 17 Comparative studies of traffic-
Bridge/Tunnel, along with others too
as "bumper to bumper," "five-mile
bearing infrastructure elements in up-
numerous to mention, are in virtually
backup," and "thirty-minute delays"
state New York have revealed that
total disrepair.
may produce deleterious effects when
sanding is preferable. 18
Observe significant anniversaries. No
overheard by aboveground ferrous
single life event causes more disheart-
structures that can receive commer-
RECOMMENDATIONS
ening reactions than the failure to cele-
cial-radio-transmitted motorists' advi-
The study finds merit in a holistic
brate important dates. 23 Suitable anni-
sories. Coomeraswamy believes that
approach to infrastructure mainte-
versaries might include date of
such structures cannot help having
nance and urges that, as a test case, the
opening, first suicide by jumping, and
feelings of deep inadequacy after
Williamsburg Bridge be treated as a
other statistical milestones.
public ostracism over their inability to
feeling, caring, and vulnerable entity.
Clean up the neighborhoods. Since en-
perform their vehicle-delivery tasks
It is suggested that the following mea-
vironmental shortcomings are known
satisfactorily.
sures be implemented without delay: 19
to be psychic stressors, the stable but
Nutritional deficiencies may cause
Change the name to Gotham Skyway.
untidy neighborhoods on both ends of
the failure of some structures' natural
Enhanced self-esteem, resulting from
the bridge should be razed and re-
immune systems, according to Wallace
metaphoric nomenclature, will in-
placed by landscaped promenades and
Willis, whose work on the effects of hy-
crease the structure's natural immunity
waterfront revitalization. 24 Approach
peringestion of asphalt by laboratory
to disease. 20
ramps should be redesigned to include
animals¹⁵ inadvertently focused world-
Provide sensitivity training to repair
flowered median malls, seductive ac-
wide attention on an imperfectly un-
crews. Recent research has suggested
celeration lanes, and grassy shoulders.
derstood aspect of highway rehabilita-
that inanimate objects may, in fact, be
tion programs.
sensitive to pain²¹ and should be treat-
CONCLUSION
Miller and Jacobs have pointed to
ed accordingly.
The author has proposed new tech-
anxiety-accelerated deterioration in
Greatly increase tolls. Studies have
niques to bridge the gaps between the
the pathology of tunnels. 16 Citing the
shown a positive and lasting relation-
past and the future. The next step is
subaqueous passages' constant aware-
ship between revenue production and
up to someone else.
12 Bettina Collingsworth, R.N., "Effects of Therapeutic Touch on Elevated Railway Rights of Way: An Overview," Amer. Jrnl. Metallurg. Nursg.,
XII (3), pp. 9-83.
13 For an incisive refutation, see "RR Execs Kibosh 'Screwball' Ideas," New York Times, June 30, 1986, p. 29.
14 P. J. Coomeraswamy et al., "Breaker One-Niner: Some Broadcasting Challenges Presented by Shakespearean Asides in Timon of Athens and
Coriolanus, and Sundry Other Observations," C.B. News 'n' Views, December, 1978, p. 46.
15 Reported in "Laboratory Prank Yields Surprising Results," Newsletter, Columbia Univ. Psych. Dept., October, 1987.
16 A. B. Miller and C. D. Jacobs, "Comparison of Ante- and Post-Diluvian Shanty Roofs in Tell-el-Amarna: A Follow-up to the Leakey Study,"
Competitive Archaeology, X (1), pp. 26-219.
17 See M. Freeman, Risk Factors Associated With Sodium in Highly Salinized Expressways (Salt Lake City: Brigham Young Univ. Press, 1982), p. 78.
18 H. Youngman and M. Berle, "Sandy Claws: What the Cat Got When She Crossed the Desert," in J. Leno, ed., A Treasury of Superannuated Hu-
mor (Catskill, N.Y.: Borscht Belt Press, 1988), pp. 183-201.
19 It may already be too late. See Juan Tegucigalpa, M.D., "Holistic Interventions in the Treatment of the 'Mañana Syndrome," Psychology To-
morrow, June, 1990.
20 Cf. Bud Waxman, "Correlative Productivity and Longevity Survey of 'Janitors' and 'Custodial Engineers," Jrnl. Mgmt. Manipulatn., LVI (2), pp.
4-70.
21 See Mary Anderson, M.S.W., "Would You Sandblast Your Daughter?" Neonatal Hygiene, June, 1977, pp. 42-51. See also Bernard "Dutch"
Kramer, P.E., "Highways Have Feelings Too," Paving News, August, 1988, p. 9.
22 A riveting example of this phenomenon is Luther Lassitude, Call Me "Garbage": Memoirs of an Unemployed Head of Household (Pittsburgh: Rust Belt
Press, 1979).
23 For the classic representation, see cartoon by Roz Chast in The New Yorker, July 12, 1985, p. 18. Captioned "Ooops!!-Sorry, Honey the
illustration depicts a man standing on the left, looking at his wristwatch, while on the right a woman stands arms akimbo. The living room is a mess.
In center foreground a beagle wags its tail.
24 Pro bono work in this field has been highly successful. See "At Absolutely No Cost to the Public: A Developers' Guide to Big-City Pork-Barrel
Politics" (18th ed.), in-house publication of the Trump Organization.
42
SEPTEMBER 1991
Where
Normal
First, what
exactly is Normal?
does beef
180 calories for three
ounces.* Now you know
Well, it's an aver-
AVE
fit in
where beef fits in the
age Illinois town 35
miles east of Peoria.
Normal
diet. On the right side
a
of the plate next to the
Which makes it ex-
diet?
vegetables.
tremely
normal.
You see, ordinary folks
Here in Normal, people enjoy a
ignore food crazes. They prefer a
variety of foods, including lean beef.
more balanced, moderate approach.
The reasons are pretty obvious. A well-
Everything from carrots and cran-
balanced diet means well-adjusted
berries to wild rice and lean beef.
adults.
Normal people also
Remember, outlandish diets come
choose the Skinniest Six
7
N
and go. Eventually things
E
cuts of beef. Hardly
always return to
S
strange behavior, I'd
Normal.
3
say. These cuts
S
See you in the
H
run less than
next town.
BEEF
T
ROUND TIP 157 calories
EYE OF ROUND 143 calories
5.9 gms total fat* (2.1 gms sat. fat)
4.2 gms total fat* (1.5 gms sat. fat)
TOP ROUND 153 calories
TENDERLOIN 179 calories
4.2 gms total fat* (1.4 gms sat. fat)
8.5 gms total fat* (3.2 gms sat. fat)
TOP LOIN 176 calories
TOP SIRLOIN 165 calories
8.0 gms total fat* (3.1 gms sat. fat)
6.1 gms total fat* (2.4 gms sat. fat)
Beef.
Real food for real people.
*Sources: USDA Handbook 8-13 1990 Rev., U.S. RDA National Research Council 1989, 10th Edition.
Figures are for a cooked and trimmed 3 oz. serving. 4 oz. uncooked yield 3 oz. cooked. ©1991 Beef Industry Council and Beef Board.
© 1991 Schieffelin & Somerset Co., NY, NY, Cognac Hennessy 40% Alc./Vol. (80°)
If
YOU'VE
VE
EVER
BEEN
KISSED
you
ALREADY
KNOW
6092
I
1765
Jai
ESTD
THE
Hennessy
FEELING
of
COGNAC
HENNESSY
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
PRAIRY ERTH
Portraits From Chase County, Kansas
BY WILLIAM LEAST HEAT-MOON
I t was probably necessary that we develop an American
E
ternal prairie and grass, with occasional groups of
name system, for many of our native soils are unique
trees. [Captain John] Frémont prefers this to every
and should bear their own identities. But in a stroke of
other landscape. To me it is as if someone would prefer a
scientific shorthand, the soils of our central grasslands are
book with blank pages to a good story.
sometimes called simply "prairyerths."
-CHARLES PREUSS, Exploring With Frémont (1842)
-JOHN MADSON, Where the Sky Began (1982)
K
ansas is the navel of the nation.
The statistics of
K
ansas is no mere geographical expression, but a "state
of mind," a religion, and a philosophy in one
the census tables are more eloquent than the tropes
The Kansas spirit is the American spirit double
and phrases of the rhetorician. The story of Kansas needs
distilled. It is a new grafted product of American indi-
no reinforcement from the imagination.
vidualism, American idealism, American intolerance.
-JOHN JAMES INGALLS, "Kansas: 1591-1891" (c. 1896)
Kansas is America in microcosm: as America conceives
itself in respect to Europe, SO Kansas conceives itself
Nic, one, I discover, begins to know the real geograph-
in respect to America.
democratic, indissoluble American Union in the
-CARL BECKER, "Kansas" (1910)
present, or suspect it in the future, until he explores
these Central States, and dwells awhile on their prairies
or amid their busy towns.
K
ansas brags on its thunder and lightning; and the
boast is well founded.
-WALT WHITMAN, Specimen Days (1882)
-HORACE GREELEY, An Overland Journey (1859)
SEPTEMBER 1991
PHOTOGRAPHS BY TERRY EVANS
45
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
the last world war there was more of almost everything
thing easily, unless it's horizon and sky. Search out its
except abandoned farmhouses and collapsing windmills.
variation, its colors, its subtleties. It's not that I had to
You may see the county from one of the many trans-
learn to think flat-the prairies rarely are-but I had to
continental flights that pass right over it, or you may see
begin thinking open and lean, seeing without set points
it from an Amtrak window (no stops in the county), or
of obvious focus, first noticing the horizon and then
you may be fired down the long, smoking bore of the
drawing my vision back toward middle distance, where
turnpike that shoots across it. You may also see it from its
so little appears to exist. I came to understand that the
graveled roads, dirt lanes, pasture tracks, or vestiges of
prairies are nothing but grass as the sea is nothing but wa-
historic trails, or from its couple of hundred miles of ca-
ter, that most prairie life is within the place: under the
noe-navigable waters, and you can travel it by foot or
stems, below the turf, beneath the stones. I came to un-
chair-that is, by walking or reading. There's another
derstand that the prairie is not a topography that shows its
means, too: call it dreaming, where the less-conscious
all but rather a vastly exposed place of concealment, like
mind can mouse about.
the geodes so abundant in the county, where the splen-
People passing through from other counties have
did lies within a plain cover. At last I realized I was a man
sometimes found it a good spot to get thumped. A man
not of the sea or coasts or mountains but of the grass-
from Marion, immediately west of here (now residing
lands. Once I understood that, I began to find all sorts of
safely in Colorado), told me, "We used to call it Chasem
reasons why, and here comes one:
County. The story there was chase 'em, catch 'em, kick
I am driving west of Emporia, Kansas, on Highway 50
'em." I add only that people in Cottonwood Falls will
where it takes up the course of the two-mile-wide and
comment on the number of federal marshals shot down in
east-running Cottonwood River, and I've just entered the
Marion. But one thing is certain here: Chase County,
prairie hills through a trough of wooded bottom that runs
Kansas, looks much the way visitors want rural western
some way into the uplands before the road rises out of the
America to look. A college student, a Pennsylvanian
floodplain to reveal the open spread of grasses. The
working on a ranch near Matfield Green, said to me, "I
change is sudden, stark, surprising. If I kept heading
can't believe this county. I can't believe it's still like this.
west, I would ride among the grasses-tall, middle,
I mean, it's so Americana."
short-until I crossed the prairie and the plains (the
words are not synonyms) and climbed into the foothills of
FIRST ENTERED CHASE COUNTY, AS ALMOST EVERY-
the Rockies. By following Route 50 into Chase County,
I
one traveling from the East did for a generation, along
up out of the shadowed woodlands, out of the soybean
Highway 50. The year was 1952, and I was twelve
and sorghum bottoms, and into the miles of something
years old and riding in the front seat as navigator while
too big, too wild, to be called a meadow, I am recapitulat-
my father drove our Pontiac Chieftain, with its splendid
ing human history, retracing in an hour the sixty-five-mil-
hood ornament, an Indian's head whose chromium nose
lion-year course of our evolution from some small bot-
we followed for half a decade over much of America. In
tom-dwelling mammal that began to climb trees and
the past few weeks I've probed my memory to find even
evolve and then crawl down and move into the East Afri-
one detail of my first passage into the western prairies.
can savannas. It was tall grass that made man stand up: to
What did I see, feel? Nothing except the route now re-
be on all fours, to crouch in a six-foot-high world of thick
turns. My guess is that I found the grasslands little more
cellulose, is to be blind and vulnerable. People may pre-
than miles to be got over-after all, that's the way Ameri-
fer the obvious beauty of mountains and seacoasts, but
cans crossed Kansas. Still do.
we are bipedal because of savanna; man is man because
In 1965, when I came out of the Navy, I drove over the
of tall grass. When I walk the prairie, I like to take along
prairie again on a visit to California, and the grasslands
the notion that although my blood may long for the ha-
looked different to me, SO alive and varied; I believe now
ven of the forest, its apprenticeship in the trees, it also
that two years of watching the Atlantic Ocean had
recognizes this grand openness as the kind of place where
changed the way I viewed landscape, especially levelish,
it became itself.
rolling things. I also had begun to see the prairies as na-
Now: I am in the grasses, my arms upraised, spine and
tive ground, the land my home town sat just out of sight
legs straight, everything upright like the bluestem, and I
of, and I began to like the American grasslands, not be-
can walk a thousand miles over this prairie, but I can't
cause they demand your attention, like mountains and
climb a tree worth a damn.
coasts, but because they almost defy absorbed attention.
On Highway 50, exactly two miles west of the eastern
At first, to be here, to be here now, was hard for me on the
Chase County line (man-made things are often exact dis-
prairie. I liked the clarity of line in a place that seemed to
tances here, because they grow up along section-line
require me to bring something to it and to open to it ac-
junctures), a gravel road crosses the highway, and I am
tively: see far, see little. I learned a prairie secret: take
walking it southward, toward where it passes over old
the numbing distance in small doses and gorge on the lit-
Route 50 and then over the old Santa Fe tracks and then
tle details that beckon. The prairie doesn't give up any-
the new tracks, and then drops steeply down the high
48
SEPTEMBER 1991
SOME CLASSICS ARE MORE RELIABLE THAN OTHERS.
Fortunately, for those who appreciate classics, not all of them come with four
wheels. Woolrich, for instance, has been around for over 160 years and, as far as we
know, we've yet to leave anyone
stranded twenty miles from town.
EAGLES NEST
Woolruch
BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAIN SPORTS
EST. 1830
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
grade to the oldest Route 50 and runs a mile to the Cot-
tonwood River. Between tracks and river stand four
houses, a brick school, and, off in a grove, a wooden de-
I can
pot used as a storage shed, and the sign, although fading,
came
still says SAFFORDVILLE.
Saffordville: population five, the youngest fifty-five,
to understand
the oldest eighty-five. The village, once called Kenyon
(I haven't discovered why), takes its name from a Kansas
that the prairies are
judge who advocated passage of the Homestead Act of
1862. I am in the grass and scrub that was once the town.
nothing but
I climb concrete steps leading to nothing and shuffle down
native-stone sidewalk slabs going nowhere. Ahead is the
grass as the sea
concrete cooler house of a grocery; behind, the block shell
of an auto garage. In 1940 two hundred people lived here.
is nothing
No town in the county has increased its population since
the Second World War, and what I am about to say is true
but water, that most
of other villages nearby, the two towns excepted. As a
form of shorthand, let me call this dying the Saffordville
prairie life
syndrome: in the thirties the town had a doctor, three
stores, two schools, one hotel, a blacksmith shop, a lum-
is within the place:
beryard, a creamery, a café, barber and butcher shops, a
bank, a garage, a church, and five lodges (Masons,
under the stems, below
Woodmen, Eastern Star, Royal Neighbors, Ladies Aid).
These happened: farmers needed fewer hands to get a
the turf, beneath
good crop from the rich bottoms, and bigger implements
required more land to make them pay; automobiles and
the stones.
paved roads opened the commerce of Emporia (so prop-
erly named); county schools consolidated.
That much is general American history. Saffordville
added a detail that, in one Kansan's words, "capped the
climax." Speculators trying to make a killing by invent-
ing towns and then selling lots laid out Saffordville not
just between Buckeye and Bull creeks but also on the
first terrace of the Cottonwood River, so that heavy rains
rush the village from three sides, and on the south a high
bluff forces the Cottonwood in flood northward toward
Saffordville, where the high railroad grade dams it. The
effect was something like building a town at the bottom
of a funnel; even after the citizens cut away a loop in the
river, it didn't drain fast enough during a flood. In the
1940s an old raconteur wrote,
The Indians used to warn settlers who settled near the
river. They said they had seen the water from bluff to
bluff. The settlers did not pay any attention to the Indi-
ans warnings, and in 1904, there came a flood and the
Cottonwood River overflowed its banks and flooded ev-
erything. Two weeks later it overflowed again, which
was the last flood for nineteen years. Again in 1923,
there came another flood. It was the last one until 1926.
In 1929 there were two floods-one in June and the
other in November. In the period from 1923 to 1929,
the river overflowed eight times.
And then, as if to prove that these floods were not
mere and rare chances of nature, in 1951 the Cottonwood
Along the Madison-
flooded four times, the last the worst in white men's
Eureka Road,
memory. Less than a hundred feet wide here, this river,
southeastern Chase County
50
SEPTEMBER 1991
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
which had caught fire from an oil-well spill a generation
not much more effective than wet towels against dusters.
earlier, and two generations before that had gone dry
As goes the Cottonwood, so goes Chase County:
(countians tell of walking the twelve miles to Emporia on
through the quarter-billion-year-old limestone hills the
the riverbed and of helplessly standing by their empty
typically slow waters have cut a sixty-mile dogleg trough,
wells and watching their houses burn to the ground that
northeast, east. Before the recent building of several im-
summer)-this same river gathered the waters of its trib-
poundments, all the storm runoff in the county, except
utaries, running full of July rains, and went overnight
from two small portions in the south, along with much of
from five feet deep to thirty feet, and took off once again
the drainage of Marion County, rolled past Saffordville.
across the valley, just as it was to do in 1965, 1973, 1985.
Although nearly every village in Chase sits in the valley
Had there been an economic reason for Saffordville to
of the Cottonwood or one of its tributaries, only Safford-
continue, these repetitions of muddy water would have
ville, on the east, sooner or later gets the runoff from
been serious drawbacks, but in the absence of reasons
1,700 square miles, an immense drainage for such a small
beyond the inertia of initial settlement, the Cottonwood,
channel. Without the Cottonwood watershed there
like a wronged red man, finally drove out the town. A fel-
would never have been much settlement in Chase or ag-
low told me, "That river ate our dinner once too often."
riculture other than upland grazing, and the railroad and
The residents packed up possessions, picked up their
Highway 50 would not likely have passed this way, since
houses and church and even some of the stone-slab
transport crosses the hills through the gaps cut by the
sidewalks, and moved a mile north to the higher ground
Cottonwood and the South Fork. The valleys hold the
of faceless Toledo, a mere assembling of houses that hap-
towns and the cultivation, but only 14 percent of the
pen to stand in some proximity. Since the big flood of
county is bottomland, and it is the rain falling on the oth-
1951 only two families have stayed on in Saffordville, and
er 86 percent, the uplands, that creates floods. Like
a couple of decades ago another moved in. To my knowl-
Kane, an ancient Hawaiian god of creation, the Cotton-
edge, no one around here thinks them crazy.
wood gives life and destruction with equal nonchalance.
Now the river is rising:
On the First Terrace
The uplands, in saturation, can no longer hold the
rain, and they slough it down the slopes to the creeks
AM AT THE DINNER TABLE IN TOM BRIDGE'S HOUSE, A
where a few days earlier quiet waters flowed blue-gray,
I
solid one-and-a-half-story red-brick, red-tile-roof
the color of moonstone, but now they climb banks and
place built in 1921 in Saffordville. Although it's not a
rip off ledges with mad turnings of earthen roil, and
big house, even today it stands out in the county.
where they join larger streams, they meet walls of water
For twenty-five years Tom Bridge, tall and angular, has
and back up until the whole county, its veinings of water-
taught geology at Emporia State University, but he grew
ways become a huge thrombus, starts to overflow, and
up on the Colorado grasslands at the foot of the Front
the word goes out by radio, by neighbors in pickups:
Range.
"River's on the rise!" And all the time it's raining, raining
In 1966 Tom got lost and drove into Saffordville and
so long that the Emporia Gazette has time to print front-
asked the old banker's son for directions to a piece of land
page jokes about it: "If you've been saving for a rainy
he was considering buying. The son said he might sell
day, brother, this is it." Raining, and the Cottonwood,
Tom his house, and later he did, and Bridge knew all
now thirty feet deep, tops out and starts across the bot-
along that the house sat in the floodplain of the Cotton-
toms and begins losing its hundred serpentines as it
wood River. He moved in with his wife, Syble, and their
straightens itself to fit the more linear contours of the val-
four children, and it's quite possible that Tom and Syble
ley, and the word goes out, "Take high ground!" and
will be the last citizens of Saffordville. From 1966 to 1973
people wonder, Am I high enough?, and now only parallel
they averaged a flood a year, but the water never got out
lines of cottonwoods and sycamores and willows mark the
of the basement. Tom didn't complain about the water
usual river course, and a man stands on a bridge and re-
but he did about Syble's overstocking canned goods, be-
members how last week his rowboat hardly moved in the
cause they seemed a needless burden. In 1985 the river
slow river when he fished east of the old milldam, and
began to swell, and the Bridges began raising furniture,
now the silent river has voice, loud, and one fellow says
and they were soon out of bricks and concrete blocks,
to his son, "It's that sound I don't like," and farmers start
and they started setting cans of corn, tomato soup, and
their combines and tractors (and one machine won't fire
V-8 juice under the furniture legs. Of the three inhabited
up) and move them to higher ground. "How high is high
houses remaining in Saffordville, the Bridges' is the far-
enough?" "Is there time to get the cattle out?" And ev-
thest from the river but on the lowest ground, and it isn't
erywhere along the South Fork and the Cottonwood the
feasible to raise their brick house, as their neighbor did
usual argument: "I'm not leaving. This is where I live.
his big two-story frame place. So while the radio crackled
This is mine." And the old, benign river turns malevo-
out flood updates, the Bridges put down cans of chili and
lent, and a farmer shouts at his wife, "It's sweeping us
pork and beans-their sole defense against the river, and
away!" and she won't listen, because women here are al-
52
SEPTEMBER 1991
Molinari
Liqueur, 42% alc. /vol. Product of Italy Imported by Munson Shaw Co., Deerfield, IL
EZA
and 72.3% of them drink only one Sambuca.
Molinari Sambuca.
The only Sambuca Extra.
The Italian courts have awarded
Molinari the "Extra" designation
because of its authenticity
and choice ingredients.
MOLINARI
But judging by the fact
SAMBUCA
that over 70% of all the
EXTR
Sambuca sold in Italy is
Original
Molinari, we'd say that
extra-smooth taste is
what's made it one of the few
LIQUEUR
things Italians agree on.
750ml
42%
OF
Molinari®Sambuca. L'unica "Extra."
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
Flood lines,
Tom and Syble Bridge's
garage
ways the last to leave, and out back the corn and milo are
I ask, Where did you see the water first? and she says,
going under, green to brown, and she shouts, "I'm going
"In '85 I opened the basement door, and it was coming
upstairs!" and he shouts, "No you're not!" And she: "It's
up the stairs at me. It was rising faster than we'd seen it
not going to take my house while I stand up on the bluff,
do before. I'd already gotten my home-canned goods out
not this river!" And he: "It ain't no river now!" It's a thing
of the basement, and then they went under up here:
moving as if it knows what made this valley and knows its
sweet pickles and dills. Afterward we were afraid to eat
million-year right of tenancy, and it's going to tear out the
them, but we ate the stuff in tin cans. Two dozen jars of
fences and flush the squatters and their privies away and
pickles, still pretty and green, went to the dump, along
scrub the valley of the septic intrusion and let them go
with some furniture and mattresses and rugs: three flat-
down with their hogs and stories of Noah.
bed-truck loads. You understand, in '85 we never left the
The river has risen.
house. That's the way it is for us here-our neighbors,
Edith and Frances, don't leave either. We have one room
HIS IS SYBLE BRIDGE, SMALL AND TRIM. SHE SAYS
upstairs, and Tom and I go up to it, but we come down in
T
to me, "The problem isn't the water, really; it's
our rubber boots and sit in the water to eat at the table.
the mud that stays behind. The water drains out.
The man who built this house, Bill ImMasche, the bank-
The mud settles." And Tom says, and he is thinking of
er, did the same thing: went upstairs and waited it out.
Dust Bowl days, too, "We get that same layer, the same
During a flood Stanley North always came up to the back
type of dust or mud precipitated out of water." I'm laugh-
of the house in a rowboat to bring Bill his paper and mail
ing, and I say, All your life you keep getting soil in your
and milk every day. In '51 they took the screen off the
house from one agency or another. You're an earth sci-
upstairs window to pass things in. Before he pulled away,
entist, and earth keeps coming in to live with you. It
Stanley said, 'You want this screen back on?' 'No,' says
must make you glad you're not an entomologist. Or a
Bill. 'Leave it off. I'll swat flies. It'll give me something
mortician.
to do.' The floods never bothered him, but people say
54
SEPTEMBER 1991
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
that his wife's severe heart trouble came from worrying
house again, and he says, "That's a real possibility, but I
over this house flooding. He watched his pennies, but
don't worry about it. Our lives aren't threatened. Our
she shook him loose to build this place."
possessions, yes."
The Bridges have lived here twenty-two years, and I
Now the meal is over, and we are talking about geolo-
ask why they haven't at least built a levee around the
gy, and someone has said that the Kansas pioneers' great
house, a four-foot berm should do it, and Tom says,
fear was drought, and I say, Since erosion is the primary
"When we get time," and I ask whether living here
geologic force in Kansas, isn't it appropriate for a geolo-
makes them watch the sky, and he says, "We've had
gist to live amid the cycle of flood, erosion, and deposi-
floods when we've had no rain on our place. We have to
tion? And Tom says, "Twenty-two years here now and I
listen to the radio, go down to the bridge to check on the
really understand sedimentary layering, what made these
river, especially at night, when we can't see it coming
hills."
over the fields."
Syble says, "When the forecast is for flood, Tom starts
The Emma Chase
moving vehicles to higher ground, and I mow the lawn so
the grass clippings will wash away. If the forecast was for
ROADWAY, WEST SIDE, A STOREFRONT WINDOW,
flooding tomorrow, I'd head right now for the canned
goods, especially juice cans, the forty-six-ounce size.
B
and painted on the plate glass a cup of steaming
coffee; morning, Cottonwood Falls, the Emma
Two years ago it was ten inches in this room, but in '51 it
Chase Café, November: I'm inside and finish-
was five feet, and that's what damaged the house. When
ing a fine western omelet and in a moment will take on
we bought it, we had to put everything inside back to-
the planks of homemade wheat bread-just as soon as
gether. We decorated with the idea that things would
the shadow from the window coffee cup passes across my
probably get wet." Now Syble is setting the table to
little notebook. The men's table (a bold woman some-
serve a pork loin and mashed potatoes and broccoli, and
times sits at it, but rare is the man who sits at the wom-
she says, "In high water it gets quiet. About all we hear is
en's table) has already emptied, and now the other one
the water slopping outside."
does too. On the west wall hangs a portrait of a woman
Tom: "This house is a riverboat that won't float. I'll
from the time of Rutherford B. Hayes, and she, her hair
look out a window and see carp jumping on the lawn.
parted centrally, turns a bit to the left, as if to answer
Frogs in the basement. Cordwood floating off the porch."
someone in the street, her high collar crisp, her eyebrow
And Syble: "I looked out the window in '85 and saw
ever SQ slightly raised, her lips pursed as if she's about to
the workbench float out the garage. An eddy carried it
speak. (And now someone calls out from the kitchen to
away. It wasn't a regular workbench: it was an old grand
the new waitress, "On your ticket, what's this U.P.?" and
piano that had been gutted, but it had fancy carved legs.
the girl says, "Up," and from the kitchen, "You can't
We kept tools and nails sitting on it. We watched it float
have scrambled eggs up.") The portrait is of "the woman
out, go past the house, moving right along. It stopped
history forgot"-Emma Chase, who said, "You can't start
over east, in Edith's field, tools still on top of it."
a revolution on an empty stomach." She was not wife,
Tom: "I had three Honda motorcycles in the garage.
daughter, sister, or mother to Salmon P. Chase, the great
They went beneath. There isn't time to get everything,
enemy of slavery and Lincoln's Chief Justice, whose
so we go for the books first, then things in the basement.
name the county carries. Emma stands in no man's shad-
I turn off the electricity if water's coming upstairs. Syble
ow but in the dark recess that the past mostly is. In this
got shocked the last time. You'll feel the electric current
county she's famous for having been forgotten; after all,
in the water, a kind of vibrating; it can kill you. We take
who remembers that it was on the back of one of Emma's
oil lamps to the second floor. The toilet stops working,
envelopes that Lincoln outlined his Emancipation Proc-
the bathtub backs up with foul stuff. There's no question
lamation? That's been the story in the Falls, anyway.
a flood's inconvenient."
Most countians now understand that Emma "A-Cook-
Syble: "You don't live in a floodplain and get excited
ie-in-Every-Jar" Chase has the reality of an idea and an
about water. Now, a tornado gets us excited. Tom calls us
ideal, even if she had to be invented. When Linda
collectors who need a flood every so often to clear things
Pretzer Thurston decided to open the café, a couple of
out anyway. When the water drops, we get the brooms
years ago, she cast about for a name, something local,
and hose and squirt it and keep the water riled up, make
something feminine, and she searched the volumes of
it take the mud back out. If you let the mud dry, it's like
the Chase County Historical Sketches for an embodiment of
concrete. We pump out the basement."
certain values but came away unsatisfied by or unaware
The Bridges have no flood insurance, and Tom tells
of the facts, such as those of 1889 about Minnie Morgan,
me he sold their canoe, and Syble says, "I wouldn't want
of Cottonwood, one of the first women in the country to
to be out in a flood in a canoe." They don't have a CB ra-
be elected mayor and the first-and probably the only
dio to make up for losing the telephone when the buried
one-to serve with an all-female city council. Minnie has
lines short out. I ask Tom if he will see water in this
stood in a few dark historical corridors herself: her daugh-
SEPTEMBER 1991
55
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THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
ter's biography of the family in the Sketches speaks of wild
the tax. Three years ago she and her young son lived near
plums and a neighbor who threw the family's clothes
Kansas City, Kansas, where she worked with battered
down the cistern to save them from a prairie fire, and it
women and handicapped children, some of whose fathers
mentions her father's founding of the county newspaper
couldn't remember their child's name; they all were poor
The Leader (of many papers, the only one still alive) and
city people who lived anonymously. She was also the
her brother's "Jayhawker in Yurrup" travel books, but it
president of a large chapter of the National Organization
says not one word about Minnie's mayoralty. There has
for Women, and she campaigned and typed and
not been a female mayor since.
marched. When Ronald Reagan became President and
So the café had no name until one night, at the family
inner-city social programs started disappearing, she
supper table, Linda and her identical twin said simulta-
found herself depressed and beginning to wonder who
neously in response to something she's now forgotten,
the enemy was, where the battlefield was, and she didn't
"The Emma Chase!" Soon newspaper ads for the café
understand why ideas so apparently democratic and hu-
printed Emma's chocolate-chip-cookie recipe, and asked
mane were SO despised, and she was no longer sure what
townspeople to search their attic trunks for information
it meant to help anyone disadvantaged or to be a femi-
about her. One day the president of the county historical
nist. Women seemed in retreat from action to the easier,
society, Whitt Laughridge, came in with a large framed
safer battles of awareness. Things were retrogressing.
portrait of an unidentified woman he'd found in the
On a trip home to Elmdale she learned that the old and
vault. Thurston cried, "Yes! At last we have Emma!" Un-
closed Village Inn Café was for sale, and she looked it
satisfied with history, she had invented a persona and
over, found a broken-down and fouled building. Sudden-
then had to invent ways to get people to accept the
ly a fight against dirt and dilapidation, enemies you could
name. Her ads and fabricated history worked so well that
lay your rubber-gloved hands on, looked good, especially
she, who grew up five miles west, in Elmdale, became to
when she heard that the county-seat citizens wanted a
the citizens "Emma down at the café," and she doesn't
pleasant place once again to sit down with a coffee and
mind.
find out whose cattle it was that went through the ice,
There are other things she does object to, such as the
whose horse had sent him over the fence. A group of
racist joke a fellow told a while ago at the men's table,
Broadway business people met in Bell's western-clothing
and to which she said loudly from across the room, "Did
store and offered to buy the café building and lease it to
you hear that one at church, Ray?" and sometimes in an-
her-after all, she was a native-and so Linda Thurston
swer to sexist comments she'll recite from the café refrig-
decided to live out her fantasy of running a homey little
erator, covered with stick-on slogans like a large, upright
restaurant, and she moved back to Chase County, where,
bumper: THE ROOSTER CROWS BUT THE HEN DELIV-
she hoped, "the Hills could heal." Her friend Linda
ERS, or WOMEN'S RIGHTS-REAGAN'S WRONGS.
Woody, a state lobbyist for NOW, had also wearied of the
Linda Thurston is trim and pretty, a dark strawberry
struggle against Reaganism, and joined her, and the once
blonde given to large, swinging earrings; today she wears
dingy, moribund café became unofficially the Retreat for
a pair of silvery stars almost of a size to be hoisted atop
Burned-Out Social Activists, a place where the women
the courthouse cupola for Christmas. She sits down
could serve homilies, history, and cold pasta salad.
across from me to see what I'm scratching in my note-
Linda Thurston says: "I saw it as a haven of rest from
book. I'm copying what is on her coffee mug:
political struggles, a place I'd have time to write up my
research. If we could undermine a few stereotypes along
I HAVE A B.A., M.A., PH.D.
ALL I NEED NOW IS A GOOD J.O.B.
the way and wake up a few people, that was fine too. I've
never seen my return as going home so much as going
Her doctorate is in child psychology. She is thirty-nine,
forward to my roots, and I don't think I'll stay long
divorced, and has a son, John. She calls across the little
enough to grow old here-unless I already have-and I
café to the new waitress, "We can't do scrambled eggs
believe when the time comes to go back to whatever, I'll
over easy."
know where that is. I've learned you can go home again,
She pushes the guest book toward me. In it are names
but I don't know whether you can stay home again."
from many states and also from Russia, Italy, Israel. She
Refurbishing the café became a community task: the
says, "My friends say I'm the white Aunt Jemima of the
seventy-eight-year-old furniture dealer power-sanded the
women's movement, a radicalized storefront feminist
chipped floor, the clothier painted, a dry-waller showed
whose job is to get cowboys to eat quiche Lorraine even
the women how to mud wallboard, and they came to love
if they call it 'quick lorn.' I'm an aproned militant known
the exhaustion of such work. Then they got to the Wolf
for scratch pies, soups, and breads, the one who's taught
stove, which yielded its encrusted grease to no woman or
a waitress Lamaze breathing on a café floor."
man or method from scrapers to torches. One day two fel-
A man, his spine crumbling with age, his eyesight al-
lows came in with an idea: they dismantled the range,
most gone, comes up and holds out a palm of change for
put it in the back of a pickup, hauled it to the county
his coffee, and Linda takes out thirty-five cents, forget
highway yard, turned a steam hose on it, and reassem-
58
SEPTEMBER 1991
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
bled it into the beauty of new sculpture, and someone
pared calf fries fresh from county pastures (and tolerated
happily wrote on the blackboard Thurston had set up to
jokes attendant to feminists grilling ballocks), and they
list possible names for the place: The Clean Stove Café.
catered meals to businessmen in lodge meetings and
Also on the board were The Double L, The Quarthouse,
ranch hands at corrals.
and Soup and Psychological Services, this last already be-
Linda says to me: "Scratch cooking all the way. The
ginning to have some meaning.
highest compliment is a woman saying, "This is as good
The women did not flaunt their politics, and the town
as I make at home.' But the men bitched all the time
was enough impressed with their hard work to ignore
about no french fries or white bread, so we gave in and
their ERA NOW! bumper stickers, and strollers stopped in
cut our own fry potatoes and baked our own white bread,
to watch the work or help out or just pour themselves a
but still, today, if you want your grilled cheese on Rainbo
cup of free coffee. After six weeks of reconstruction, the
bread, you'll just have to go someplace else. That's the
women papered over the street windows to create a little
only thing we haven't compromised on. We've never al-
suspense for the opening, a couple of days later, while
tered our deeper values, because we refuse to divorce
they completed last details. In a county where beef
being café owners from our feminism. We're tolerated for
stands second only to Christianity, where gravy and
it and sometimes we're explained by it: I heard a man ask
chicken-fried steak are the bases from which all culinary
his friend what a crepe was and why something like that
judgments proceed, the women offered eggplant Parme-
would even be on the menu, and the waitress explained,
san, clam linguine, gazpacho, fettuccine Alfredo, and
"They're for the ERA.' And that's right. We employ only
chicken-fried steak. Business was excellent, and the first
women, and we try to bring to them what we've learned.
day they sold out of pasta primavera, and the women
In the first days of the café a wealthy lady told me there
were certain they could keep their pledge never to serve
were no battered women in the county, and she believed
french fries or factory white bread. All their eggs came
that, but she's been misled-the problem is just buried.
from Chase farms; on weekends, in season, they pre-
Not long ago, at the health fair in the school gym, we
Broadway,
Cottonwood Falls
SEPTEMBER 1991
59
Get involved
in someone
else's life.
BIOGRAPHY
Tuesdays 8pm ET/9pm PT
A&E
© 1991 Arts & Entertainment Network HEARST/ABC/NBC.
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
sponsored a display about services for abused women and
most powerful enforcement is gossip and scorn, the sap
children, and we found out later that some people were
and sinew of a small town."
afraid to stand in front of it because a neighbor might
When she gets up to ready the kitchen for lunch, I ask
think they were abused. And one day a woman, holding
whether she or the Emma Chase has ever been scorned,
back tears, said to me, 'You ought to get out of here-the
and she says, "You'd be more likely to hear that than I
longer you stay, the worse you'll feel about yourself as a
would."
woman.' Maybe that's a minority view, but it's valid. The
other side is that people here are still close to their pio-
OW, LATE AFTERNOON, A YEAR LATER: THE PAINT-
neer ancestors, and they all can tell stories about strong
and capable grandmothers. For a long time women have
N
ed coffee cup still steams on the window, and
stalwart Emma Chase looks over the stacked
owned businesses in the county, SO we're accepted, but
chairs and onto Broadway, and the dank odor of an old
then the café isn't a hardware store or a transmission shop."
and unused building slips between the locked twin
The young waitress has just given a single check to a
doors. The café has been closed for nearly a year, and
man sitting with two women, and Linda explains to her
there's nothing more than a hope of somebody's reopen-
that she should give a check to each person and says,
ing it, although everyone is tired of coffee in foam cups
"Don't assume the male always pays," and to me, "Sepa-
and factory cookies in the Senior Citizen's Center, a few
rate checks also protect privacy-people will watch and
doors down. Linda Woody has gone to Washington as a
read something into who picks up the tab," and I ask
NOW lobbyist, and Linda Thurston is sixty miles up the
whether lack of privacy isn't the worst thing about a small
road, at Kansas State University, an assistant professor in
town, and she says, "And also the best: I love going to
rural special education. The café is for sale, and she's ask-
the post office in the morning and knowing everybody.
ing $8,000 less than she paid for it, in spite of its having
The only time we honk a car horn is with a wave. It's
become known as one of the best small-town eateries in
touching when somebody asks about my son or my dad's
the state, in spite of a Kansas Citian's offer to underwrite
health. We can't afford not to care about other people in a
the franchising of Emma Chase cafés.
place this small. Our survival, in a way, depends on mini-
I've just returned from lunch with her in the student
mizing privacy, because the lack of it draws us into each
union, where she said, "Standing in front of that big Wolf
other's lives, and that's a major resource in a little town
stove, I kept remembering my degree and how useless it
where there aren't a thousand entertainments. There's an
was getting with every fried egg. I'm ten years behind
elderly man who lost his little granddaughter to a drunk,
my colleagues. I worked hard at the café, and my feet
a hit-and-run driver, a few months ago. Every time the
hurt all the time, and I got arthritis in my hands, and fi-
old fellow comes into the Emma, he retells the story, and
nally I realized I didn't want to work that hard day after
every time people listen. What's that worth to a person?
day and still not earn enough money to send my son to
Or to a community? A café like this serves to bond us."
college. Every other business person on Broadway has at
I'm scribbling things down, and she watches and says,
least one additional source of income-the furniture
"Growing up in this county, I learned not to ask ques-
dealer runs a funeral parlor, the owners of the two wom-
tions. If people want you to know something, they'll tell
en's dress shops have their husbands' income, the filling-
you," and I say that I must be a popular fellow, what with
station man has another in Strong City. The Emma
a question mark in every sentence, and she says, "You
Chase would support one frugal person, but it wouldn't
don't count. You don't live here. Besides, the word is out
even do that without weekend city people. Tourists com-
that you're in the county. You'll be tolerated even if they
ing to see the Hills, bicycle clubs-they kept us alive
do think you're about a half bubble off plumb." She
after we earned a name around the state by being special.
watches me write that down, and she says, "We can't af-
But there were local folks who never came in, and I'd ask
ford to ostracize each other just because we don't like this
them what it would take to get them inside, and they'd
one's politics or the way that one raises her kids. You can
say, 'We let the kids decide where we're going to eat out,
get away with it in a city-picking and choosing-but
and they choose McDonald's.' How does a box of toys in
here we're already picked. Participation by everybody
the Emma Chase compete against television commer-
discourages change, and the radical gets cut off. But if we
cials? And there's something else: good home cooking is
give aberrant behavior a wide berth, we don't usually re-
common in the county. Franchise food is the novelty, es-
ject it completely. Every merchant on Broadway can tell
pecially when it's twenty miles away. What our café of-
a story about some petty shoplifter whose pilfering has
fered, city people wanted, but they also wanted clean
been ignored to avoid a bigger problem. For an outsider,
floors, and the cowboys were afraid to come in and get
it's different: if you would espouse something terribly un-
the floor dirty."
popular, like government ownership of land, they'll just
I asked, Was it a loss? and she said, "I lost some money
question your sanity, but if you pocket a candy bar,
and something professionally, because I never found
they'll have you arrested. If I do either one, it would be
time to write, but I realized my fantasy, and I was at
just the reverse. We have limits, of course. The first and
home for the last two years of my father's life. And I got
SEPTEMBER 1991
61
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
to live again according to the dictates of rainfall and the
posite, of clear skies, days and days of clear skies, of a
price of cattle and grain and the outbreaks of chicken
drought that nobody escapes, not even the shopkeepers.
pox. I was part of a community rebuilding its café, and
That any one person in particular will suffer losses from a
working with those helpers got me to see men again as
tornado, however deadly, goes much against the odds,
people instead of the enemy, and it meant something for
and many residents reach high school before they first
my son to go to school with children of people I went to
see a twister; yet nobody who lives his full span in the
school with. And-I think I can say this-because of the
county dies without a tornado story.
Emma Chase, I see my femaleness differently: now I
"Tornado": a Spanish past participle meaning
think feminism means being connected with other peo-
"turned," from a verb meaning "to turn, alter, transform,
ple, not just with other feminists."
repeat," and "to restore." Meteorologists speak of the
She was quiet for some time, and then she said,
reasons why the midlands of the United States suffer so
"There were losses, no question, but there was only one
many tornadoes: a range of high mountains west of a
real failure-we never did get the farmers to eat alfalfa
great expanse of sun-heated plains at a much lower alti-
sprouts. They know silage when they see it. Maybe we
tude, swept by dry and cold northern air that meets warm
should have tried it with gravy."
and moist southern air from a large body of water and
combines with a circulation pattern mixing things up-
Wind
that is to say, the jet stream from Arctic Canada crosses
the Rockies to meet a front from the Gulf of Mexico over
HEN THE KANSA INDIAN PEOPLE, THE SOUTH
the Great Plains, in the center of which sits Kansas,
W
Wind people, were pushed out of the state,
where since 1950 people have sighted 1,747 tornadoes. It
they carried with them the last perception
is a place of such potential celestial violence that the me-
of the wind as anything other than a faceless
teorologists at the National Severe Storms Forecast Cen-
force, a force usually for destruction, that power behind
ter, in Kansas City, Missouri, are sometimes called the
the terrible prairie wildfires, the clout in the blizzards
Keepers of the Gates of Hell. Countians who have
and droughts, and, most of all, in the tornadoes that will
smelled the fulminous, cyclonic sky up close, people
take up everything, even the fence posts. But people
who have felt the ground shake and heard the earth itself
here know the wind well, and they often speak of it; yet,
roar and who have taken to a storm cellar that soon filled
despite the dozen names in other places for local Ameri-
with loathsome greenish air, find the image apt.
can winds, in this state (whose name may mean "wind
Meteorologists speak of thunderstorms pregnant with
people") it has no identity but a direction, no epithet but
tornadoes, storm-breeding clouds more than twice the
a curse. A preacher here once told me, "Giving names to
height of Mount Everest; they speak of funicular enve-
nature is un-Christian." I said that it might help people
lopes and anvil clouds with pendant mammati and of
connect with things, and who knows where that might
thermal instability of winds in cyclonic vorticity, of rota-
lead, and he said, "To idolatry." Yet the fact remains: the
tory columns of air torquing at velocities up to 300 miles
people are more activated by weather than by religion.
an hour (although no anemometer has survived the eye of
Chase County is in the heart of the notorious Tornado
a storm), funnels that can move over the ground at the
Alley of the Middle West, a belt that can average 250 tor-
speed of a strolling man or at the rate of a barrel-assing
nadoes a year, more than anywhere else in the world. A
semi on the turnpike; they say the width of the destruc-
hundred and sixty miles from here, Codell, Kansas, got
tion can be the distance between home plate and deep
thumped by a tornado every twentieth of May for three
centerfield and its length the hundred miles between
successive years, and five months ago a twister "touched
New York City and Philadelphia. A tornado, although
down"-mashed down, really-a mile north of Safford-
more violent than a much-longer-lasting hurricane, has a
ville at Toledo, a small collecting of houses and trailers,
life measured in minutes, and the meteorologists watch it
and the newspaper caption for a photograph of that
snuff out as it was born: unnamed.
crook'd finger of a funnel cloud was "HOLY TOLEDO!"
I know here a grandfather, a man as bald as if a cyclonic
Years earlier a cyclone wrecked a Friends' meetinghouse
wind had taken his scalp-something witnesses claim
there, but this time it skipped over the Methodists'
has happened-who calls twisters "Old Nell," and he
church and went for their houses. In Chase County I've
threatens to set crying children outside for her to carry
found a nonchalance about natural forces born of fatal-
off. People who have seen Old Nell close, up under her
ism: "If it's gonna get me, it'll get me." In Cottonwood
skirt, talk about her colors-pastel pink, black, blue,
Falls, on a block where a house once sat, the old cave re-
gray-and a survivor said this: "All at once a big hole
mains, collapsing, yet around it are six house trailers.
opened in the sky with a mass of cherry red, a yellow
Riding out a tornado in a mobile home is like stepping
tinge in the center," and another said, "A funnel with
into combine blades-trailers become airborne chambers
beautiful electric-blue light," and a third person, "It was
full of flying knives of aluminum and glass. No: if there is
glowing like it was illuminated from the inside." And the
a dread in the county, it is not of dark skies but of the op-
witnesses speak of shapes: formless black masses, cones,
62
SEPTEMBER 1991
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
Paul and Leola Evans,
tornado survivors
cylinders, tubes, ribbons, pendants, dangling lariats, ele-
came upstairs to bed, and Paul gawked at me. He said,
phant trunks. They tell of ponds being vacuumed dry,
'What are you doing?' I was wearing my good rabbit-fur
eyes of geese sucked out, chickens clean-plucked from
coat and wedding rings, and I had a handful of wooden
beak to bum, water pulled straight up out of toilet bowls,
matches. It wasn't cold at all. I said I didn't know but that
a woman's clothes torn off her, a wife killed after being
something wasn't right, and he said, 'What's not right?'
jerked through a car window, a child carried two miles
and I didn't know. We went to bed and just after dark it
and set down with only scratches, a Cottonwood Falls
began to rain, and then the wind came on and blew hard-
woman (fearful of wind) cured of chronic headaches
er, and we went downstairs and tried to open the door but
when a twister passed harmlessly within a few feet of her
the air pressure was SO strong Paul couldn't even turn the
house.
knob. That wind had us locked in. We hunkered in the
corner of the living room in just our pajamas-mine were
AUL AND LEOLA EVANS ARE IN THEIR EARLY SEVEN-
P
new seersucker-and me in my fur coat. The wind got
ties but appear a decade younger, their faces
louder, then the windows blew out, and we realized we
shaped by the prairie wind into strong and pleasing
were in trouble when the heat stove went around the cor-
lines. They have no children. Paul speaks softly and to
ner and out a wall that had just come down. We clamped
the point, and Leola is animated, the kind of woman who
on to each other like ticks, and then we were six feet in
can take a small, smoldering story and breathe it into
the air, and Paul was hanging on to my fur coat-for bal-
bright flame. Paul listens to her in barely noticeable
last, he says now-and we went up and out where the
amusement and from time to time tosses tinder to her.
wall had been, and then we came down, and then we
Leola says: "It was 1949, May. Paul was home from the
went up again, longer this time, and then came down in a
Pacific. We'd made it through the war, then this. We
heap of animals: a cow and one of our dogs with a two-by-
were living just across the county line, near Americus, on
four through it. The cow lived, but we lost the dog. We
a little farm by the Neosho River. One Friday night I
were out in the wheat field, sixty yards from the house,
SEPTEMBER 1991
63
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
and Paul had a knot above his eye that made him look
frayed cotton, and his pronunciation is that of the south-
like the Two-Headed Wonder Boy. Splintered wood and
west hill country. He is six feet tall and big-boned with-
glass and metal all over, and the electric lines down and
out being burly, has had a little heart trouble, lives sever-
sparking, and here we were barefoot. Paul said to walk
al miles away in Newkirk, no phone, drives a Lincoln
only when the lightning flashed to see what we were
Continental. His name is Jesse Mehojah, Jr.
stepping on. We were more afraid of getting electrocuted
A few yards north of the shed stands the old Kaw coun-
than cut. We could see in the flashes that the second sto-
cil house and south of it the dance-ground, a big circle of
ry was gone except for one room, and we saw the car was
buffalo grass with a high view of the former reservation,
an accordion and our big truck was upside down. The old
east across the river. Yesterday I came to the dance-
hog was so terrified she got between us and wouldn't
ground with Johnnie Ray McCauley, once a pipeline
leave all the way up to the neighbors'. Their place wasn't
welder, now a recovering alcoholic and the new sub-
touched. They came to the door and saw a scared hog
stance-abuse counselor for the Kaw tribe. Polite and
and two things in rags covered with black mud sucked up
kindly, he too has had heart problems; at fifty-seven, he's
out of the river and coated with plaster dust and blood,
the youngest of the half-dozen full-blood Kansa remain-
and one of them was growing a second head. The neigh-
ing and the only one who still sings and dances, although
bors didn't know who we were until they heard our
he does not know any of the old Kaw songs: when the
voices."
Wind People dance here, they bring in distant relations,
Paul says, "That tornado was on a path to miss our
the Poncas, to sing and drum. Johnnie has learned two
house until it hit the Cottonwood and veered back on us.
Ponca songs, the Calling Song, which opens a dance and
The Indians believed a twister will change course when
invokes the Great Unknown to join the circle, and the
it crosses a river."
Finishing Song, which closes a dance and asks for bless-
Leola: "The next morning we walked back home-
ing. He wants to keep alive the traditions that remain, in
the electric clock was stopped at nine-forty, and I went
part because he now sees them as a shield to help fend off
upstairs to the room that was left, and there on the chest
the alcoholism: in singing and dancing he finds strength
my glasses were just like I left them, but our bedroom
and self-esteem. Yesterday, Johnnie said to me, "I'd like
was gone, and our mattress, all torn up, was in a tree
to sing them for you," and he did, and I listened and
where we'd have been."
watched the strong, uplifted face I'd seen before in the
Paul: "We spit plaster for three weeks. It was just plain
Kansa portraits of George Catlin. The songs were a gift, a
imbedded in us."
moment, at last, to enter the heart of the Ones-of-the-
I'm thinking, What truer children of Kansas than those
Wind.
taken aloft by the South Wind?
Johnnie McCauley is a nephew of Jesse Mehojah, the
most recognized of the full-bloods. I've read about Jesse
Last of the Kaw
and know something of his history, but he doesn't realize
it even when I help with a detail of biography or history
N KAY COUNTY, OKLAHOMA, FIFTEEN MILES SOUTH
that allows him to pull up a string of others, as if I'd put a
I
of the Kansas line and twelve northeast of Ponca
minnow on his hook so that he could haul in something
City, on a hilltop, in the distance the dammed and
bigger. Today people pronounce his name Meh-hoo'-jee,
inundated valley of the Arkansas River turned to a
but he says the correct way is Mikk-ho-jay: you must catch
reservoir called Kaw Lake: I am sitting in a maintenance
the first syllable in your throat. The name means "Gray
shed with a grandson of a Kansa chief in a broad shaft of
Blanket," but he doesn't remember its significance.
sunlight sloping through the open door; it warms us in
Among the old Kaws his father was simply Mikkojay, but
the cool wind. He is seventy-seven, wears a slender
to accommodate white understanding, he added the first
moustache trimmed in the mode of the thirties: it and his
name of Jesse-two syllables. The father was born in the
wire-frame spectacles and billed cap make him appear
Neosho Valley near Council Grove, Kansas, on the Di-
less Kansa than he is, but his large, distinctive earlobes
minished Reserve; in 1873, when he was just four, he
reveal the ancestry. From time to time he removes the
came with his family and 500 other Kaws on a forced mi-
hat to stroke his palm over his thinning hair; his hands are
gration of 150 miles to Indian Territory, a foot journey of
big, darkened as if oxidized, except for weathered-in
seventeen days. Jesse can't remember his father ever
networks of white like dried-up saline creeks; the finger-
talking about the walk or the time in Kansas, but he was
nails are thick and broken. For twenty-eight years he was
at the old reservation once, in 1925, when he was twelve,
an oil-field pipeline worker, although he once attended
to see the Monument to the Unknown dedicated. Those
business college. In a paper sack is his lunch: a can of Vi-
memories are now dim.
enna sausage, two slices of white bread, an apple, an or-
In the Smithsonian Institution archives is a cracked
ange; during the time we talk, he does not eat, because
glass-plate photograph of a traditional Kaw bark-house, a
he forgets about food and the passing hours. His words
remarkable structure the people learned to build genera-
are soft with a slight rasp at the edges, as if they were old,
tions ago, even before the departure from the Ohio River
64
SEPTEMBER 1991
Her
Sto
oesn
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THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
Valley: the house is large and circular, its five-foot-high
makes that strange, pitiful song, he says, "Isn't a bird-
walls surmounted by a somewhat flattened conical roof.
it's wind hung up in the fence wire."
In the picture, on each side of the single doorway stand a
He says, "Mama and Dad spoke English but not very
man and a woman, Nopahwiah and Pahkahshutsa, Jesse's
good. She never did teach us two younger boys to speak
grandparents, and in this house, built near the Arkansas
Indian, although my older brothers and sisters spoke it.
River soon after the exodus from Kansas, his mother was
Mama wasn't ashamed-she was just looking at what was
born. Nopahwiah, a descendant of White Plume, was the
ahead of us, thinking of our welfare. She wanted us to
chief of the Kahola Band, the group that lived along the
learn office work and how to speak correct English, but
northern edge of Chase County; this branch of the tribe
Mama and Dad spoke Indian at home, prayed in Indian,
held out longest against the cultural erosion that worked
but I and my little brother talked to them in English. I
apace once the Kaw reached Indian Territory and settled
understood Indian-and I still do. When I hear Osages
on the east bank of the Arkansas River where it enters
talking, I know what they're saying, but I can't join in. I
Oklahoma. Jesse considers Nopahwiah the last "blood,"
remember hello: hoo-way." He sits quietly, thinking. "I
or hereditary, chief of the tribe.
can't seem to remember other words now. A person lets
Mehojah is the next youngest of seven children; when
things get away from him. Sometimes I wish I'd gone
he was born, in 1913, his parents lived in a two-story
ahead and learned it. My older brothers used to speak it
frame house on reservation land his father farmed. Actu-
in the oil fields when we were all pipeliners."
ally, the reserve by then no longer existed, the allotment
Again he reckons, then: "As far as I know, only old
of 1902 having taken the land from the tribe and parceled
Elmer Clark can still speak Kaw. He's a half-breed, grew
it out to individual Kaws, the best acreage going mostly
up around the Osage over east here. They speak slower
to the growing number of mixed-bloods. His parents at-
than the Kaw. But the last full-bloods, none of us can
tended regular church services, worked their land, and
speak it."
looked to the future of their children: they had become
He turns his thumbs, listens to the wind in the fence.
Thomas Jefferson's Christian farmers.
"Now, 'Kansas': that's not the proper pronunciation-it's
One day when Jesse and his younger brother and par-
Kohn'-zay. My parents always called themselves Kohnzay.
ents were in their buggy, on the way to the nearby white
I don't know where this 'Kaw' come in, but that's what
settlement of Kaw City, his father suffered a paralytic
we are today, officially, the Kaw Tribe of Oklahoma."
stroke. He lived on for some years, but the family had to
Were it not for Jesse Mehojah, there would probably
move into Washungah, the reservation village laid out in
not be a Kaw Tribe of any kind today. When, in 1902, the
1902 as part of the allotment. Washungah was a mile up-
federal government, encouraged by Vice President
stream and across the river, on the east side, from the
Charles Curtis and other Kaw mixed-bloods, forced allot-
white town. When the Army Corps of Engineers flooded
ment onto the people, the tribe ceased to exist as a legal
the bottomland, in the early 1970s, Kaw City moved up
entity and most of the Kaw records went off to the Okla-
onto the bluff; its population is now about 300. As for Wa-
homa Historical Society, as if they were old papers from
shungah, only the council house and some graves made it
some family come to the end of its line. Eighth-blood
out. When Kaws today talk of cultural erosion, it has an
Curtis, once a real-estate developer (and, like Jesse, a
additional, literal meaning.
descendant of White Plume), never lived in Indian Terri-
Jesse is speaking: "We always ate well when I was a
tory, although he saw to it that he and his sixteenth-blood
boy. Dad and Mama knew how to preserve food, can it
children got nice parcels of tribal land at the expense of
up. Dad would butcher an animal, and the womenfolks
poor full-bloods.
went out and sliced the beef into long slivers and put it
"After 1902 our land went like wildfire-to whites—
over a fire and cooked it. Then they hung it up on lines to
and we ended up with nothing. The Osages, next to us,
cure. We call it jerky now. It was real good eating. Mama
sold off a lot of their land but they kept the mineral
would make up hominy and boil it with the jerky, maybe
rights, and that's how they became such a wealthy tribe.
add some potatoes or beans. We were efficient in pre-
But we let it all get away. If I'd been chieftain then, I
serving food. We hunted for the table-rabbits, squir-
would've never approved of allotment, because you're
rels, coons. In the summer the river would get low and
depriving your people. If you're a chief, then you don't
we could walk along with a pitchfork and gig channel cat-
think singularly. That's just born in my system."
fish, and up on Beaver Creek we'd catch mudcats and
When Jesse graduated from Kaw City High School, in
flatheads and perch. We used to take water from the creeks
the 1930s, and went off to the oil fields, his town of Wa-
and springs in big stoneware pitchers, and pass them
shungah, its streets named after mixed-bloods, still had a
around the table, and each of us would honor Wakonda by
mission school, an agency building, a council house, and
drinking from the sacred water. It was pure then."
a round house, where he danced in traditional costume.
As he talks, he turns his thumbs slowly. Through the
In the late sixties, when he began losing feeling in his
open door the wind carries a peculiar wavering voice, as
fingers, Jesse discovered that he suffered from pernicious
if from some creature dying, and when I ask what bird
anemia (an irony for a red man who was about to become
SEPTEMBER 1991
65
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
embroiled in issues of blood quantums), and he retired
nized the Kaw Protective Association to watch over the
from pipeline labor and returned to home ground to find
interests of "the Indians," those who fit one federal defi-
tribal buildings falling apart or gone and his people
nition of that time of a Native American-a blood quan-
broken into factions, generally along blood-quantum
tum of 25 percent or more. The awakened tribe persuad-
lines; the ruinous tension between full- and mixed-
ed the corps to turn over a few acres of surplus land on
bloods left the full Kaws dispirited and struggling to hold
the west side of the river and move there, block by block,
to old ways and communal values, while the people of
the stone council house and rebuild it. With that evident
lesser blood pursued aggressive and successful individ-
symbol and the support of the full-bloods, the new group
ualism. The problems of the Neosho Valley had not sim-
in 1973, exactly one century after the last removal, brought
ply reappeared-they had at last overwhelmed the tribe.
suit in federal court against "the breed people," or mixed-
The great American melting pot was bubbling hard, and
bloods, for the right to direct the tribe. The court decided
mixed-bloods SO controlled things that full-bloods were
in favor of the plaintiffs; led by the full-bloods, a new tribal
no longer represented in what little remained of tribal or-
council appeared with Jesse as chairman. Even though the
ganization. The rape of the Kaw realm, after almost two
Kaw once again had legally qualified and energetic native
centuries of facing Caucasians, was nearly complete.
leaders who put tribal welfare first, their assets consisted
That's when ancestral ghosts began stirring things and
of only the cemetery and the small council house: their
awakening the living. With water backing up behind the
original 100, 137 acres of Indian Territory were gone.
dam a few miles downriver, the Corps of Engineers start-
They set up an office and sent representatives to
ed moving graves in the old cemetery at Washungah to
Washington, where they discovered $17,000 of Kaw
high ground twelve miles away: the removal and the
money, a sum intended for tribal operations. With this as
careless methods of doing it angered the seventeen re-
a base, they went after grants to build low-income hous-
maining full-bloods.
ing at Newkirk, a few miles west of the old reservation.
Two other things also roused them: the last intact his-
Establishing health-care facilities and providing employ-
toric Kaw structure was about to go under, and, even
ment for Kaws were more difficult steps, until the open-
though its bylaws specified that council members had to
ing of a bingo hall at Newkirk. Now, among their several
be at least one-quarter Kaw, the tribe was under the con-
enterprises and 1,100 new acres (none of it on the original
trol of a sixteenth-blood who, full-bloods believed, was
reserve), the hall is their largest source of income. Ex-
doing little for the people, instead pursuing a claim
cept for the spiritual aspects, what the bison once was to
against the government for damages resulting from an
the Kansa, bingo is today.
1825 treaty, money that could be collected not by the
"We didn't know anything about tribal government or
tribe but only by individuals. Jesse and a few others orga-
laws or investments, but we said we were going to
learn-learn good-and we dedicated ourselves. People
told us, 'I didn't know there was any Kaws left.'''
WITHIN
Today, in the contemporary tribal office at Kaw City,
the enrollment ledger shows 1,550 members, a popula-
THIS TREE
tion coincidentally close to the historical number of
Kansa before the ravages of the earlier reservation years
Within this tree
in Kansas. It appears that Jesse, the next to last full-blood
another tree
ever to lead the tribe (his younger brother served as
inhabits the same body;
chairman a few years afterward), has helped his people
within this stone
restore themselves, a success foretold in his Kaw first
another stone rests,
name, Hohm-beh-scah, Coming Morning, an image that
seems to extend Gray Blanket. He and the new council
its many shades of grey
made significant progress-landmark achievements, in
the same,
some ways, for Native Americans-so much so that it
its identical
seems fair to raise the question implicit in the growing
surface and weight.
tribal roll: What is a Kaw? Jean-Paul Sartre said that a Jew
And within my body,
is one so considered by others; at least to the Bureau of
Indian Affairs, that is also a Kaw. The survival of the
another body,
Wind People at last looks secure.
whose history, waiting,
But what survives? Six full-bloods (all males and only
sings; there is no other body,
one under seventy), five three-quarter-bloods, seventy-
it sings,
three half-bloods, about two hundred quarter-bloods,
there is по other world.
and a few others with odd quantums above 25 percent:
that is to say, four fifths of the tribe are less than one-
-Jane Hirshfield
quarter Kaw. Some members who come into the office to
66
SEPTEMBER 1991
"There are over forty-five Scotches with 'Glen'
in their names.
The Glenlivet® is the father of them all."
-Sandy Milne,
our Resident Sage.
H
is Majesty's Government
bestowed on The Glenlivet Dis-
tillery the very first license under
the Act of 1823 to legally distill
single malt whisky in the High-
lands.
It was thus that The Glenlivet
became known as the father of all
Scotch.
Ever since, experts on Scotch
The Γ enlivet Dist
have heaped high praise on this,
the most sophisticated of whis-
kies. Their prose is strewn with
words like "classic" and "deli-
cate" and "elegant" and, quite
simply, "the finest."
Small wonder that, for some
time now, The Glenlivet has been
the most sought-after single malt
Scotch in the U.S. "Canny people,
the Americans," says our own
Sandy Milne.
3.
The
GLENLIVET
AGED YEARS
She
The
GLENLIVET.
LIVET.
12 YEARS OLD
Male
Sandy Milne bemused by all the "Glens."
What is a single malt Scotch?
A single malt is Scotch the way it was originally: one single whisky, from one single
distillery. Not, like most Scotch today, a blend of many whiskies. The Glenlivet
The Glenlivet.
single malt Scotch whisky should therefore be compared to a château-bottled wine.
Blended Scotch is more like a mixture of wines from different vineyards.
The Father of All Scotch.
©1990. Imported by The Glenlivet Distilling Company, N.Y., N.Y. 12-year-old single malt Scotch whisky. Alc. 43% by vol. (86 proof). The Glenlivet is a registered trademark.
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
conduct business are blue-eyed blonds; others have
Ho
quantums as low as 1/128. According to a full Kaw, "Stick
a needle in their finger and that drop of blood you'll
squeeze out is all the Kaw they got."
To appear on the roll a person need only prove descent
many of these
from a 1902 allotee: a single Kansa ancestor qualifies you,
provided you are not also on some other tribal roll. A half
no-bloods could tell
Kaw and half Osage, say, must decide where to put his al-
legiance. For years the roll was SO loosely maintained that
you who White
people went to it and simply added their names. Now,
without the benefits that Jesse and other councilmen and
Plume was, or could
chairpersons (the current one is a woman, only the sec-
ond) helped establish, just how many of these members
distinguish
would bother to maintain their enrollment no one knows,
although recently it has been more difficult to get a good
a Kaw dog dance
turnout for the annual meeting. Worse, how many of
these no-bloods (as quarter-and-aboves sometimes call
from a Cheyenne
them) could tell you who White Plume was, or what hap-
pened up at Council Grove, or could distinguish a Kaw
sun dance?
dog dance from a Cheyenne sun dance? How many could
give you even so much as a hoo-way?
How many could
Although a person must still be at least one-quarter
Kaw to serve on the council, the time is coming when
give you even so much
that proscription will have to change. Jesse says, "In fifty
years there won't be much Kaw Indian left-there won't
as a hoo-way?
be much blood at all. The decision's made, and we all
helped make it: I married a white woman. My children
are half-breeds-but if you don't want to get on the
wrong side of them, don't call them white."
A man walks into the maintenance shed and listens.
Jesse says he is his second cousin, Joe Mehojah. "Joe's a
half-breed. He was tribal chairman after me, my right-
hand man, but he works in maintenance now. He's my
boss."
Joe Mehojah is sixty-three, burly, squarely built, his
baldness giving him the look of a Kansa warrior or a Ma-
rine grunt, both of which he has been: twenty-two years
in the corps and, later, several weeks at Wounded Knee
when the last federal attack occurred there. Along with
Jesse, he also happened to be on Kaw business in the
BIA building in Washington when Indians took it over in
1972; both of them stayed for the seven days of the occu-
pation, until the bureau agreed to talk with the people
whose welfare it supposedly oversees. A graduate of Has-
kell Institute, then the Indian high school in Lawrence,
Kansas, Joe spent most of his early years with Native
Americans of several tribes. "When I was younger, my
mother and I would go into a café and people would
stare. They were wondering what that Indian was doing
with a good-looking white woman. She used to tell me,
'You're half white, but you should take up for the Indian
people.' My grandmother used to tell me, 'Marry an In-
dian, marry an Indian.' And I did-a full-blood Oneida
from Wisconsin. And I told my kids, 'Marry an Indian,'
Jesse Mehojah, Jr.,
and they did. Their children married Indians, so my
full-blooded Kaw
grandchildren are seven-eighths Native American, but
SEPTEMBER 1991
69
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
only an eighth Kaw. In fifty years quarter-blood Kaws will
branched out and depleted our numbers-that's the sad
be like full-bloods today. It'll be a tribe of no-bloods."
part of the whole thing."
Joe laughs before he says this: "Me, I know I'm a half-
I say the Missouria tribe is down to a pair of full-
breed, but for years I blamed my father because a pretty
bloods, a brother and sister in their nineties, and then I
white woman looked at him and he fell in love and mar-
ask, Is it sad watching and waiting for the last Kaw? Jesse
ried her, and then I was brought into the world. She's my
shakes his head. "What else? What else? We were a
mother-whatever else she is, that's what I want her to
proud tribe. To be the last—I don't even want to think
be-but I'm an Indian and I show it."
about it. If I'm the one, I'll be a lonely Indian. When
Looking at the first two chairmen of the reorganized
your people are gone, what have you got? A void."
tribe, men who four hours ago were picking up debris, I
Coming Morning turns his thumbs, the sun shaft
ask why they are working out of a maintenance shed rath-
gone, the air colder, the voice of the wind hung up in the
er than in the tribal office: a silence, shuffled sentences,
barbed wire.
silence, a few words spoken for my ears only, silence.
Some topics a stranger doesn't engage in without harming
One Last Question
others. Jesse says, "If I had one wish granted for my
tribe, it would be for unity, harmony, prosperity. In har-
HE PINK POLISH ON THE SIXTEEN-YEAR-OLD
mony you can prosper. Today the almighty dollar gets in
the way. For some people, it's a good investment to build
T
girl's fingernails is chipped, and dried blood is
caked around the cuticles: she grasps the scro-
a chemical-waste dump on our new land, but people
tum gently and pulls it taut and with a scalpel
who've lived here and remember this land, the changes
cuts off the tufted base and throws it down, and reaches
bother them because they see it turning ugly. We get so
deep into the sac to find the testicular cords, jerks them
far apart, and that hurts me."
loose, and drops the testes into the clouded water of a
(Later a senior Kaw explains this much: "Tribal poli-
gallon jar holding another three dozen. The whole oper-
tics can be bad. Too much treachery. It used to be we
ation is nearly bloodless. Cheryl will cut calves, but she
spoke out directly, but not now. And younger ones don't
refuses to brand them-that she leaves to the others. In
go to the older members for advice. I even heard one kid
my nostrils is the smell of burnt Hereford hair, an odor
say, 'I wish you'd tell those elderly people to stay out of
that takes getting accustomed to; white smoke from the
our Kaw business.' He was talking about the blood Indi-
electric branding iron swirls up for a few moments and
ans who rebuilt this tribe.")
then blows clear; on the little bull's haunch is a flying J,
I ask, While we're on politics, why not get into reli-
the raw skin shining brown like new harness leather. Lin-
gion, too? Both men are Latter-Day Saints. Before he
da leans and thrusts an inch-long hypodermic needle into
goes back to cleaning, Joe recites the notion about Native
the haunch. Through all of this the four-month-old bull
Americans descending from the Lamanites, an ancient
has lain silent, but when Arlene puts the electric iron to
tribe of Israel that (according to the Book of Mormon) mi-
its skull to burn off the buttons that would grow into
grated to the Western Hemisphere. The widely held idea
horns, and smoke swirls again, the animal bawls keenly.
that Asian peoples crossed over the Bering land bridge he
Then it's all over, and the calf table-a hinged chute that
believes to be fiction. Jesse seems less sure, but he says,
clamps and lays out the Hereford-swings back upright
"About the Lamanites-that all's been brought down to
and opens, and the little fellow shoots across the corral
me. I've been told that these lost tribes have been re-
and looks around in confusion, and somebody calls out in
corded. If it's documented, that's the way it is. But, even
falsetto, "Welcome to steerdom!" The five women move
though we're Lamanites, I still feel we're Native Ameri-
the next animal toward the calf table, but this one is re-
cans. I believe that every inch of ground you step on is
calcitrant, and Jane says, "Come on, sugar," and it takes a
Indian country."
step or two and then throws its heavy little skull against
I ask Jesse whether he would do anything differently if
Cheryl's head, and she drops to the dust, and it's a few
he could go back to the year he graduated from high
minutes before she can continue. When she does, there
school, and he says, "Like what?" and I ask whether he
is no vengeance in her work; throughout the hot June
might marry a Kaw woman.
morning none of the all-woman crew has cussed or
He doesn't like the question: "You're asking me to for-
kicked the animals. If you've ever watched men castrat-
sake some fifty years of love." He falls silent. Then, "To
ing, branding, dehorning, and inoculating cattle, you
be rational, in these times you can see it would have been
know it just isn't done this way.
better for the tribe for me to have married into my own
Jane Beedle Koger owns these calves and the land they
people-but who? Where was the woman for me? I was
graze on; she is thirty-five, dark blonde, about a thumb's
related to them all."
length taller than five feet, and she often does things the
Silence again, but for the wind. Jesse says, "If I could
way they aren't done. Consider her corral attire: a pink
go back with the voice of a chieftain, I'd advise my peo-
pith helmet, high-top pink sneakers, an emblazoned T-
ple to be more clannish rather than intermarrying. We all
shirt: WE'RE OUT TO WIN OUR SPURS. Earlier she said
70
SEPTEMBER 1991
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THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
seriously to me, "My views aren't always in tune in here,
White: "My advice to the women's clubs of America is to
so I keep them turned down." Although she usually hires
raise more hell and fewer dahlias." She raises only a little
only women to work cattle, she does employ one man to
of the one and none of the other, but she does raise 300
help with her 200 acres of feeder crops; but now that the
crossbred Herefords. She can see no reason for rodeos,
last little bull has been cut, I'm the only intact male in six
which only perpetuate adolescent-male myths about
miles, and one of the women has just flashed the knife
cowboys and encourage a moronic masculine desire for
toward where I sit watching above the calf table and said,
dominance over dumb animals: "Some of these guys are
"Next?" and another says, "Forget it-he's a canner,"
so bright they can't even see when they're running a pas-
meaning an animal too old to bring a good price, the kind
ture calf to death."
Koger believes goes into most franchise burgers, and
When the cattle are again on the grass, we climb into
someone says, "Couldn't even get a Little Mac out of
her Jeep, and she hands me the jar of ballocks, which roll
him."
sluggishly in the thick water as we bounce back to the
Jane Koger has awakened her employees to feminism
ranch, where she will clean the little creamy ovoids, heavily
as Linda Thurston helped awaken hers, and this morning
veined with purple and looking like nothing so much as
she said, "Agricultural knowledge doesn't pass on a Y
nighthawk eggs, and dole them out to her friends like
chromosome-it's learned behavior, and if a cowboy can
Godiva chocolates. As for herself, she's never eaten one.
learn to work cattle, anybody can. I mean, his idea is, 'If it
I've known Jane for a year or so, occasionally seeing
don't fit, get a goddamn hammer.' When a woman is
her along the desolate roads near her pastures in the
around animals, her nurturing instinct comes out." Jane
southeast part of the county, but it was only a couple of
knows that any cowboy who didn't scorn such talk would
weeks ago that I went to her house in Bazaar, after I
be ridiculed, and she knows that in spite of her early suc-
heard her crew was going to cut and brand. That evening
cess, men here still say an all-woman operation can't last
we stood and talked on her back porch, and she said ab-
long; her response is to quote native son William Allen
ruptly, "Do you eat red meat?" and I thought she was set-
Near Homestead Ranch,
southeastern Chase County
72
SEPTEMBER 1991
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
ting me up, as she likes to do, and I said, If it's brown,
and I read. Still, people here think I've had it all handed
and she said, "I just got some steaks today." We went in-
to me. They say Evan Koger was born with a silver spoon
side and she began fixing two mail-order strips. Jane
in his mouth but his kids have left him with a plastic
doesn't eat her own animals; about that she said, "Incon-
fork."
sistency is just great," and she put the cuts on the grill
She set out the steaks and rice and broccoli, and I said
and said, "I grew up eating beef twice a day. Now maybe
that I'd heard she had one of the biggest ranches in
it's once a week." Jane Koger's 6,000-acre Homestead
Chase among those who run their own cattle, and she
Ranch, a third of which she leases for transient grazing,
said, somewhat absently, "I suppose," and then, "People
goes mostly to her year-round COW and calf operation,
here sit around and compare how poor they are, see who's
where she allows eight acres to each animal, twice the
the worst off. I mean, being successful in this county is
transient ratio.
suicide. Nobody wants you to succeed. People get to-
She grew up in Cottonwood Falls. Her father, Evan, a
gether and tear you down, and that used to bother me un-
Yale graduate in English literature, is an heir to one of the
til I realized it wasn't just me they tore down-I saw that
big ranching operations in the state, a place partly com-
if they could chew me up and spit me out as a potential
posed of land an ancestor bought from the New York
failure or whatever, they wouldn't even pause before go-
Rockefellers. On that ranch, in the Gypsum Hills of
ing on to the next person. They'll get around to you, too.
southwest Kansas, Jane and her sisters used to spend
I just don't understand it: they talk about economic de-
summers working cattle. Her mother is a native countian
velopment here, and at the same time they don't want
and a descendant of an old ranching family. When Jane
anybody to achieve anything."
went off to the first of several colleges, she vowed never
I said someone had told me that in spite of all the low-
to return to Kansas; she studied some religion but never
income families here there were a dozen countians worth
graduated, although she did earn her pilot's license. At a
more than a million dollars out of a population of only
tiny Nazarene college in Idaho she realized that the Flint
about 3,000, and she nodded and said, "But this is still a
Hills still held her, even after eight years, and a novel
great county for not taking risks and not having a good
gave her the final urging: "Evan challenged me to read
time. Before my parents moved away, they belonged to
Atlas Shrugged, so I did, and Dagny Taggart became my
the Over Forty Club, and all they did was have good
mentor. I thought if she could run a railroad and succeed
times. There's nothing like that around now. A lot of peo-
while playing by men's rules, I could operate some outfit.
ple don't know what they have, because they've always
She woke up in me the importance of ethics in business
lived here, and it's the only world they know, so it looks
and the dangers of compromise. So I came home to run
typical and ordinary. That's sad."
my railroad, which turned out to be a ranch, and I've
(Later she would say, "Last year a colt was born in the
been motivated-like Dagny-by anger at people saying
early morning, and I was there with it. That afternoon I
'You can't.''
was in New York on Broadway, buying a ticket for The
Evan Koger saw several reasons for not buying Chase
Search for Signs of Intelligent Life in the Universe, Lily Tom-
pastureland at more than the fifty dollars an acre he had
lin's one-woman show. I was standing in line with trash
last paid, years earlier, and he refused to help Jane buy
blowing around, bag ladies limping by, everything shoul-
back land once in her mother's family. She said to me, "I
der to shoulder, and I was thinking of that wet colt in
figured it was better to buy it and lose it than never to try.
Chase County, Kansas, and I felt I knew how different
Evan antagonized me to success. He'd say, 'Jane, you
this place is and what it's worth. I love New York, and
just can't do it-there are things you can't do.' But I
one of the reasons I love it is that it shows me what I have
knew that because we're not as strong as men, we don't
in this county.")
have to be as dumb, so instead of muscle we use a come-
To the end of helping city people explore the tallgrass
along to pull a calf from the uterus, or we get a front-end
country and understand where their Whoppers and ten-
loader to move a chute. Gears and ratchets and hydrau-
derloins come from, for several weeks each year Jane
lics are great equalizers. The upshot of all this was that
opens the Homestead to a few women; for sixty dollars a
with my sister Kay, I committed at twenty-five to a quar-
day, a visitor can eat and sleep in the old south ranch
ter-of-a-million-dollar debt to the Federal Land Bank.
house on Thurman Creek and loaf about the prairie, or
Evan gave me some seed stock. Later I bought out Kay's
she can join the crew and help work cattle, even down to
interest-she and her husband run a ranch up at Hymer.
castration. Jane said, "I like people, but I live where
After my grandmother died, I bought her home, this
there aren't many, and I want to share some of this prai-
house, and remodeled it a little, and now I've reassem-
rie-a few people at a time. But to get outsiders to see
bled a lot of family land. When I'd proved a few things-
the beauty, they have to slow down and stay for a while.
had succeeded almost in spite of Evan-then he contrib-
This place comes to you slowly-or maybe we come
uted some more land. I've taken a ranchers' short course
slowly to it. I want women to see the reality of my oper-
at Kansas State-my family calls it a short rancher's
ation, and if they're not afraid, they can watch a pregnan-
course-and I've attended a stockmen's school in Texas,
cy check or watch the electro-ejaculator go up the bull's
SEPTEMBER 1991
73
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
rectum, and they can help measure testicles to determine
I'm really interested in is my cows' digestion, and that's a
if he's fit to service my cows. People should understand
result of microorganisms in soil and water and stomachs.
at this basic level what has to happen to put a burger in
Basically, this is a bug ranch. Don't thank a rancher for
their mouths. The women who come in here are great-
your steak-thank bugs."
they ask all the questions you hope nobody will ever ask,
I leaned toward the floor and said, Thank you one and
like 'How do you make silage?' They don't mean how do
all, and she groaned and with her pink sneaker kicked
you cut and pack it-they want to know how carameliza-
my chair. She said, "Look: one day I'm going to write an
tion works. They want to know about chemical enhance-
essay called 'Maggots and Rattlesnakes,' and the idea
ments in my beef, and I tell them I use antibiotics only
will be that we're all in this together, even the things we
by injection-they're necessary to inoculate against
may not like. Maggots are an integral part of my world,
blackleg, pinkeye, and influenza, and I put antibiotics
where I have dead animals and disease. I need all kinds
into feed only during the three weeks' stress of weaning.
of decay-my business depends on it. My crop is really
Hormones I don't use at all. I tell these women they
grass, and cattle are just the means to harvest and pack-
should get on the cattle industry, because too much shit
age it."
goes into beef-not nearly as much, of course, as goes
I said that not everyone here saw things that way, and
into hogs. If it was feasible now, I'd raise only natural
especially the absentee landlords did not seem to act as
beef. I'd feel better about organic meat, but ranchers'
stewards, and Jane said, "The bad thing about absentee
traditions and consumers' unwillingness to pay a few
ownership is the system of payments where the manag-
cents more makes it difficult. When the Europeans an-
ing cowhand receives the check from the cattle owner
nounced they wouldn't buy American beef because of
and then pays the landlord. We need to reroute it so that
possible dangers to humans from animals laced up with
the cattle owner pays the landlord, who will inspect the
hormones, I cheered. I mean, when will we wake up?"
pastures to protect her investment, and then pay the
After we finished the meal and pushed our chairs from
cowhand. The way it is now, in the short term overgraz-
the table, she said, "There's no public access in the Flint
ing gives more dollars to managers and cattle owners."
Hills worth talking about, so my 'internships'-the real
I asked whether absentee owners didn't often treat
name is Prairie Women Adventures-help out, and I
their land like old-time bonds, where all the investor did
have some control over who explores my land. I think a
was clip a coupon and send it in, and she said, "It's hard
private response like this is better than the prairie park,
to care about what you don't see. A couple of years ago I
even if I can only take five or six people a week."
wanted to double absentee owners' taxes, which would
I said, You're an assault-rifle radical until the park
have included Evan, and the county treasurer said she'd
comes up, and then you turn into a shoot-that-clock reac-
go along if I could convince my father. Well, good-bye to
tionary, and she said again, "Inconsistency is just great.
that idea." Jane sat quietly for a while, and I picked up
You know that my grandmother was one of the leading
the plates, and she said, "If anyone anywhere should be
park opponents, but I've never been opposed to main-
environmentalists, all of us here should: if we lose the
taining grassland, although I am against overrunning the
land's productivity, we've lost our hope of living on
place. You've got two million acres in Yellowstone, and
here."
now they're moving out bears instead of Winnebagos-
Out along the near tracks the Santa Fe horned and die-
that's mismanagement I don't want to see happen here."
seled through Bazaar, its noisy regularity a kind of Big
She was warming up, and what she took to be my views
Ben to the hamlet. Jane said, "Ask one last question and
on issues may have altered her words somewhat. "I like
then go home," and I asked what was so special about the
Aldo Leopold's idea of stewardship: the recorder of
Flint Hills. Picking and handling her words carefully, as
deeds saying the land is mine doesn't really make it
if they were newborn, and taking her time, she said,
mine, but in this county I'd rather say I'm a feminist than
"These hills are so everlasting. I get bored with the work
an environmentalist. People tolerate me-they even ex-
sometimes but never the place. But you need an excuse
pect me to be a feminist, but being an environmentalist
to stay on, and ranching is one we all understand." And, a
is just not an acceptable mode of behavior, although one
moment later: "I've come to see that if I can sit still,
day ranchers and conservationists are going to be on the
things and people will come here. Even canners like
same side. Already we both agree that the place can't be
you." And she was quiet and then said, "Maybe that's the
opened to Winnebagos or tourist strips and then survive."
religion I left Kansas to find." There was a silence and
For the third time the phone rang, and for the second
then, when I thought it safe, I said, And then you clicked
time she said, "No, he's here," and when she sat again,
the heels of your ruby slippers three times, and she let fly
she said, "I've learned that I can't get the land to do what
a pink sneaker, and she said quietly, "Nevertheless."
I want it to do-mostly I have to follow what it wants to
After I was out the door and in the cool and dewed
do, so it's my responsibility to learn how the prairie lives.
night, a chuck-will's-widow calling from a wooded slope,
If the land wants fire, I give it a match. I'm a manager,
I noticed for the first time her Jeep license-plate letters:
that's all, and basically what I am is a bug manager. What
IMNXTC.
74
SEPTEMBER 1991
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
FIRST ENCOUNTERS
JOAN CRAWFORD AND BETTE DAVIS
A
FTER A YEAR IN Hollywood, playing teary-eyed in-
more private meetings. Davis is sure she can win
genues in dull movies, Bette Davis is ready to
the upper-class Phi Beta Kappa from the shallow movie
throw in the Kleenex and head back to Broadway.
queen. She is wrong. When shooting ends, Crawford
Her bags are packed when Warner Brothers surprises
and Tone marry. Davis's consolation is her first Oscar.
her with a contract and transforms her into a platinum
Cut to 1942. The war is on. Crawford will soon dis-
blonde. Film exhibitors take note, and in 1932 vote her a
band her fan club for the duration. Davis wonders if she
"Star of Tomorrow." At the awards banquet the diminu-
should continue acting. "But then I felt that's what
tive Davis steps up to the radio microphones and is
the enemy wanted-to destroy and paralyze America. So I
about to gush her thanks over the airwaves when loud
decided to keep on working." By 1945 she is the highest-
shrieks are heard, followed by the glittering entrance of
paid woman in America, but soon thereafter the tide
Joan Crawford and her husband, Douglas Fairbanks, Jr.
turns. Crawford, now at Warner's, wins an Oscar for Mil-
The radio crew and photographers zoom to the divine
dred Pierce and replaces Davis as the studio's big money-
couple, leaving Davis stranded, forgotten-and fuming.
maker.
Fade to 1935. Davis, too, is now a star. Crawford,
The years slip away but the grudges don't. In 1962
her marriage to Fairbanks and her affair with Clark Gable
both are fifty-four, washed up in Hollywood, and the sur-
both over, eyes her new leading man, Franchot
vivors of four marriages apiece when, in desperation,
Tone. Just as their romance heats up, Tone is sent over
they sign to co-star in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?
to Warner's to co-star in Dangerous with Davis. She's
Bette plays Joan's sister, who, jealous of her sibling's suc-
married, but falls for Tone anyway. She demands
cess, schemes to kill her. You could hardly call it a
that their scenes together be expanded, which entails
stretch.
-Edward Sorel
SEPTEMBER 1991
75
THE RESERVE CELLARS OF
Ernest &Julio Gallo
NorthCoast
CHARDONNAY
OF CALIFORNIA
& bottled BY ERNEST & JULIO GALLO, MODESTO, CALIFOR
OF on Mont
It's time for a change to Gallo.
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
A Short Story
Sole Custody
by Lynna Williams
NNA HAS DECIDED TO FLY TO CHICAGO TO
what she is going to do, she decides, and she works her
A
kidnap her ex-husband's new baby. She
head against the headrest, waiting for sleep to overtake
hasn't known what to pack for this trip-she
her. She has only a second to prepare herself for the im-
does not know how long she will be gone or
age rising before her. She and Katie are at the kitchen ta-
exactly where she will go when she has the
ble in the old house on Turtle Creek. It is the summer
child-and the garment bag she is dragging past the
before Katie got sick, so she was five, and she had come
boarding gate to the airplane is swollen with too many
home from day camp so excited about her discovery of
sweaters and shoes. When she leaves Dallas on business
dinosaurs that Anna had to hold her against the overpow-
for her law office, she is a no-nonsense "two dresses, one
ering joy of it.
jacket, two blouses, one skirt" packer who takes pleasure
"Slow down, Squeaky, I can't understand what you're
in weaving in and out between more heavily burdened
saying," Anna said when Katie was gathered in her lap.
travelers. On the plane Anna has to ask a young man
Katie looked at her, all eyes and mouth and impatience.
wearing a baseball jersey to help her lift the bag into the
"Mommy, I don't have time," she said, scrambling off
overhead compartment. She sits down feeling relieved
Anna's lap in a run. She came back into the kitchen
that the evidence she is not herself today has been safely
with scissors and glue and several colors of construction
hidden away. Before she fastens her seat belt, Anna
paper, and she and Anna made blue dinosaurs instead of
stands to look around the airplane. The flight isn't crowd-
dinner.
ed for a Friday morning, and she sees only three children,
Anna opens her eyes. She is not going to be able to
little boys in Sunday suits, the oldest about nine. They
sleep, and she uncovers her mouth, where one hand has
seem to be traveling alone; as she watches, the oldest
gone automatically at the thought of Katie feeding
reaches across the middle seat to wipe cracker crumbs
cheese to a grinning construction-paper dinosaur.
from around the mouth of the smallest boy. The sweet-
Two and a half years have passed since Katie's death.
ness of it reaches her from a dozen rows back, and she
Anna has different ways of measuring the time: two base-
looks away. She is glad
ball seasons, two birth-
she has seen the boys so
Since the death of her daughter, Anna
days, two rounds of fall
early in the trip,
though, because she has
searches the faces of children in public places,
school clothes in
Sanger's downtown win-
learned that the unex-
noting that they are individual
dow. At times Anna is
pected-what she does
and alive, not re-enactments of Katie
deliberate in remember-
not see coming-can
ing her daughter; she
pierce her heart.
shuts out the world with
Since her daughter, Katie, died, Anna has made a rou-
no other purpose than to recall whole some piece of her
tine of this searching out of the faces of children in public
past with Katie. At other times thoughts of her daughter
places. She looks directly at them, she registers that they
are like Muzak in Anna's mind: low-key and familiar, but
are individual and alive, and she feels protected in some
still capable of sudden melodic riffs, like the replay of
way from the unexpected shocks of recognition that once
Katie's voice calling from her bedroom, "Mommy? What
made it difficult for her to see any child without crying for
can we use for its eyes? I need you, Mommy!"
Katie.
Anna shakes her head to clear it, because the memo-
The plane is in the air now, and Anna settles back in
ries are too strong today, and she does not want to think
her seat. She has not slept more than a few hours since
about Katie here, does not want to be a grieving mother
this business with Jay started, four days ago, and she is
reliving the past in a jet somewhere over Oklahoma. She
tempted to let exhaustion take over for the two-hour
has other things to think about, and she sits up straight,
flight to O'Hare. She will have time later to think about
the way she does in court.
78
ILLUSTRATIONS BY JUDY PEDERSEN
SEPTEMBER 1991
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
IDNAPPING" IS THE WRONG WORD. ANNA
"I will tell you honestly that I had not been a man who
"K
has no plans to take the baby-his name
believed in God, and after my little girl died, there was
is Eli-across state lines. She wants to
nothing I believed in at all," Jay had written.
be clear about this: Jay is the one with
So I do not pretend to know the answers to this miracle
delusions, not she; only because he has
that has given me my daughter back again, in a little
fixed on Katie as their object is Anna on this plane.
boy who looks nothing like her, but bears the unmistak-
That she even saw the story Jay wrote for Chicago mag-
able imprint of her soul. I do not need those answers,
azine was an accident; it had arrived in Monday's office
because I have all that matters here with me, in the
mail from a lawyer friend in Evanston with a note written
child my wife, Ellen, and I have given safe passage
across the top: "I know you and Jay aren't in contact any-
back into this world.
more, but he told you about this, right?" The note said
The story wasn't long, only a page, and as Anna read it
more, but Anna had stopped reading, smiling at the
again, it shrank even more, until it was only that one
phrase "in contact." It
paragraph. She read the
had a raffish air she
lines over and over,
liked, as though she and
looking for any sugges-
Jay were two circling
tion that this was meta-
small planes whose pi-
phor, that Jay simply
lots had decided, on a
meant that Katie lived
whim, to switch their
on in Eli because any
radios off. But when she
new life is a rebirth. It
thought about it, it
wasn't there. He meant
seemed as good a way as
what he said: Katie had
any to describe all the
returned to him. Just
things that she and Jay
him. Then Anna read
weren't to each other
the words out loud, bear-
anymore. She put the
ing down harder on the
clipping away, but as
personal pronouns each
she worked her way
time. My daughter. My
slowly through a stack
little girl. Here with me.
of depositions, she be-
My wife, Ellen, and I.
gan to wonder what Jay
Then she went back to
was supposed to have
the beginning and start-
told her. Finally she
ed over, as though she
fished it out of the en-
might have overlooked
velope and sat back to
the mention of Katie's
read it. This is a joke, she
mother, the acknowledg-
thought, and then, just
ment that Katie had had
as quickly, she knew
a mother at all before
that it was not. "No,"
she died. Nothing.
she said, SO loudly that
When she was done,
her secretary, Mary-
when she had studied
anne, came around the
preasen
the twelve paragraphs
corner to ask what was
of text as carefully as
wrong. "Nothing. Shut
she would analyze a
the door," Anna said, and turned her head before she
brief, she walked down the hall and filled the bathroom
could see the look-"Now what's wrong?"-on Mary-
sink with cold water. Then she did what Katie had chris-
anne's face.
tened "face swimming," holding her hair back with one
"I knew a woman once the same thing happened to,"
hand and submerging her face up to the hairline in the
Anna said out loud, the words with which Maryanne
basin, feeling the cooling movement of the water all
greeted every atrocity that brought people into the of-
around her. As she did, she saw Katie standing on the
fices of Seddon and Hardwicke. Hearing herself speak
beach at Padre Island at high tide, the straps of her pink
that comfortable lie allowed her to pick up the story
bathing suit falling over her shoulders, clapping her hands
again and go on. It was about the birth of Eli, four
at the ocean's retreat. Anna let go of her hair and gripped
months earlier, and Jay's conviction, growing every day,
the basin, so tightly that the color slowly left her hands.
that this happy little boy was Katie, astonishingly alive in
After a long moment, when most of the wildness was
him.
gone from her face-when she could say to Maryanne,
SEPTEMBER 1991
79
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
"Sorry I yelled. It's just the Sanford plea bargain falling
went into the kitchen and made, and threw away, a tuna
apart again"-Anna went back into her office, where pic-
sandwich. She stood at the sink for a while, looking out
tures of Katie were hung low over the couch, and shut
the kitchen window the way she looked at juries when
the door. She lay down on the couch and for the first time
she didn't know what else she could say to them other
in years summoned what had once been familiar and
than to remind them that she was a nice woman with a
dear, not about Katie but about Jay-before Katie got
hard job. Usually when she was that low, some other
sick, before everything changed. That Jay had had al-
idea-something else she could do-came to her fairly
most no spite, and even less sense of property: he forgave
quickly, and that happened now. She went back into the
everyone everything, and he let go of whatever was his
living room and called the magazine, saying she was an
that might be needed elsewhere, secrets as casually as
old friend coming to town soon and that she needed to
sweaters or bites of ballpark hot dogs. Anna looked at the
reach Jay. The girl on the phone-Anna imagined her as
clipping in her hand. Who was Jay now? She had no idea;
a recent college graduate who wrote narrative verse and
she simply had no reference points that were of any use
fantasized about Jay when she was home alone eating
to her, nothing in the past that could explain this-that
Stouffer's-didn't know where Jay was; he wrote for
Jay had become a man capable of claiming custody of
them freelance and didn't check in every week. But she
their only child, living and dead.
did tell Anna that Jay was scheduled to tape the Chicago
She sat up and pulled the Rolodex from the sofa table
Morning television show that Saturday. He would not be
into her lap. Flipping to W, she found the listing for Jay
talking about Eli; his topic was something else he had
Whitmore and the number he had given her during the
written for the magazine, she said-the drug wars on the
sale of the house. Punching down hard on each number,
South Side, maybe? Anna said that sounded right,
Anna felt stronger already, as though she were really do-
thanked her, and then, just before she hung up, asked
ing something now and would make sense of all this
another question.
soon. No one answered. Anna let the phone ring until the
"Oh," the girl said. "I'm sure you'll get to meet Ellen
answering machine picked up, and a woman's voice said,
and the baby if you're at the taping. They're always with
"Hi. This is 457-9807. Leave your name and number and
Jay."
we'll call you soon. Hope it's a good day for you." At the
When she hung up, Anna sat for a long time telling
beep Anna said, "Jay, call me," and, after hesitating a
herself all the reasons why she had to stop here, put all
moment, added, "It's Anna," and her home and work
this behind her, and go on, as difficult as that would be.
numbers.
Then she made three more phone calls. The first was to
Over the next two days Anna dialed the number every
Jay, where, again, no one answered; the second was to
hour and then, when she felt she might choke with all
her office, to arrange for a long weekend; and the third
that was going unsaid, every half hour. The only answer
was to the airline.
she got was the tape wishing her a good day. "Jay. It's
Anna. Call," she said every time, wondering if he would
be able to hear in her voice what she saw in her mirror: a
HE PLANE BEGINS ITS DESCENT INTO O'HARE,
woman whose anger made her hands shake, who could
and Anna tells herself again that she is doing
not sleep or keep food down, a woman whose memories
the right thing. She has had no choice but to
of her child had been violated by a man she had loved.
T
make the trip and see the truth for herself.
"Grave-robbing," Anna called it on the morning of the
She is sure she knows what the truth is:
third day, and let the tears come.
that the baby might have Jay's eyes, as Katie did, or the
When Jay had not called back by Tuesday night, Anna
same long fingers, or her delight in anything musical,
started calling everyone she knew who might know
but he will have nothing more, because nothing more is
where he was. The list was not long. Anna had been to
possible.
Chicago several times on business, but only once with
Her plans for tomorrow morning are unclear; she is
Jay and Katie; Jay had moved there after the separation
sure only that she wants to get close to Eli long enough to
and divorce; Anna had never met his new wife and did
hold him in her arms. She has no criminal intent, she re-
not know who-or what-their friends were. She con-
minds herself; she is only going to see and touch Jay's
centrated instead on calling the few friends from their
son, nothing more. She is certain she will need only that
years together with whom Jay might still be in touch. In
much to write an end to this appalling postscript to Ka-
five hours on the telephone Anna gathered four invita-
tie's death and Jay's continuing disintegration; with it
tions to dinner, a job offer in Denver, and the offer of a
done, she will tell Jay exactly what she thinks of his ap-
date to the symphony with Jay's old city editor at The Dal-
propriation of Katie for his new life, hand him his son,
las Morning News.
and go home to Dallas.
When she hung up from the last call, not knowing
The other possibility-that, holding Eli in her arms,
much more than she had when she started, except that
she will see what Jay sees, believe what he believes-
Ellen was apparently a schoolteacher and a blonde, Anna
Anna does not consider at all.
80
SEPTEMBER 1991
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
N THE TERMINAL ANNA WALKS, AS FAST AS HER
spise Jay-as many reasons as she once had to love
I
garment bag will allow, past the people happily
him-this return of uncertainty about what is possible
reassembling themselves into families. She is a
and what is not possible is what Anna is now holding
hundred yards down the concourse when, to
against him most.
prove that she can, she looks back to see the
Anna's vision happened the day after Katie's admission
three little boys from the plane run into the arms of a
to the hospital, before the lymphoma was diagnosed, a
woman about her age. Anna hears the woman calling
fall afternoon when all the radios in the children's ward
their names, "Hal! Ken! Sam!" and she starts walking
were turned to game five of the World Series. Anna was
again, faster this time, because she has not been pre-
coming back from the library with an armful of the "big
pared for the sound of a mother's voice after a long sepa-
girl" books that Katie took such pleasure in pretending
ration. She reaches the terminal doors just in time; when
she could read.
tears fill her eyes, it could be just the bright sunlight re-
The door to the room was half open; when Anna shift-
flecting off the long line of Yellow Cabs. "Damn," Anna
ed the books in her arms and used her elbows to push
says, because the Yellow Cabs are orange. The summer
against it, she saw Katie asleep on her back, her right
Katie was four, and Jay was writing a series about trans-
arm, the one with the IV needle in it, crooked over her
portation in the year 2000, the three of them took cabs all
heart. Anna started to back away-Katie had never be-
over the United States on their way to trains and buses
fore been able to sleep on her own, without her mother or
and airplanes. Katie loved the fact that all of them sat in
father in the room-but as she did, she looked at the bed
the back seat together, but she never did get over her dis-
again, and this time Katie was dead. She could think of
appointment that Yellow Cabs were usually some other
no other way to say it: Anna looked at her daughter and
color. Anna had forgotten that, and when she is directed
knew that the dripping IV was the cruelest kind of lie and
to a blue Town Taxi, something in her face makes the
that Katie was gone. In that instant-when Anna
cabdriver especially respectful of her bag. On the Loop,
reached for the wall and understood that no support in
headed for The Palmer House, Anna takes out a compact
the world was strong enough for the weight she would al-
and dabs at her eyes until the cabdriver looks less con-
ways carry now-a smiling nurse pushed past to wake
cerned. Then she sits back in her seat and shakes her
Katie for her medication, and Anna had her daughter
head, because she does not believe she has been crying
back again.
over a fleet of misnamed cabs.
All right, she thinks. What if Jay is telling the truth?
"Stop it," Anna says then, and the cabdriver looks con-
HINKING ABOUT THAT DAY IN THE HOSPITAL,
cerned again and asks if she's changed her mind about
The Palmer House. "No," Anna says. "No, I haven't."
He looks at her and away, as if to say, "Whatever,
T
Anna walks around her hotel room turning on
every light, first the wall switches that con-
trol the lighting over the bed and by the win-
lady," and she laughs. After a moment they are both
dow, then the heat lamp in the bathroom,
laughing, and for the rest of the ride she loses herself in a
and then the lamps by the bed. She needs this light to
conversation about the sixties.
see what she is doing. She is deliberately breaking the
At The Palmer House, Anna tips the driver five dollars
rules she set for herself after Katie died, rules she be-
and goes inside feeling better than she has since she
lieves have made it possible for her to wake up in the
opened her mail on Monday. I'll see the baby and I'll go
morning, go downtown to practice law, and come home
home, she thinks, and the knowledge that she can do just
again at night, all without breaking apart. The rules say
that-she can end it there-goes with her upstairs to her
she can remember anything about Katie as long as she
room. But a few minutes later, unpacking, seeing the in-
omits the six months after the first hospital admission,
decision she felt in Dallas take shape on the bed in the
the six months when Katie was dying.
growing pile of clothes, Anna feels her optimism leave
But she cannot deal with tomorrow, she cannot make
her all at once, and she sits down. What am I doing here?
sense of any of this, if she does not think about just that
she thinks, and then closes her eyes, the way Katie did
time-or, more particularly, Jay and Katie in that time.
when she begged for a scary story and then didn't want to
So, shaking a little, because she knows that if she starts
see what might be waiting for her down the hallway. But
this, she will have to finish it somehow, Anna reaches for
Anna doesn't have to conjure up some anonymous bogey-
the phone and dials Jay's number again. When she hears
man. She knows exactly what is scaring her; she has al-
only the ringing that makes her think of Katie chasing
ready said the words to herself, in the cab.
crickets on Turtle Creek, she puts the phone down and
The truth is that when Katie was first sick, Anna saw
walks out of her hotel room.
the future and knew that her daughter was not just ill but
On the street Anna waits until another Town Taxi stops
dying. That being the case, how can she be sure Jay's de-
for her. She gives the driver Jay's address in Oak Park,
lusion is only that and nothing more? The answer is that
and in twenty minutes the cab is in front of a red-brick
she cannot be sure, and of all the reasons she has to de-
bungalow. The cabdriver tells Anna where she can catch
SEPTEMBER 1991
81
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
a bus back to town when she is through, and drives away,
alteration as to bring all natural laws into question. She
leaving her alone.
looked tired, nothing more than that, and she understood
It is early evening by now, time for people to be com-
suddenly that she had entered some new land, where ev-
ing home from work, but the street is quiet. Anna has a
erything looked the same and Katie was dying. The cru-
sudden image of herself standing on the sidewalk in front
elty of it caught her just below the breastbone, and be-
of Jay's house, and she straightens her suit coat and be-
fore she could stop it, a sound came out of her that she
gins to walk down the driveway to the front porch. The
had never heard before. She backed away from the sink,
door is painted bright green-the door knocker is a brass
from that sound, into a stall, and sat down, taking in
frog with its legs dangling free-and Anna feels better
mouthfuls of air against the panic rising in her, concen-
suddenly, as if this violation of taste were the final proof
trating only on letting air out, evenly, slowly, until she
that Jay is some other person now. She pounds the frog
was sure that she was not going to scream. Then, because
on the door, a little harder than necessary; when no one
she could do nothing else, she got up and walked out of
comes to the door, she walks across the porch to the bay
the lounge toward Katie's room.
window. The drapes are white gauze-much too thin,
She was there in five minutes, sitting by the bed, tell-
Anna thinks-and she has no difficulty seeing into the
ing Katie about a princess with an irritable dolphin for a
living room. She recognizes a few pieces of furniture-a
governess. The story was familiar-if she paused too
love seat re-covered in rose, an oak refectory table-but
long, Katie finished the sentence and went on without
the dominant decor is classic "couple with four-month-
her-but Anna had become a different woman, with the
old baby." Blankets and stuffed animals are strewn every-
singleness of purpose she imagined priests had. Katie
where; a huge teddy bear is strapped into a windup swing
was to be her only focus now, since Katie was the only
that Eli is still too young to use. Turning her head, Anna
map of any use in both the old world and the new.
sees pictures arranged in two rows on the far wall. She
Several times that afternoon Anna thought about tell-
leans into the window and squints, trying to make the
ing Jay what she had seen-what she now believed was
shapes and colors come into focus. She is scanning the
Katie's future-but when he came into the room carrying
top row for the second time, unable to make out either
Katie's bears, she looked at him and did not speak. The
Jay or a baby, when her eyes shift to the pictures arranged
three of them were in this new land together now-the
below. In only a second Anna realizes that every picture
land made real by her vision, the land where five-year-
there is a picture of Katie.
olds could die-and Anna could not say what the rules
Anna takes a step back from the window and comes
were anymore. She could not be sure, but she thought
down hard on a squeaky toy shaped like an airplane. She
that in this peculiar universe saying out loud the words
bends over, takes the toy into her hands, cradling it
"Jay, Katie is going to die" might make it happen. So
against the cry it makes when touched, and sits down on
she kept silent, and in that silence, Anna would come
the porch steps. She is still carrying it when she walks
to believe later, two things happened: Her marriage to
away from the house.
Jay ended. And she became a believer in impossible
The bus lets her off three blocks from the hotel; back
things, because if Katie could die, what of impossibility
in her room she lays the airplane toy on the table in front
was left?
of her. She thinks about Jay building a shrine to Katie, on
Two days after Anna's vision the doctors invited her
his wall and in his little boy, and she pulls the toy to her.
and Jay into a conference room and, using color transpar-
Katie, she thinks. Jay.
encies for emphasis, told them that while great strides
were being made every day, Katie's cancer was incurable.
She might live a year, they said, she might not live three
FTER ANNA'S VISION, IN THE TIME THE NURSE
months; everything would be done for her, but nothing
A
needed to get to Katie's bed by the window,
short of a miracle would save her life. Anna could hear
Anna's world shrank to one resolve-"I will
the voices-Jay's, rising in disbelief and then rage, the
not scream." After a moment she was able to
doctors', sympathetic but firm-but she had stopped lis-
say, in a voice that sounded only a little out of
tening. She already knew that Katie was going to die, and
breath, "I'm going to get some coffee while you're with
when Jay stopped talking and began to cry, she felt a faint
her; I'll be right back." She walked out of the room and
impatience. The feeling was replaced by shame as he
down the hallway slowly, because she felt as if any sud-
reached for her and she accepted his embrace, when all
den movement might bring back the vision of Katie mo-
she wanted to do was get away from the conference table,
tionless in her bed. In the women's bathroom she went
where the slides documenting the probable progression
into a stall and waited until the two nurses talking at the
of Katie's disease were spread out like a poker hand. The
sinks had gone. Then she took their place at the mirror,
doctors said again how sorry they were and left; Anna and
leaning forward to see if her face had changed in any way
Jay stayed on at the table. Jay was still crying, softly, the
that would reveal to Katie and Jay what she knew to be
way Katie did when she was pushed off a ride at the play-
true-that the world had undergone so fundamental an
ground and thought she'd never get back on. "Anna," Jay
82
SEPTEMBER 1991
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THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
said then, and she thought he was going to tell her they
and heavier twin to their dying child. Still, at times Anna
would get through this together, for Katie's sake. "Anna,
looked at Jay and wanted her old life back, wanted him
Katie's not going to die. I know she isn't," Jay said. He
back-wanted it SO badly that she could not catch her
was saying it again when Anna slipped her hands out of
breath. Once, she saw Jay watching her and knew that he
his and left the room.
was thinking about her too. Anna loved him then, but in
the next moment they both looked at Katie, impossibly
small in the white hospital bed, and they let each other
NNA AND JAY BOTH TOOK INDEFINITE LEAVES
go. They had other priorities; for the six months Katie
A
of absence from their jobs, Anna as a public
took to die, every act of Anna's was in service to her
defender and Jay as a political reporter for The
memory.
Dallas Morning News, and made a second
I will never forget this, Anna thought every time she
home in Katie's corner room at Children's.
rubbed Katie's back or felt her heart beat when she bent
Looking back, Anna
to kiss her good-night or
marveled at the ease
sat up playing Go Fish
with which she and Jay
with her or held her
separated to take up dif-
against the pain that
ferent orbits around Ka-
came with daybreak.
tie. When they were not
This is what I will have
tending to her in some
when Katie is gone.
way, both did the other
A hundred times after
things that, incredibly,
Katie was gone, Anna
still had to be done.
thought that the differ-
They ate and made
ent ways she and Jay
telephone calls; they
were with each other in
talked about anything
those last months had to
that did not matter;
do with Anna's vision in
they took turns staying
the hospital-with the
with Katie while the
certain knowledge she
other went on short
had, and Jay did not,
walks around the hospi-
that Katie would die.
tal; sometimes they
Anna shamelessly
slept or drove home to
hedged her bets: she
do laundry at a house
bargained endlessly for
that now seemed like a
Katie's life with a God
museum of the life they
she had not talked to
had had together when
since eighth grade, but
Katie was well. Anna
every time she touched
knew that she-the
Katie or said her name,
Anna she had been out-
she was saying good-
side Katie's room that
bye. Jay continued to
day-seemed not to ex-
make no bets at all: he
ist anymore, and cer-
simply never saw Ka-
tainly the Jay and Anna
tie's death as a possibil-
they had been together
ity. As Anna watched,
were gone, replaced by these people who smiled and
he raised denial to greater heights each day, until, at the
played and cried with Katie, but were silent and distract-
funeral, he looked sick not SO much with grief as with
ed with each other.
some awful surprise. When Jay held Katie or kissed her,
Some part of Anna knew that she and Jay should be
he was not saying, as Anna did, "I will not forget this."
talking more, knew that there must be some comfort
He was saying, "I can throw this moment away. We will
they could give each other, but she could think of no
have years of other moments."
route she could take to Jay that would not bring her
When it was much too late, on the day when Katie
face to face with his conviction that Katie was going to
went into a coma from which she did not wake, Anna
live. As much as she wanted to believe that, she did
looked up and saw, really saw, Jay. He was leaning over
not-and the fact that Jay never wavered, even as Ka-
Katie's bed, his left hand stretched out around the tubes
tie got sicker every day, created a distance between
and oxygen mask to stroke her hair back from her fore-
them that grew until it was itself fully formed, a longer
head. "Come on, Squeaky," he was saying. "It's a beauti-
84
SEPTEMBER 1991
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
ful day, and Daddy's here. Open your eyes, Squeaker.
HE CLOCK BY ANNA'S BED READS FIVE AFTER
Let Daddy see you."
over and over, but Anna could not listen. She went out
T
midnight when she has remembered every-
Jay never stopped talking as he smoothed Katie's hair
thing, and she stands up to turn off the
lights. She is still thinking about the day Jay
into the hall and leaned against the wall, closing her
left the house, about the way Jay blamed her
eyes against the image of Jay still alive to hope when no
for what he saw as her easier acceptance of Katie's death.
hope remained. And for the first time Anna realized what
If she sees him tomorrow, she thinks, she will say what
it would mean to Jay, after Katie was dead, that he had
she never said in the months after Katie's funeral: "Chil-
never said good-bye. She felt dazed, as though she had
dren aren't like Tinkerbell, Jay; wishing doesn't make
come out of the dark into sunlight so bright she could
them live." Not if, she thinks, when. She will see Jay to-
barely look into it. "Jay," she said, and felt a tug of recog-
morrow, Jay and Eli, and she will see for herself what is
nition that propelled her back into Katie's room. She
true and what is not. She stops by the table and dials Jay's
walked toward Jay, still at Katie's bed; she could not save
number again; he answers on the third ring. "Hello," he
Katie, she knew that, but she could save Jay. She could
says. "Hello. Who is this?" Anna has not heard his voice
make him save himself. "Jay," she said, but he did not
in more than a year, and she stands for a moment listen-
turn to look at her, and he shook off the hand she reached
ing before she puts the receiver down. She will talk to Jay
out to him. "I'm talking to Katie now, Anna," he said.
tomorrow.
And then, without pausing, "Where were we, baby? Oh,
In bed Anna lies with the curtains open wide enough
well, when I was little, everybody in Oak Cliff rode
to see the lights of the Sears Tower. She has never run a
horses on Saturday morning, and my horse was the best.
marathon, but she imagines that this is how racers feel
You'll have a horse when you're bigger; not next year,
coming over the top of a hill toward the finish line. She
next year you'll still be too small, but the year after that,
wants to get a glass of water, but stays where she is, too
for sure."
tired to move; she is drained, but she feels good, too.
"Jay," Anna said again, and when he did not respond,
She has remembered Katie and Jay, and she has not fall-
she went back into the hall and wept for them all. She
en apart. And she knows what she is going to do next.
knew then that she was going to lose them both, but she
Waiting for sleep, Anna sees for the first time how zeal-
did what she had to do: she sat by Katie's bed, listening
ously she has regulated her memories of Katie in the
to the eek! eek! the portable life-support system made as it
years since her death: shaping their content, guarding
took each breath for Katie; she tried again to talk to Jay.
against unwanted appearances by other characters like
But in the end she stopped trying, because she did not
Jay or the doctors with the color slides, even selecting the
have any energy to spare for anything but the task of
times when it is "appropriate" to remember. How sad,
gathering her memories. If that was the only way she
Anna thinks, and is surprised at the choice of words,
could keep Katie with her, she must have them all. By
since she has only been protecting herself against more
then Anna knew that memories were the only thing she
pain.
would be able to salvage.
Some choices, though, have not been Anna's to make:
She was right about that, too. Four months after Katie's
some things she believed she would never forget she has
death she and Jay separated, and six months after that
forgotten. Katie would be eight this year-she would be
the divorce was final. Anna signed the papers dated Sep-
wearing her hair in a braid and taking piano-but Anna
tember 8, 1986, but she knew that other dates mattered
can no longer get an exact picture of Katie's face when
more: the day Katie came in from the back yard com-
she closes her eyes. She can remember so much-colors,
plaining that her stomach hurt; the day Anna decided not
physical sensations, smells, sounds: Katie's skin, like a
to share her vision with Jay; the day Anna stopped trying
baby seal's, wet and taut, when she was laid on Anna's
to make Jay face the truth and say good-bye to his child;
belly after her birth; her laugh; her hair after a bath; the
and, finally, the day Katie died. When his daughter was
unholy joy in her eyes the day she discovered the "mu-
gone, when Jay was made to see that all his hope and bra-
sic" toilets make when flushed; tears standing on her
vado had brought him nothing, he blamed Anna. "You
eyelashes. But Anna cannot make her child's face come
knew she was going to die," he screamed at her before he
into focus. The image is unmistakably Katie, but it is in-
left, and Anna closed her eyes and saw Katie clearly,
distinct, soft, without edges or depth. Anna is almost
wearing a red pompon hat and curling her tongue at a
asleep now-she can feel herself being pulled down into
nurse holding a tray of medicines. Her mind full of Katie,
darkness-but she is still thinking about Katie's face and
she did not have to hear Jay shouting at her or the front
that she must look at pictures now to see it exactly. For an
door slam or the car pull out of the driveway. Most of all
instant a panicky thought pushes sleep away: Will I know
she did not have to hear the indictment behind the
when I hold Eh? Will I know if it's Katie? Anna digs her body
words: You believed in her death, and Katie died. What
farther into the sheets, taking deep breaths to quiet her-
would have happened if both of us had believed in her
self. I'll know, she thinks, and carries that with her into
life?
the night.
SEPTEMBER 1991
85
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
NNA WAKES TO ANOTHER TRUTH, A TRUTH
caught making up stories. What is she going to do here?
A
that is with her until she fumbles for the light
She has put her energy into the revision of her personal
and makes it shrink back in the darkness: Anna
history; when she has thought of this place at all, she has
loved Katie-oh, God, SO much-and Katie
imagined Jay and Ellen and Eli in plain sight, waiting for
loved her. But Katie was Jay's too. Anna sits up
her. Now she's here, and they are nowhere to be seen.
in bed and pulls her knees to her chest, wanting to feel
"I loved my daughter," Anna says aloud, and feels
any kind of human warmth. She takes a deep breath and
something give inside her, because this is true. She
lets it go, letting the truth escape with it into the hotel
knows it is. People are looking at her now, but she does
room: Katie loved Jay best. It started when Anna was still
what she does in court: she picks one face, a woman
pregnant, when Jay decided the baby was a girl and
about her own age wearing a TAKE BACK THE NIGHT!
named her Katie Patricia, after both of her grandmothers.
T-shirt, and she talks directly to her. "She died, and I
When Katie was born, Jay behaved as though they had al-
tried to keep her with me anyway. I didn't want to share
ways known each other, and from the beginning Katie
her with anyone. But she's gone. Katie's gone." People
seemed to believe it too. Anna tightens her grip on her
are moving away from her, wondering in low voices what
knees, because none of these memories are safe.
to do, but the woman Anna is speaking to does not back
Her moments with Katie were different. In her memo-
away. She takes Anna's hands and holds them in hers,
ries, loving experiments with action and sound and dia-
tightly, the way Katie held the "fairies" they captured on
logue, she and Katie made the construction-paper dino-
summer nights on the front lawn. Anna is crying now, be-
saurs. Anna can see it clearly: Katie hunched over the
cause she remembers that. On hot nights after dinner,
kitchen table with a blue crayon, coloring in the eyes,
she and Katie took their iced tea to the front porch and
saying, "How do I make eyelashes, Mommy? And can we
Anna made up stories about fairies who lived in the trees
make them SO they'll fly?"
and only came down for the best little girls. "Make one
Anna's memories are lies and not lies, and now, sitting
come, Mommy," Katie would say, and then Anna would
up in the Palmer House double bed, she acknowledges
clap her hands and push them gently on top of Katie's
that. She has done what she had to do: she has taken Jay's
fists. "There's one," Anna said every time, and every
memories of Katie as hers. After the funeral, when she
time Katie echoed, "There's one."
and Jay went back to the house, where there was no
Anna is crying harder now, because how could she not
air, or no air that Anna could breathe without gasping,
have remembered that? The woman holding her hands
she realized that in almost every memory of Katie she
begins to walk backward, slowly, pulling Anna along to-
had stored so carefully, her daughter was dying. She
ward a bench beside the elevator.
screamed at Jay, "Help me; I can't see Katie's face," and
"Do you have a little girl?" Anna says, and the woman
he looked at her for a long time before he helped her into
nods yes, her eyes filling with tears. "I'm glad," Anna
bed. "She loved me," she said into Jay's face when he
says. "Thank you for helping me. I'm all right now. I just
bent to cover her with a quilt. "Of course she did," was
remembered something, is all."
all he said. That night he moved into the guest bedroom,
She pulls her hands free, and takes the tissues the
and Anna could not bring herself to go to him. After a
woman is offering. She blows her nose, a horrible wet
while she no longer wanted to. She had her memories.
sound that makes her laugh, and she thinks about Jay and
Ellen and Eli. Behind her, in the studio, the taping has
begun, and she can hear Jay's voice laying down the law
N THE MORNING ANNA ORDERS ROOM-SERVICE
about murder in the streets. She says thank you again to
I
orange juice and eggs, and sits reading the Chica-
the woman who helped her, walks to the studio door, and
go Tribune until it's time to leave for the network
looks through the square of glass. The stage and the seats
affiliate where the show is being taped. She walks
are at a right angle from where she is standing; she can
out of the hotel onto Michigan Avenue and turns
see Jay and, in the front row, the top half of a woman in a
left, toward Water Tower Place. She knows where she is
jogging suit, holding a baby in her arms. But Anna does
going and she walks quickly, shivering a little against the
not go into the studio; she turns around and walks to the
North Shore wind. At the television station she stands in
elevator and then into the street. Somewhere near here is
line with other men and women waiting to go upstairs to
the park where she taught Katie to play hopscotch, the
the taping. Twice she hears Jay's name and turns around,
August day the two of them went for a walk together,
but it's only a neighborhood activist talking about his in-
leaving Jay to ride cabs around the city by himself. At the
terview with a fourteen-year-old crack dealer. When the
first stoplight on Michigan Avenue, Anna hesitates for a
elevator comes, Anna is the first on; on the sixteenth
moment, because she is not sure if the park is uptown
floor she gets off last and lags behind in the corridor as the
from the art museum or downtown. She is not worried,
ushers show the audience members to their seats. Sud-
though; she crosses with the light and moves quickly
denly Anna feels ridiculous, not like a lawyer or even a
through the mid-morning crowd on the sidewalk, know-
wronged woman but simply like a person who gets
ing that with time she will remember everything.
86
SEPTEMBER 1991
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
Hundreds of stone slabs crowded with carved hieroglyphs have much to tell us
about one of the ancient world's most accomplished and mysterious civilizations. A group of
brilliant young epigraphers, most of them from the United States, are deciphering those hieroglyphs at
a pace unimagined only thirty years ago, and important new discoveries seem imminent
THE DECIPHERMENT OF
ANCIENT MAYA
BY DAVID ROBERTS
Limestone panel from the eighth century A.D. depicting a ballgame. The ballplayer on the right has been defeated; the fate that awaits
him is death. The glyph in the caption above the ball suggests that one of the players has a royal title
OR ROUGHLY 650 YEARS, FROM A.D. 250 TO 900,
tions, and carved scores of vivid sculptures of gods out of
F
Maya Indians, living in what is today southern
green volcanic tuff. During the 650 years of greatest vital-
Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, and western Hon-
ity, now called the Classic Period, the Maya built some 200
duras and El Salvador, created the greatest civil-
cities. At Palenque they executed a labyrinthine palace
ization ever to flourish in the pre-Columbian Western
complex festooned with eloquent stuccos; at Bonampak
Hemisphere.
they created the finest ancient mural paintings in the
Out of the tangled jungle, among the ceiba and ma-
New World; at Quiriguá they built a stone monument
hogany trees, sprang Tikal, with its 3,000 structures, ten
thirty-five feet high, covered with bas-relief portraits and
reservoirs, and six temple-pyramids, including the tallest
intricate hieroglyphs. Their small-scale art was rich and
ancient structure (229 feet) ever found in the Americas.
various: jade masks, carved wooden lintels, bones en-
At Copán-"a valley of romance and wonder," according
graved with delicate vignettes, painted chocolate cups,
to the explorer who rediscovered it in the nineteenth
ceramic figurines, bowls and pots of stunning design. And
century-the Maya built an exquisite ball court and a
in creating a true writing system, the Maya accomplished
staircase of sixty-three broad steps covered with inscrip-
something not achieved by either of the other two pre-
SEPTEMBER 1991
87
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
eminent New World cultures, the Aztec and the Inca.
The Egypt Analogy
Abruptly and mysteriously, at the end of the ninth cen-
tury the great Mayan civilization collapsed. When the
LATE AS 1960 ONLY A FEW MAYAN GLYPHS HAD
Spaniards came, 700 years later, the Maya were still
linked, intellectually and spiritually, to the Classic Peri-
A
been deciphered. In the years since then, how-
ever, the decoding of Mayan writing has finally
od. But the conquistadors were more interested in gold
begun in earnest. During the past decade the
and conversions to Christianity than in ancient cities.
enterprise has gathered momentum, and in the past two
The devastations of war, slavery, and disease killed 90
or three years some of the most important decipherment
percent of the Maya. In the wake of this genocide most
yet accomplished has taken place, thanks to the work of a
surviving links to the Classic Period were severed.
handful of young epigraphers, most of them from the
The rediscovery of this vanished ancient culture dates
United States. Their toil is so frenetic that they have al-
from the daring explorations of an American lawyer
most no time to publish. In a zealously collaborative mis-
named John Lloyd Stephens and an
sion they trade discoveries by way of
English artist named Frederick Cath-
A FEW SECRETS OF THE LAN-
late-night phone calls, letters dashed
erwood, who prowled through Central
off on airplanes, hallway bull sessions
American jungles from 1839 to 1842.
GUAGE WERE SOLVED EARLY,
at professional conferences.
Catherwood's skillful engravings
An obvious analogy is the reapprais-
SUCH AS THE MAYAN NUM-
showed scores of upright stone slabs,
al of ancient Egypt. Napoleon's short-
or stelae, whose surfaces were crowd-
BER SYSTEM, THE WORKINGS
lived conquest of the Nile Delta, in
ed with columns of strange but sug-
1798, spawned a popular interest in
gestive symbols. Stephens's books
OF THE CULTURE'S DAZ-
Egyptology. Ignored for centuries,
about his explorations with Cather-
one of the most magnificent civiliza-
wood became best sellers, and curios-
ZLINGLY PRECISE CALENDAR,
tions of antiquity began to emerge
ity about this lost Mayan glory seized
AND THE GLYPHS FOR CER-
from the shadows. The pyramids and
the public imagination.
the Sphinx became the universally fa-
The survival of the carved hiero-
TAIN GODS AND ANIMALS.
miliar icons they are today. Among the
glyphs, on hundreds of stelae molder-
booty hauled away from ancient sites
ing in the jungle, promised a rich un-
BUT FOR HALF A CENTURY
were the twin obelisks called Cleopa-
derstanding of the ancient city-
AFTER 1900, WORK ON THE
tra's Needles (one ended up in Lon-
builders. Musing on Copán, Stephens
don, the other in New York), a pink
wrote, "One thing I believe, that its
DECIPHERMENT OF MAYAN
obelisk from Thebes that stands today
history is graven on its monuments.
in Paris's Place de la Concorde, and a
Who shall read them?" Scholars
GLYPHS REMAINED VIRTU-
curious stone of black fine-grained ba-
soon struggled to decipher the arcane
ALLY STALLED.
salt, carved with writing in three lan-
writing system, but a century's toil
guages, found at Rosetta, east of Alex-
produced almost nothing in the way of
andria.
useful translation. A leading German
VAL
Since the Renaissance, antiquaries,
expert, Paul Schellhas, predicted
travelers, and scientists had puzzled
gloomily that the Mayan glyphs would
over the colossal ruins strewn across
never be deciphered.
Copán
sky
his child
the sands of the lower Nile. Yet by
Meanwhile, the leading archaeolo-
1820 little more was known about the
gists wove a supposedly comprehen-
Egypt of the pharaohs than what had
sive explanation of Classic Mayan civilization. Finding al-
come down as hearsay in fragmentary Greek and Roman
most no evidence of defensive structures among the ruins
sources. The key to the hieroglyphic script of the ancient
of the great cities, these scholars concluded that the Maya
Egyptians had been lost around A.D. 400.
were a peaceful, philosophical culture. Sylvanus Morley,
In this scholarly desert farfetched deductions by sa-
an American expert who died in 1948, deduced that the
vants took root. The pyramids, they concluded, were ei-
Old Empire spread outward from such sites as Tikal and
ther observatories or a stone allegory wrought by a Chris-
Copán during Classic times; after the collapse the Maya
tian God. China had once been a colony of Egypt.
moved north and established a New Empire in Chichén
Nothing of the true history or religion of the ancient
Itzá and other sites in the Yucatán. J. Eric Thompson, an
Egyptians, none of the names of their kings or details of
English archaeologist, doubted that the great ruins were
their wars, was known.
cities; calling them "ceremonial centers," he postulated
Then, in 1822, an out-of-work history teacher named
that they had been largely vacant, reserved for priests
Jean-François Champollion made one of the great intel-
who were devoted to the worship of time.
lectual breakthroughs of the century. Ruminating over
These theories, we now know, were dead wrong.
the Rosetta Stone-which he suspected displayed paral-
88
SEPTEMBER 1991
IF WE ALL AGED
HALF AS WELL,
THE WORLD WOULD BE
A MUCH MORE
CIVILIZED PLACE.
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THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
lel texts in Greek characters, Egyptian hieroglyphics,
the only known instance of the glyph." He stared at the
and Demotic, a cursive version of Egyptian-the young
anthropomorphic carving and muttered, half to himself,
Frenchman stumbled on the key to decipherment.
"I know it's a verb." Why? "Because it comes right after
His crucial insight was that the hieroglyphs were not
the date, and right before a name."
pure logographs (symbols each of which stands for a dif-
The place is called Dos Pilas. Stuart is part of a multi-
ferent word) but were in large part phonetic (symbols
disciplinary Vanderbilt team headed by Professor Arthur
standing for syllables, which could be combined to form
Demarest, whose six-year investigation of sites near the
many different words). From Champollion's font has
Pasión River represents one of the most ambitious Mayan
sprung a flood of modern knowledge about the civiliza-
field projects under way. The team has made spectacular
tion of the Ptolemies, the Ramessides, Tutankhamen,
finds, including a previously unknown ruin on a peninsu-
and Cleopatra.
la jutting into a lake. The ruin is guarded by a moat forty
The ancient Maya are in many respects the New World
feet deep, whose unusual structure promises to revise
equivalent of the Egyptians. And as Linda Schele, a Uni-
ideas of Mayan warfare.
versity of Texas art historian and one of the best young
Dos Pilas is not an easy place to work. To get to it you
epigraphers, puts it, "In Mayan studies this is the time of
must drive two hours on a bone-jarring rut of a road to
Champollion. This will never happen again-never,
Sayaxché (a frontier town out of Conrad), ride for ninety
ever."
minutes in an outboard-powered canoe up a tributary of
the Pasión, and then hike for three hours through the
The Mayan Experts
jungle. In December of 1989 an overeager Dutch tourist
died of heat exhaustion in the course of this hike; the lo-
MAYAN EPIGRAPHER HAS MADE A GREATER
cals who hauled his body out left a cross made of mule
N
contribution than David Stuart. A shy, slen-
bones as a memento mori. The rain forest here is lush and
der twenty-six-year-old graduate student at
steamy, full of the cries of exotic animals and insects.
Vanderbilt, in Nashville, Stuart seems laid
Wander a few feet off the trail, and you may easily get
back, almost dreamy, compared with his colleagues, who
lost. A year ago a scientist and his Guatemalan guide
are notorious for their manic intensity. On a withering 95°
spent nine hours, without water, lost in this wilderness.
day several months ago, Stuart stood in a clearing in the
Before they managed to reorient themselves, they stum-
virgin rain forest of northern Guatemala and "read" a fall-
bled upon a previously unknown Mayan cave, chock-full
en stela to me.
of sacred ritual pottery.
"That's the verb 'to adorn," Stuart said, pointing to a
The Vanderbilt base camp is near a stronghold of Gua-
glyph that had been carved in soft limestone more than
temalan guerrillas, who for the past sixteen years have
1,200 years ago. "The bound captive is Jaguar Claw, who
waged a bitter war against one government after another.
was the ruler of Seibal." Stuart stepped back to look at a
Even as Stuart read the stelae to me, a gun battle that
whole sentence. "Six days after the war event with Sei-
cost several lives was taking place a few miles away. The
bal," he recited, "Jaguar Claw, the holy lord of Seibal,
rain forest here abounds with snakes, including the dead-
was adorned.' For sacrifice, that is. They dressed him up
ly fer-de-lance; for all work off the trail, team members
before they put him to death." A defeated Mayan king,
must wear fiberglass leggings, which have already saved
the epigraphers have shown, was held captive for as long
the life of one Dos Pilas laborer. Shortly before my visit a
as several years, tortured, costumed and prettified,
dig at Río Azul, to the northeast, had to be shut down
forced to play a ball game that he was preordained to
after a Guatemalan worker was bitten by a fer-de-lance.
lose, and then often beheaded. The bizarre sadomaso-
Rushed to the hospital, he had had his leg amputated,
chistic rituals of warfare between kings, which the an-
and barely survived.
cient Maya apparently practiced instead of the wholesale
But Dos Pilas is an epigrapher's delight. Only a month
slaughter of one city by another, is one of the many areas
before my visit the Vanderbilt team had unearthed a hi-
of Mayan life to which the epigraphers have brought daz-
eroglyphic stairway, a series of broad stone steps with
zling new insights.
pristine glyphs carved on the risers. Remarkably, a wall
Stuart walked a few yards to another stela lying in the
of prehistoric rubble runs perpendicularly across the in-
grass. Like the first slab, this one featured an elaborately
scriptions. Nothing like such a juxtaposition has ever be-
decorated king standing on the back of a bound captive.
fore been found at a Mayan site. Demarest believes that
Stuart pointed to a marginal detail. "See the heron with a
the hastily built wall, which encircles Dos Pilas, is evi-
fish in its mouth? It may be a play on words, because the
dence of a desperate late stage of occupancy. For centu-
Maya word for 'heron' is the same as the word for 'cap-
ries before that stage, a stylized combat fought largely by
tive.' It's like a rebus: the Maya are using a picture of one
kings and chosen warriors had kept the balance of power
thing to represent another."
among dozens of rival city-states in a precarious equilibri-
Later, Stuart pointed out a single glyph on the round
um. Death and destruction were held to a minimum. If
surface of an altar. "We can't decipher it, because this is
Demarest is right, near the end of the Classic Period the
90
SEPTEMBER 1991
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
rules governing that combat broke down; warfare began
a family trip to archaeological sites all over Mexico. Lat-
to involve full-scale attacks on cities, devastation of agri-
er, at age eight, he sat mesmerized at the Mayan site
cultural fields, and far more killing and death. The rub-
Cobá, staring at glyphs and at the drawings epigraphers
ble wall at Dos Pilas bespeaks the terror of a people in
had made of them.
fear of annihilation.
"I was absorbed even then by the visual complexity of
Stuart paused before the staircase, from which, within
the glyphs," Stuart says drily. He presented his first pa-
a few weeks, the rubble wall would be carefully re-
per at age twelve. Its title, "Some Thoughts on Certain
moved. Summarizing the visible glyphs, he said, "Ruler
Occurrences of the T565 Glyph Element at Palenque,"
One put this up. It has to do with a war against Tikal. All
already bore the stamp of reticence that has come to be
the really interesting part-the who, what, and where-
his trademark. "Early on," Linda Schele says, "people
is under the rubble. All we've got now is the when."
wanted to dismiss what David was doing, because he was
Among the eight or ten epigraphers who are in the van-
so young."
A lintel (left), possibly from El Cayo, in Mexico, dating back to the late eighth century A.D.; and a stela from the
mid-seventh century A.D. (right) from Dos Pilas, in Guatemala. The figure on the lintel is a woman wearing the long outer garment known as a huipil.
In her hand she holds God K, whose presence reveals the woman's high birth
guard of Maya decipherment, David Stuart is generally
At eighteen Stuart received a five-year MacArthur "ge-
conceded to be the most talented. Demarest, his faculty
nius" grant; he is the youngest person yet to have been SO
adviser at Vanderbilt, says, "All the others have to work
honored. The media bombarded him with the kind of at-
incredibly hard to make a decipherment. David just
tention normally lavished on movie stars and athletes, an
seems to do it effortlessly. I've been there when he's read
experience that still makes him wince. "I don't like the
an inscription just as it's been brushed off for the first
term 'whiz kid," he says softly. The wonder is that Stu-
time."
art did not develop a celebrity's ego. "The MacArthur
Indeed, though he would blush at the analogy, Stuart
could have been very unhealthy for him," says Stuart's
seems to be a kind of Mozart of epigraphy. The son of
closest colleague, Stephen Houston, a professor at Van-
Mayan archaeologists, he grew up surrounded by glyphs
derbilt. "I give a lot of credit to David's parents. They're
and potsherds. "The joke," a colleague says, "is that one
very down-to-earth people."
of David's first words was Dzibilchaltún"-the name of
At the time of the Spanish conquest, astonishingly, the
the dig in the Yucatán where his father was working
Maya were still writing glyphs-not on stone stelae but
when David was an infant. Stuart's earliest memory is of
in handmade books. A treatise written by Friar Diego de
SEPTEMBER 1991
91
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
Landa in the Yucatán in 1566 contains a passage that
mained, in the words of one expert, "mute and unread."
haunts every Mayanist:
Some of the best minds in Mayan studies despaired of
further progress; many agreed with Paul Schellhas that
These people also used certain characters or letters,
the writing would never be deciphered.
with which they wrote in their books about the antiqui-
ties and their sciences.
We found a great number of
In general, steady progress on undeciphered scripts is
books in these letters, and since they contained nothing
by no means inevitable. From the Etruscans, who lived
but superstitions and falsehoods of the devil we burned
in Tuscany before the Romans, we have some 10,000 in-
them all, which they took most grievously, and which
scriptions, perhaps twice as many as we have from the
gave them great pain.
Maya. Yet only a few Etruscan words can be read. In the
early 1950s, when an amateur epigrapher named Michael
The Mayan books were made of long pieces of fig-bark
Ventris deciphered Linear B, the ancient Mycenaean
paper, plastered with gesso and folded screen-fashion,
language discovered in Crete, his feat made headlines. A
like the bellows of an accordion; the
parallel script found on neighboring
covers were made of jaguar skin. The
THE SON OF MAYAN AR-
tablets, Linear A, the Minoan lan-
"letters" were drawn by master scribes
guage of Crete, remains uncompre-
in black and red paint, with fine-
CHAEOLOGISTS, STUART
hended. Iberian, the pre-Roman writ-
haired brushes. The manuscripts that
ing from Spain; Sinaitic, an apparent
Landa and his fellow Franciscans
GREW UP SURROUNDED BY
precursor of Hebrew; Archaic Sumeri-
burned bore the exquisite calligraphy
GLYPHS AND POTSHERDS.
an, the earliest written language in the
of a tradition at least a millennium and
world; Mohenjo-Daro, from the Indus
a half old.
HE PRESENTED HIS FIRST
Valley; futhark runes, from Scandina-
Not all the Mayan books vanished
via; Elamite, from Iran; the very earli-
in the fires. Some of them found their
PAPER AT AGE TWELVE. ITS
est Egyptian hieroglyphics-all these
way to Europe as part of the Royal
TITLE, "SOME THOUGHTS ON
and other major writing systems re-
Fifth, the share of booty that Cortés
main undeciphered, with no break-
sent to Charles V. The fig-paper books
CERTAIN OCCURRENCES OF
throughs in sight. In the case of Ron-
were puzzled over by scholars in Se-
gorongo, found on wooden tablets
ville and Valladolid, and Albrecht
THE T565 GLYPH ELEMENT AT
from Easter Island, experts cannot
Dürer may have seen them in Brus-
PALENQUE, ALREADY BORE
even agree on whether the characters
sels. But Europeans could make noth-
are a true language or simply a set of
ing of these strange productions. Over
THE STAMP OF RETICENCE
mnemonic symbols used to remind
the years their fragile paper crumbled
singers of ritual chants.
into dust, and many were likely
THAT HAS COME TO BE HIS
With only hints from the hiero-
thrown out as trash. By the nineteenth
TRADEMARK.
glyphs, the archaeologists influenced
century, when Mayan writing was re-
by Sylvanus Morley and Eric Thomp-
discovered, fragments of only three
son sketched out their compelling por-
books survived in Europe, one each in
trait of the peaceful, priest-ruled,
Dresden, Paris, and Madrid.
time-obsessed Maya. In 1950 Thomp-
This trio of texts, along with the
son summed up his view of Mayan
stelae rediscovered by Stephens and
snake
fourteen
Tikal
writing in a famous passage:
Catherwood, were all that scholars had
I conceive the endless progress of
to work with when they began to puz-
time as the supreme mystery of
zle over Mayan writing, in the 1840s. By then the direct
Maya religion, a subject which pervaded Maya thought
descendants of the builders of Copán and Chichén Itzá
to an extent without parallel in the history of mankind.
and Tikal had completely lost the knowledge of how to
In such a setting there was no place for personal rec-
read the glyphs. The murderous Spanish conquest had
ords, for, in relation to the vastness of time, man and his
claimed the life of virtually every member of the elite
doings shrink to insignificance. To add details of war or
class, probably the only Maya who could write.
peace, of marriage or giving in marriage, to the solemn
A few secrets of the language were solved early, such as
roll call of the periods of time is as though a tourist were
to carve his initials on Donatello's David.
the Mayan number system, the workings of the culture's
dazzlingly precise calendar, and the glyphs for certain
Younger scholars today tend to snicker at the Morley-
gods and animals. But for half a century after 1900, work
Thompson notion of the pacific, calendar-happy Maya.
on the decipherment of Mayan glyphs remained virtually
Linda Schele and her co-author Mary Miller write, "The
stalled, despite the concerted efforts of a succession of
Maya were considered the Greeks of the New World, and
brilliant scholars. The basic structure of the writing
the Aztecs were seen as Romans-one pure, original and
proved SO intractable that as late as 1960 the script re-
beautiful, the other slavish, derivative and cold." But,
92
SEPTEMBER 1991
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THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
like other pioneers later proved wrong, Morley and
iconography has the dazzling but unfathomable busyness
Thompson made reasonable inferences from limited
of, say, the stuccoed walls of the Moorish Alhambra.
data. The ancient Maya, we now know, were an exceed-
The same crowded richness of detail characterizes Ma-
ingly aggressive and warlike people: in Schele's pithy
yan writing. Each hieroglyph occupies a pre-allotted cu-
phrase, "blood was the mortar" of their society. "Man
bicle on the stone's surface; we know from unfinished in-
and his doings" were of paramount interest to them-so
scriptions that the carver blocked out a grid of squares
much so that the stelae boast vaingloriously about the
before filling in the words. The glyphs are arranged in
great deeds rulers performed. Rather than living in a
pairs of vertical columns, which the ancient Maya read
huge empire like Rome's, the Maya were spread across a
left to right, top to bottom.
balkanized land of feuding peoples, like the West of the
The only readily accessible feature of Mayan glyphs is
Native Americans before the white man came.
the number system, which a tourist can master after a
week of looking at monuments. The Maya used a system
The Fruit of Early Efforts
based on the number twenty, with only three symbols: a
bar for five, a dot for one, and a stylized shell for zero.
HE HALLMARK OF MAYAN ART IS INTRICACY OF
Neither the Greeks nor the Romans were able to con-
T
ornamentation. The designers of the stelae-
ceive of zero and use it as the basis of a numerical place
and of carved jade plaques and wooden lin-
system, an intellectual discovery with profound conse-
tels, incised bones and seashells, painted mu-
quences for cultures that made it. In the Old World only
rals and pots-abhorred blank space. The term "ba-
the Hindus or perhaps the Babylonians before them
roque" has often been invoked. To the naive eye Mayan
made this breakthrough. The Mayan discovery of zero
was obviously independent of the Hindu or Babylonian.
At the time of the Spanish conquest, the immensely
HONEY
elaborate Mayan calendar was still being used by astrolo-
ger-priests to divine the future and meditate upon the
past. Thanks to that fact, Mayan dates can be precisely
Only calmness will reassure
correlated with the Gregorian calendar. On most stelae
the bees to let you rob their hoard.
the hieroglyphic inscription begins with the date of the
Any sweat of fear provokes them.
stone's dedication, recorded in a five-number sequence
Approach with confidence, and from
called the Long Count. Thus we know, for instance, that
the side, not shading their entrance.
Stela 11 at Piedras Negras, Guatemala, was dedicated on
August 22, A.D. 731.
And hush smoke gently from the spout
The earliest firmly dated Mayan monument is Stela 29
of the pot of rags, for sparks will
at Tikal, with a date of A.D. 292. The most recent monu-
anger them. If you go near bees
ment date yet found is A.D. 909. This span of 600-plus
every day they will know you.
years covers the golden age of Mayan culture, when most
And never jerk or turn so quick
of the great cities were built. Indeed, one definition of
you excite them. If weeds are trimmed
the Classic Period is the age during which monuments
were dated by the Long Count.
around the hive they have access
By working backward, scholars figured out that the
and feel free. When they taste your smoke
Mayan calendar numbered from a Day Zero-August 13,
they fill themselves with honey and
3114 B.C. This was considered the beginning not of the
are laden and lazy as you
world, however, but only of the current cycle of a perhaps
lift the lid to let in daylight.
infinitely ancient universe. Their flexible number sys-
No bee full of sweetness wants to
tem allowed the Maya to conjure with unimaginably dis-
tant dates. A stela at Quiriguá is inscribed with a date 400
sting. Resist greed. With the top off
million years in the past. What this means, nobody
you touch the fat gold frames, each cell
knows.
a hex perfect as a snowflake,
Around A.D. 900 the most advanced civilization the
a sealed relic of sun and time
New World had ever seen suddenly collapsed. The
and roots of many acres fixed
causes of this breakdown constitute the greatest un-
solved problem that Mayanists confront. After A.D. 909
in crystal-tight arrays, in rows
the Maya erected no more carved stelae that have been
and lattices of sweeter latin
found and seem to have raised few new temples, let
from scattered prose of meadow, woods.
alone cities, except in the northern Yucatán, at such sites
as Chichén Itzá and Tulum.
-Robert Morgan
By the 1540s, owing to the ruthlessness of the conquis-
94
SEPTEMBER 1991
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
tadors, the Maya in the Yucatán and the Guatemalan
las cosas de Yucatán in 1566. Lost for centuries, the book
highlands had submitted to Spanish rule. One group,
was rediscovered by a Flemish priest in the 1860s. Ac-
however, the proud and canny Itzá, retreated to a fabled
cording to its English translator, William Gates, 99 per-
lake deep in the Petén, a jungle wilderness in northern
cent of what we know about the Maya at the time of the
Guatemala, where they built an island capital called
conquest derives from Landa.
Tayasal. For a century and a half Spanish expeditions
One day in Mérida, Landa asked one of the last literate
thrust inland toward Tayasal; some explorers met their
Maya, a man named Gaspar Antonio Chi, to write down
deaths in Itzá ambushes. But finally, in the period 1695-
the Mayan "alphabet" in glyphs. With the inevitable na-
1697, the Spaniards reached the lake and conquered
iveté of a sixteenth-century European, Landa assumed
Tayasal.
that the basic building blocks of Maya were alphabetic
The pivotal figure in this conquest was Padre Andres
letters, as is the case in Spanish and all other European
de Avendaño y Loyola, one of the most extraordinary
languages. Ancient Maya, however-like Chinese, an-
men ever to appear in
cient Egyptian, and
Spanish America. Aven-
delas partes ofro y assi niene a Sazerim infinitum tomo
many other languages-
daño turned the tide of
se podra an is signante exemple. Le, quiere dezire laco
has no alphabet: the very
Itzá resistance by con-
carae con is para escrimic la can sus caraters aviends
concept of a letter is for-
vincing the defenders of
les y mosotion See 5. intender qne son dos letcas to escrimia
eign to it.
Tayasal, to their aston-
cllos contres previends a la aspiracion de la the La vocal,e,
Gaspar Antonio may
ishment, that their own
que antes de si racy en esto no kierran aming osens
have tried to explain this
calendrical prophecies
quisiren ellos de su curiosided. Exemplo.
fact to Landa, but the fri-
predicted a major up-
despres at cabo la pegan parte inita. Ha. que quiere desin
ar could not understand:
heaval in 1696. He was
agna poigla bac be time a. ante de si Co ponen ha elles at
principio can'a. cabo desta manera
all languages, he as-
Tambie
able to perform this feat
no pussera agmi in tabra dello sino por dar menta Inerayo entera
to escrimen a partes,de pers Ca me yoter'ma
sumed, had alphabets.
because, unique among
Grumbling as he per-
Europeans, he had
de las asas desta gente Mainhah quiere dezre no quiero chios
formed the task, the Ma-
learned to read Mayan
to escrimen a partes desta manera of ma
yan gave Landa some-
hieroglyphs. Aven-
daño's brief account of
Signa'se Su asb,c
thing similar to an
:G
alphabet but crucially
I
the conquest of Tayasal
ca
1
L
different. Four centuries
11
on
alludes to another trea-
IIIT
would intervene before
tise he had written, ex-
8
p
scholars could discover
m
n
0
PP
ku
Xp
x
x
plaining the decipher-
A
c
exactly what Gaspar An-
.
ment; this book, alas, is
1
X
tonio had delivered to the
o
lost to history.
H
3
demanding Franciscan.
As late as the begin-
De las letcas que faltan caree ista lengna
In the meantime, as
ning of the eighteenth
cosas 9 has ba menester y ya no stan para nada destros
time other attachdas de la mestra para otcas
they pored over the intri-
century a few Mayan
sus carateres esperalmente gente moca 9 an aprendido
cate glyphs, students of
sages (and one Francis-
los was
the lost language tacitly
can friar) could still read
made a pivotal but erro-
the glyphs. But the tra-
A page from Diego de Landa's Relación de las cosas de Yucatán,
neous assumption. The
dition of literacy among
which helped scholars crack the Mayan code
glyphs look like stylized
the Maya was utterly
pictures: you can see a
severed by the annihilation of the elite class, completed
jaguar's head here, a bird's foot there, a human profile else-
at Tayasal, and today knowledge of the glyphs among the
where. More-abstract glyphs, it was assumed, were pic-
Maya is extinct.
tures that had been simplified and stylized over the centur-
ies. The erroneous assumption was that Maya was a purely
The Landa Treatise and Further
logographic language: that is, each glyph stood for a word.
Developments
The first real breakthrough came in 1952, in the work
of an obscure Soviet linguist named Yuri Knorosov. Pon-
ITHOUT THE ROSETTA STONE, CHAMPOL-
dering Landa's alphabet, he became convinced that the
W
lion could not have deciphered Egyptian hi-
glyphs Gaspar Antonio had drawn represented neither
eroglyphs. The closest thing to a Rosetta
letters (as Landa thought) nor words (as all Mayan schol-
Stone for Mayan glyphs comes on a single
ars assumed) but syllables. Landa had asked his informant
page of a treatise written by Diego de Landa, the book-
to draw the letter B, but he must have pronounced the
burning friar. Called before a Spanish court to defend his
letter beh, as the Spanish do. Gaspar Antonio, then, had
harsh treatment of the Maya, Landa wrote his Relación de
written what Knorosov guessed-correctly-was the
SEPTEMBER 1991
95
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
glyph for the Mayan syllable beh. In a tour de force of rea-
next day he handed the paper back to her, saying,
soning, Knorosov made a number of phonetic decipher-
"You're absolutely right." To his credit, Thompson ac-
ments. For instance, Knorosov showed that a glyph al-
knowledged Proskouriakoff's discovery in print, even
ready suspected of meaning "turkey" was a compound of
though it contradicted much of his life's work.
two syllabic glyphs, ku and tzu. In a dictionary of modern
Yucatec Maya, Knorosov found "turkey" glossed as kutz.
(Today's Maya speak at least thirty-one different lan-
The Dual Role of Glyphs
guages, most of them mutually unintelligible. A few, in-
ECIPHERMENT HAS ALWAYS BEEN A GREAT
cluding Chol and Yucatec, turn out to resemble closely
the written language of the ancient Maya.)
D
field for amateurs. Champollion was an unem-
ployed history teacher, Michael Ventris an archi-
Most Western Mayanists refused to accept Knorosov's
tect. Proskouriakoff also trained as an architect.
radical notion that the glyphs were in part phonetic. The
Even today, amid the collaborative ferment of Maya
Russian's work, unfortunately, was
decipherment, prescribing the ideal
riddled with wild errors, as well as in-
THE CAUSES OF THE LATE-
training for an epigrapher would be
sightful discoveries, and filled with
difficult. According to one of the best,
sneering Marxist-Leninist rhetoric.
CLASSIC COLLAPSE REMAIN
a twenty-seven-year-old German from
Knorosov had never seen a Mayan
the University of Bonn named Nikolai
site. Instead, he had analyzed facsim-
AN ENIGMA. "THEY WERE
Grube, "A good epigrapher needs to
iles of the three surviving Mayan
WORRIED ABOUT WAR AT THE
have excellent training in linguistics,
books in Europe. Eric Thompson,
needs to know both Chol and Yucatec
with a sneering rhetoric of his own,
END," SCHELE SAYS. "ECO-
Maya, and should know Spanish well.
ridiculed Knorosov into limbo. During
He must also have an excellent visual
the 1950s and 1960s only a couple of
LOGICAL DISASTERS, TOO.
memory." Grube taught himself cune-
Mayanists kept the Russian's seminal
DEFORESTATION. STARVA-
iform writing and David Stuart
premise alive.
learned Chinese, each to aid his work
In 1958 a Mexican scholar, Heinrich
TION. I THINK THE POPULA-
in Maya. Yet some of today's decipher-
Berlin, announced another major dis-
ment stars do not fit Grube's formula.
covery. By examining similar glyphs in
TION ROSE TO THE LIMIT THE
Linda Schele, for example, was teach-
scores of different contexts, he de-
TECHNOLOGY COULD BEAR.
ing studio art in Alabama when she
duced that a certain kind of glyph
went as a tourist to Palenque, where
must refer either to a place (a Mayan
THEY WERE so CLOSE TO THE
the riddle of the Maya caused her to
city) or to its ruling dynasty. These
plunge passionately into a new career.
signposts he called emblem glyphs.
EDGE, IF ANYTHING WENT
Some uncanny mixture of intuitive
They were the first strong hint that,
WRONG, IT WAS ALL OVER."
insight and logical clarity seems to ani-
contra Thompson, the inscriptions
mate the best epigraphers. The field
were not limited to "the endless prog-
has become highly technical, yet com-
ress of time." The coup de grace to
puters play almost no part in it. By
Thompson's theory came at the hands
now about 800 different Mayan glyphs
of a colleague at the Carnegie Institu-
have been identified. A good epigra-
tion, in Washington. In 1960 Tatiana
turkey
lord
pher not only knows all 800 by heart
Proskouriakoff, after mulling over
but knows virtually every context in
dates from seven sets of stelae at Pie-
which each appears. Several months
dras Negras, pointed out that within each set all the dates
ago Stuart walked into the museum at Tikal and saw a
fit into a human lifespan, and that the span of dates in a
photo of a looted artifact recently recovered by Guatema-
set often overlapped those in one or two other sets. She
lan authorities. He stared, mesmerized, at the photo, and
concluded that the inscriptions recorded not astronomi-
murmured, "This is too much. See that jaguar in the cen-
cal musings but the births, enthronements, and deaths of
ter? It's actually a glyph-the name of someone. It occurs
kings and their heirs. The evidence Proskouriakoff mar-
at Piedras Negras and at Yaxchilán." Stuart carries in his
shaled was overwhelming, and proved that Mayan in-
head a card catalogue of thousands of different Mayan
scriptions were primarily historical.
texts, which he flips through effortlessly to find the pre-
According to Peter Mathews, of the University of Cal-
vious appearances of a single glyph.
gary, who had the story from Proskouriakoff herself, she
To make a new decipherment, someone like Stuart es-
walked down the hall and gave the manuscript of her
sentially marshals a series of "if-then" syllogisms, draw-
groundbreaking paper to Thompson, then the most re-
ing upon the known texts in Mayan books and on stelae,
spected Mayanist in the world. He glanced at the argu-
pots, and lintels. If this glyph is a verb, then it will appear
ment and told her that it couldn't possibly be true. The
just before a glyph that is a noun (word order is not the
96
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THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
same in Maya as it is in English). If the glyph on one stela
teen) possible syllables. The challenge for epigraphers is
refers to the accompanying picture of a king, then what
to identify the glyph that stands for each of those ninety-
does it tell us that the same glyph is associated with a dif-
five syllables. So far, for example, the glyphs for cha, che,
ferent picture on another stela? And SO on. Even a simple
chi, and chu have been identified, but cho is still out there
decipherment is difficult to explain to a lay reader, so
on the loose. Every year epigraphers nail down a few
thorny and subtle is the chain of reasoning. Nearly all de-
more syllable glyphs, and by now the syllabary is more
cipherments are at first tentative, and many fail the test
than half full.
of further verification. Yet when a decipherment clicks, it
Mayan glyphs can be either logographic or phonetic-
unleashes a tide of corroboration. These are the mo-
that is, they can stand either for a word or for a syllable.
ments an epigrapher lives for.
In Maya you can often write a word in two different ways,
No single discovery in the past twenty years has had
by giving the unique logograph for the word or by "spell-
the impact of Knorosov's, Berlin's, and Proskouriakoff's
ing it out" in syllables. The great power of a phonetic de-
A piece of the Grolier Codex (left), one of the few Mayan documents that survived the Spanish bonfires. The limestone panel (right)
depicts events that, by our calendrical system, began on August 23, A.D. 783-this according to the glyphs beside the seated ruler. The ruler is being
presented with captives who have undergone ritual bloodletting and will eventually be killed
great intuitive leaps. Progress has come in thousands of
cipherment is that it tells us not only what the word
tiny increments. The approach that has yielded the most
means but also-if the assumption about enduring pro-
vivid results is the search for glyphs that represent pho-
nunciation is correct-how it sounded in the seventh
netic syllables. It is reasonable to assume that ancient
century. For some time now epigraphers have recognized
Maya was composed of the same nineteen consonant
the glyphs that identify most of the rulers of Tikal. To re-
sounds and five vowel sounds as the several Mayan
fer to these ancient despots, they make up names like
languages spoken today that closely resemble it. This
Curl Nose and Stormy Sky and Shield Skull. Such nick-
hypothesis allows scholars to construct what they call
names are playful shorthand descriptions of the glyphs:
a syllabary-a chart of all the possible syllables in the
the glyph for one of the men who reigned over Tikal in
language.
the seventh century looks like a design conjoining a
The ch sound in Maya, for instance, matched with the
shield and a skull. We have no idea, however, how the
five vowel sounds (a, e, i, 0, u), produces five syllables,
Maya pronounced the glyph we refer to as Shield Skull.
sounded as cha, che, chi, cho, and chu. In ancient Maya
But when David Kelley, of the University of Calgary, dis-
there should be a total of ninety-five (five times nine-
covered that a ruler of Palenque whom epigraphers had
98
SEPTEMBER 1991
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
dubbed Hand Shield was also named in phonetic glyphs,
answer with a caveat. In burning the invaluable fig-paper
Kelley learned that the ruler's people had called him Pa-
books the Franciscans committed an unforgivable crime.
cal. For the first time the true name of a Mayan king was
As Kathryn Josserand, a Florida State University Mayan-
revealed to us.
ist, says, "Imagine what future archaeologists would
Though late in life Eric Thompson reluctantly granted
know of American life if they had only the inscriptions on
the historicity of Mayan inscriptions, he never accepted
monuments in Washington, D.C." The texts on the best
phoneticism; he refused to believe that glyphs could rep-
Mayan stelae, to be sure, are rich and eloquent. The
resent syllables as well as whole words. Surprisingly, both
three Mayan books in European libraries are all con-
Berlin and Proskouriakoff balked on the same question.
cerned with ritual astronomical matters. We know, how-
Shortly before he died, Berlin told Linda Schele, "I must
ever, from Spanish accounts, that Mayan books also dealt
admit that it works. But I'm too old to learn all this new
with history, genealogy, songs, prophecies, and what the
stuff."
friars called science. The Quiché Maya epic the Popol
The quest for decipherments is made infinitely more
Vuh, which was written in highland Guatemala in the
difficult by the huge variability of the Mayan scripts. One
1550s by bards whom the friars had taught to write in
problem is to recognize stylistic differences between
Maya transliterated into roman letters, is a mythic narra-
carvers or scribes-in the way that a reader of English
tive SO powerful and poetic that it magnifies the tragedy
can recognize the same word in two quite different speci-
of the lost literature.
mens of handwriting. But the ancient Maya loved to play
In 1971 a fig-paper book appeared out of nowhere at an
with language for its own sake. Any given glyph may ap-
exhibit at the Grolier Club in New York. How it got there
pear, as Schele points out, "in either abstract or personi-
remains a murky business, but most students believe
fied form, which in turn can be either anthropomorphic
that the book was retrieved from a dry cave in Chiapas by
or zoomorphic and in head or full figure form." On top of
a looter and sold to a Mexican collector. Several authori-
this, each glyph-square may contain as many as nine
ties, including Thompson and the Mexican government,
signs, and the curlicues and squiggles that hang like bar-
thought the Grolier Codex a fake, but it has since been
nacles on the most prominent sign may be affixes that
carbon-dated to A.D. 1230 and proved genuine. Unfortu-
modify its meaning or they may be independent signs,
nately, this fourth known Mayan book is in bad shape,
made to appear subordinate just because the Mayan
and what can be read of it concerns only calculations of
carver liked the looks of it that way.
the cycle of Venus.
Written Maya has been revealed to be grammatically
Limited though the carved inscriptions may be, epig-
and syntactically rich and strange. The normal word or-
raphers have wrung from them knowledge that immea-
der is verb-object-subject, as if we said, "Wrote the book
surably deepens, even revolutionizes, our grasp of the
he." The language boasts such nuances as tense and as-
Classic Maya. Perhaps most important, the glyphs appear
pect, multiple affixes, and a pattern called the ergative,
to lay to rest for good the Morley-Thompson notion of a
in which the choice of pronoun depends on the transitiv-
peaceful, contemplative civilization. On the evidence,
ity of the verb. To make matters even knottier, the Maya
the Maya were every bit as bloody and warlike as the Az-
were demon punsters.
tecs. Their rulers validated their reigns and celebrated
the completion of time cycles through ritual bloodletting:
What We Now Know About the Maya
kings pierced their penises with stingray spines, queens
ran barbed ropes through holes in their tongues. Graphic
PIGRAPHERS ARE FREQUENTLY ASKED WHAT PER-
depictions of these gruesome rites appear on monuments
E
centage of the Mayan glyphs have been deci-
that were known by the nineteenth century, but Mayan-
phered. The question itself is ill defined. Often
ists, influenced by conventional wisdom, resisted their
epigraphers have a good idea of a glyph's mean-
implications. What we now believe to be dripping blood,
ing; they can say something like "This glyph means
they saw as water. In 1899 the pioneering investigator Al-
birth." But the ultimate goal of decipherment is to be
fred Maudslay published a drawing of a Yaxchilán lintel
able to understand the glyphs as the Maya did. To use
which deliberately omitted the tongue-rasping rope with
ancient Greek as an analogy, we want not only to know
which a queen mutilated herself.
the story of Odysseus's return to Ithaca but also to be able
Gone, too, with the new decipherment, is any vestige
to read every line of the Odyssey out loud. "For about sev-
of Morley's Old and New empires. The Maya apparently
enty-five percent of the glyphs we have an idea what the
never confederated; they always lived in feuding city-
Maya were talking about," Nikolai Grube says. "But so
states, and their stelae repeatedly celebrate the victories
far we can read and pronounce only about forty percent
of one over another. At least until the last century and a
as the Maya did." David Stuart makes an even lower esti-
half before the collapse, warfare was a highly stylized
mate: around 25 or 30 percent.
business.
How has the partial decipherment transformed our un-
One of the great mysteries of the Classic Period was a
derstanding of the Classic Maya? One must preface any
span of roughly 160 years that has come to be called the
SEPTEMBER 1991
99
THE ATLANTIC MONTHLY
Tikal Hiatus. Archaeologists had observed that at Tikal,
onym of a site on a lake in the Petén but also discovered a
the greatest of all Mayan cities, no monuments were
phonetic rendering of the toponym which he could read
raised from A.D. 534 to 690. The cause of that gap re-
as Yax-há, which means "Green Water." Strikingly, to-
mained a matter for conjecture until 1986. Working in a
day's Maya still call the site Yaxhá. Never before had an
ball court at Caracol, a site in Belize some forty miles
epigrapher showed that a Mayan place-name had re-
southeast of Tikal, Diane and Arlen Chase, of the Uni-
mained stable for nearly 2,000 years.
versity of Central Florida, unearthed a pristine glyph-
For the foreseeable future epigraphers are unlikely to
covered altar. Diane ran back to camp to get Stephen
run out of mysteries to ponder. The causes of the late-
Houston, the project epigrapher. Reading the altar,
Classic collapse-a calamity as sudden and as far-reach-
Houston found that it documented Caracol's victory over
ing as the fall of Rome-remain an enigma. Because
Tikal in 562, and its subsequent 140 years of domination
monument-carving ceased—as far as we know-after
over its grander neighbor.
A.D. 909, we may never have a revealing record of that
As Nikolai Grube puts it, "Nobody had ever believed
Mesoamerican apocalypse. "I'll tell you what they were
that Tikal, this great city, could have been defeated by
worried about," Schele says. "They were worried about
anyone else." The Chases and Houston's discovery is
war at the end. Ecological disasters, too. Deforestation.
one of the triumphs of Mayan epigraphy. A major war
Starvation. I think the population rose to the limit the
and conquest, otherwise lost to archaeology, became
technology could bear. They were so close to the edge, if
known through one reading of glyphs, and with that read-
anything went wrong, it was all over." Yet Schele's theory
ing one of the chief puzzles about the Classic Period was
remains only an educated guess.
solved.
Other essential mysteries make epigraphers salivate:
At the best-documented sites epigraphers have been
How and why did Mayan writing develop? Why was the
able to put together dynastic sequences of kings. From
system successful for SO long? How did the Mayan econo-
A.D. 292 to 869 at Tikal, we have a well-dated roster of
my work? How did Mayan civilization differ from one site
twenty-seven rulers, twenty-three of whose name-glyphs
to another? Were the gods of Bonampak, for instance,
we can recognize. More and more, the personalities of
worshiped also at Copán? How much did the Maya know
some of these jungle despots emerge. As Linda Schele
about the rest of the world?
has written,
One of the burning questions at the moment is the ex-
The ancient Maya have become a historical people.
tent to which writing systems other than the Mayan de-
Perhaps one day the names of
Pacal
of
Palen-
veloped in the New World. In 1986 a barefoot fisherman
que, Yax-Pac of Copán and Ah Cacaw of Tikal will take
waded into a swampy river in Veracruz, far to the north-
their place next to the names of Ramses of Egypt, Dari-
west of the Mayan domain. Stepping on a flat stone slab,
us of Persia and Perikles of Athens, as we teach our chil-
he was surprised to feel complicated patterns under his
dren the history of the world.
toes. When the slab was hauled out of the river, experts
On a number of important matters the inscriptions
were astonished to find a finely carved stela, with twen-
shed no light. They tell us nothing whatsoever about the
ty-one columns of hieroglyphs. More astonishing was the
Mayan economy and trade, subjects that linger in a lacu-
fact that the glyphs were not Mayan. The carvers, how-
na of ignorance. On the other hand, decipherment has
ever, had recorded a pair of Long Count dates that could
begun to penetrate some of the more sophisticated cor-
be read as A.D. 143 and 156-earlier than any known Ma-
ners of ancient Mayan thought. In a landmark 1989 paper
yan monument.
Stuart and Houston demonstrated that an oft-occurring
The finding of the La Mojarra stela, as it is called, is "a
glyph, catalogued as T539, was pronounced way and al-
fabulous thing," David Stuart says. "I think it will prove
luded to the Mesoamerican notion of a "co-essence," "an
to be one of the milestone discoveries of the last fifty
animal or celestial phenomenon
that is believed to
years." Maya was long considered the only true writing
share in the consciousness of the person who 'owns' it."
system to have developed in the New World. Now we
This powerful decipherment implies that many of the su-
know that another written language, perhaps belonging
pernatural figures that used to be called "gods" or "un-
to the Olmec people, developed more or less indepen-
derworld denizens" by iconographers are rather to be
dently. Some 400 glyphs are discernible on the stela.
thought of as mystic doppelgängers to Mayan heroes.
Simply on the basis of their variety Grube speculates that
Stuart and Houston were also the first to find Mayan
the La Mojarra language may have fewer signs than
toponyms, glyphs that unequivocally name geographic
Maya, and may thus represent an even more phonetic,
places. Stuart showed that the toponym for Aguateca was
less logographic system. But unless many more carved
a pictographic rendering of "sun-faced split mountain"-
stones are found in Veracruz, the glyphs will probably
a perfect description of the eastward-looking site, which
never be read.
is cleft by a deep crevice in the rock. Stuart made this
CREDITS: All but one of the photographs in this article are the work of
reading without ever having visited Aguateca. In a com-
Justin Kerr. The picture on the right on page 91 is by Matthew Hale.
parable flash of insight, he not only identified the top-
The glyph drawings are by S. D. Houston.
100
SEPTEMBER 1991
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Music
some degree of recognition was "an
unremitting decline, an inevitable sub-
sidence into complacency," Hodeir ar-
gued that "jazz has one thing in com-
mon with sports: it requires its
performers
to be in first-rate phys-
ical condition." But whereas "the ag-
ing athlete is obliged to retire" (Hodeir's
italics), jazz audiences permit older
musicians to go on suiting up, as it
were, until they drop. Hodeir cited as
an example of fans reluctant to "repu-
diate their traditional idols" a Parisian
audience that responded worshipfully
to the trumpeter Roy Eldridge in 1950,
"when he was already well on the
decline."
In 1950 Eldridge was all of thirty-
nine, with at least twenty-five more
years of crackling solos ahead of him.
What has aged badly is Hodeir's argu-
ment, although in fairness it should be
acknowledged that he was one of the
first to write about jazz with such can-
dor, and that his essay dates from a pe-
riod when bebop-then considered
the ultimate in modernity-must have
made the mature accomplishments of
swing-era veterans like Eldridge seem
a little passé. Reading "Why Do They
Age So Badly?" in 1991, I find myself
wondering what Hodeir would make of
the alto saxophonist Benny Carter,
who turned eighty-four last month,
and whose powers as an improviser re-
main miraculously unimpaired.
The perseverance of elderly musi-
cians is an open invitation to sentimen-
Better With Age
tality, and Carter long ago reached the
age at which an instrumentalist elicits
At eighty-four, Benny Carter is at the height of his musical powers
admiration merely for playing, no mat-
ter how shakily. But I really do believe
that Carter, who aside from Lionel
Hampton is the last surviving major
by Francis Davis
figure of the 1930s, is still making vi-
brant contributions to jazz six decades
later. In so doing, he offers present-day
AZZ IS ENDURING what appears to be
jazz performers now receiving any no-
audiences a singular thrill-the chance
J
a mid-life crisis. As in people, the
tice. They are being treated as such a
to look back on history as it continues
telltale symptom is a drooling in-
novelty that it's becoming difficult to
to unfold.
fatuation with youth. It all began with
remember that jazz was once assumed
the success of Wynton Marsalis, who
to require the vigor of youth.
C
ARTER HAS been around practi-
was just twenty when he released his
For a reminder of the way things
cally forever. Although the stan-
first album, in 1982. Overlooking the
used to be, I recently reread an essay
dard discographies show him to
fact that musicians as talented as Mar-
called "Why Do They Age So Badly?,"
have made his recording debut with
salis are rare at any age, the major rec-
by the late French critic and composer
Charlie Johnson's Paradise Orchestra,
ord labels have been signing untested
André Hodeir. (Written sometime in
in 1928, Carter himself remembers
young instrumentalists in the hope that
the 1950s, it was included in Hodeir's
participating in a session with the
lightning will strike twice. Not surpris-
1962 collection Toward Jazz, translated
blues singer Clara Smith four years ear-
ingly, given the promotional effort of
by Noel Burch.) Lamenting that what
lier. His first recorded arrangement (of
which these labels are capable, these
lay ahead for any jazz musician who
"P.D.Q. Blues," for Fletcher Hender-
young musicians are virtually the only
reached middle age having achieved
son) was written in 1927, the same year
106
ILLUSTRATIONS BY ANDERS WENNGREN
SEPTEMBER 1991
A world class
he published his first composition
bandleaders who played his arrange-
adventure
("Nobody Knows," co-written with
ments in the thirties and forties),
Fats Waller). After working as a side-
Carter never succeeded in keeping an
man with Henderson and Chick Webb,
orchestra together for very long, and fi-
and serving as music director of
nally disbanded for good in 1946. What
McKinney's Cotton Pickers and leader
makes this SO surprising is that Carter's
of the Wilburforce Collegians, Carter
first band enjoyed the services of Sid
formed the first of his own big bands in
Catlett, perhaps the greatest of big-
1932.
band drummers, and that Gillespie,
These are dates that I have selected
Teddy Wilson, Chu Berry, Ben Web-
almost at random from the detailed
ster, and Miles Davis were Carter band
chronology included in Morroe Berger,
members at one time or another. It
Edward Berger, and James Patrick's ex-
probably also hindered Carter that he
Without ever
haustive two-volume Benny Carter: A
was in Europe from 1935 to 1938,
Life in American Music (1982). Another
when America was catching swing fe-
leaving
piece of information might give a bet-
ver, and in Hollywood, writing music
ter sense of just how long Carter has
for movies and TV, for much of three
the Americas.
been active in music. The album usu-
decades, after playing on the sound-
ally cited as his best is Further Defini-
track of and helping to orchestrate the
tions (MCA Impulse MCA-5651), from
music for Stormy Weather in 1943.
1961. It reunited him with his fellow
Carter was underutilized and per-
saxophonist Coleman Hawkins, whose
haps racially typecast by the studios:
path had regularly crossed his over the
although he worked on more than two
decades, most notably with Henderson
dozen theatrical films, including An
in the twenties and on the four titles
American in Paris, The Sun Also Rises,
they recorded together with the guitar-
The Guns of Navarone, and Red Sky at
ist Django Reinhardt, in Paris in 1937.
Morning, his only complete scores were
Two numbers were reprised from that
those for A Man Called Adam, a 1966
1937 session, with Phil Woods and
jazz movie starring Sammy Davis, Jr.,
Charlie Rouse taking the places of the
and Buck and the Preacher, a 1972 west-
French saxophonists André Ekyan and
ern with Sidney Poitier and Harry Bel-
If you're thinking about a travel
afonte. Carter's best work for TV was
vacation but don't want to leave the
Alix Combelle. For the album Carter,
Americas, here's good news. The
whose trademark as an arranger is his
his music for some thirty-five episodes
M/V Americana gives you deluxe,
rich saxophone voicings, also orches-
of the crime series M Squad in the late
spacious cabins, world class dining
trated Hawkins's emblematic 1939 solo
1950s. The four selections from M
and continental service as you
on "Body and Soul" for four horns, and
Squad included on All of Me (Bluebird
cruise to some of the most exotic,
paid homage to Duke Ellington and
3000-2-RB), a recent reissue, demon-
seldom-seen ports in South America.
Ben Webster by including the famous
strate Carter's ability to produce idio-
If you're looking for excitement
and adventure on the world's most
sax-section chorus from their 1940 re-
matically convincing jazz within the
luxurious freighter, send for details,
cording of "Cotton Tail." Further Defi-
framework of TV-genre conventions.
or call your travel agent today.
nitions was hailed as a latter-day tri-
Carter again became a full-time jazz
46 Day Cruises from $6,900 to
umph for Carter upon its release,
musician around 1976. His stepped-up
$13,800 per person. Shorter cruise
almost thirty years ago.
pace since then, in both playing and
segments available.
Carter has long inspired something
composing, has created the happy illu-
approaching awe in his fellow musi-
sion that he is playing better than ever,
Please send a free copy
cians. He surpassed even Johnny
and we have had more opportunities to
of the M/V Americana
Hodges as the primary influence on
hear him. Everyone I know who writes
brochure to:
the alto saxophone before the arrival of
about jazz seems to have his own favor-
Charlie Parker, in the 1940s. But he
ite Carter solo recorded since that
Name
also plays credible trumpet (Dizzy Gil-
time. Mine is his virtuoso turn on the
Address
lespie, who was in his brass section as a
standard "Lover Man," from his other-
City
young musician, once said of him that
wise uneventful 1985 album A Gentle-
State
Zip
Phone
"he was always the best trumpet player
man and His Music (Concord Jazz CCD-
My Travel Agent
in his band"), and he might have be-
4285). In addition to being the recent
come one of the greatest of jazz clari-
solo that best demonstrates Carter's
netists had he not abandoned the clari-
undiminished instrumental command,
IVABAD
net in 1946.
it is also the one that best illustrates his
Lines
Although he is one of only a handful
confident embrace of contemporary
Newport Financial Center, 111 Pavonia Avenue
of musicians to have left a mark on jazz
rhythmic values. Hearing "Lover
Jersey City, NJ 07310-1755
as both an improviser and an orchestra-
DEPT. A0991
Man," you know at once you're listen-
tor (Cab Calloway, Benny Goodman,
ing to Benny Carter, thanks to that en-
201-798-5656
and Artie Shaw were among the rival
viably urbane intonation of his (which
1-800-451-1639 (Outside NJ)
SEPTEMBER 1991
107
To get a good
(c) Image
Watches,"
idea of what
Inc.
all rights
a great idea
reserved
Hodeir, ever the nay-sayer, once char-
we have in
don't play many of my own tunes be-
Image
acterized as "effeminate") and to that
cause the audience wouldn't know
Watches
rococo approach to harmony he once
them. He pointed out that they never
paste
shared with Coleman Hawkins. Still,
your color
will get to know them if I don't play
logo here.
this isn't a solo you could imagine
them. But I have started traveling with
OR EVEN
Carter playing fifty or even twenty
lead sheets of my tunes for the musi-
BETTER
years ago, because his asymmetrical
cians I might play with who don't know
NEW!
double-time phrasing is so modern in
them."
Send us
Thin
Water-
conception-it's just short of abstract,
The proof of Carter's genius as a
your color logo
Resistant
despite his fealty to the melody.
(Any size letterhead, photo, brochure, artwork
Case
composer can be found on Central City
which need not be returned)
Sketches (Musicmasters CIJD 60126X),
along with U.S. $14.50 each
ATE LAST summer Carter shared
L
featuring Carter with the American
(Tax. shipping included.)
a bill with the vibraphonists Milt
(special below-cost introductory offer)
Jazz Orchestra, a New York repertory
Limit: 2 samples per company @ $14.50 each
Jackson and Bobby Hutcherson
ensemble directed by the pianist John
Please send this ad with your logo & $14.50 ea.
to take advantage of this offer
at Lincoln Center, just up the block
Lewis. This includes flawless perfor-
and we'll rush you a personalized
from where the apartment house he
mances of Carter compositions ranging
working quartz watch sample
lived in as a child once stood; the area
in vintage from "Blues in My Heart"
as our convincer!
was called San Juan Hill in those days,
(1931), which would have been a per-
Your company logo in full color on the dial of a deluxe,
water-resistant wristwatch. 18K Goldplated case, water-
and it was known as a tough neighbor-
fect vehicle for Jackson at Lincoln
resistant leather strap, battery powered quartz movement
hood. Jackson and Hutcherson each
Center, to the title suite, which Carter
with a 1-year no-service-charge warranty (battery
included). Men's and women's styles. Remarkably
played a set accompanied by just a
completed just in time for a concert he
inexpensive even in small quantities.
rhythm section; then they joined
played with the AJO at Cooper Union a
IMAGE WATCHES,™ INC.
Carter and a big band for the premiere
week or so before the recording ses-
400 S. Atlantic Blvd., Suite 302
of a suite called "Good Vibes," which
sion, in 1987. In addition to reviving
Monterey Park, CA 91754 (213) 726-8050
Attn: Mr. Shala
Lincoln Center had commissioned
interest in Carter, the Cooper Union
9am pm Mon. Fri., Pacific Coast Time
from Carter for this occasion. Although
concert, which was talked about for
Logo Watch Leader for over 10 Years
both the featured soloists interpreted
months afterward, supplied a rationale
Unconditional Money Back Guarantee
Carter's new music with relish, neither
for the emerging jazz-repertory move-
paid him the courtesy of performing
ment: it called attention to still timely
even one of his tunes during the first
masterpieces that weren't likely to be
Use your PC to Master
half.
heard in concert unless someone made
Japanese and Chinese
In a way, the evening was typical.
a special effort to perform them.
The only Carter tune you're ever like-
Marian McPartland Plays the Benny
E
njoy learning Asian languages with
ly to hear during a jam session is
Carter Songbook (Concord Jazz CCD-
Smart Characters for Students™ word
"When Lights Are Low," which musi-
processor and vocabulary
4412), with Carter augmenting the
tutor for PCs. Handy on-
cians usually know not from Carter's
pianist McPartland's trio on six of elev-
line references, diction-
recordings of it (the first was with the
en tracks, nicely complements Central
aries, vocabulary drills,
and furigana speed reading
singer Elisabeth Welch, in 1936, and
City Sketches, featuring as it does infor-
and writing. Learn and use kanji
the most famous was with Lionel
mal interpretations of such outstanding
and hanzi rapidly and effectively
Hampton on vibraphone, three years
Carter tunes as "When Lights Are
while creating your own composi-
tions and vocabulary lessons. Just
later) but from the version
Low" (as on the disc with
$79.95. Call or write for a free brochure.
Miles Davis recorded in
the AJO, the bridge is re-
Apropos Customer Service, 8 Belknap Street,
1953, without Carter's ele-
stored); "Lonely Woman,"
Arlington, Massachusetts 02174. 800 676-4021
gant bridge. For that matter,
sung by Peggy Lee in 1947
Carter himself is frequently
and not to be confused with
guilty of not featuring
pieces of the same name by
OWN A PIECE OF HISTORY
enough of his own tunes
Ornette Coleman and Hor-
when he plays nightclubs
ace Silver; "Only Trust Your
We deal in original letters
and documents written by
and festivals.
Heart," a bossa nova intro-
famous people. Americans,
I asked about this when I
duced by Stan Getz and As-
World Leaders, Scientists,
spoke with him by tele-
trud Gilberto in the 1964
Authors, Artists, Com-
posers and many more.
phone in his home in south-
TV film The Hanged Man;
Call toll-free or send $2
ern California late last year. "That's
and "Doozy," a sinuous blues that lives
for our catalogue today.
been because I've always felt that
up to its name, first recorded on Fur-
Please include phone
when people come to hear me, they
ther Definitions and performed twice on
number and individuals
A.Lincola
want to hear me play songs with which
Central City Sketches.
of interest
they're already familiar," he told me in
American Historical Guild
a tone intended to communicate that
ARTER NOW records so regularly
130 Circle Drive, Suite 200
this policy was the result of practicality,
C
that it has become possible to
Roslyn Heights, N.Y. 11577
not undue modesty. "But you know,
pick and choose among his al-
(516) 621-3051
800-544-1947
somebody else once asked me the
bums. All That Jazz Live at Princeton
same question, and I told him that I
(Musicmasters 5059-2C), his latest, re-
108
SEPTEMBER 1991
corded in concert last year at Princeton
ries-no comprehensive survey of his
University, where he frequently con-
early recordings has ever been issued
ducts master classes, suffers from a
by an American company. Before be-
humdrum selection of tunes-nothing
rating American companies for not giv-
new by Carter, who seems unfamiliar
ing us seminal Benny Carter in chrono-
with the chord changes to Thelonious
logical order, it's good to remember
Monk's "Hackensack" and Clifford
that these performances are still pro-
Brown's "Blues Walk"-and unre-
tected by copyright in the United
warding vocals by Carter, the trumpet-
States, though they no longer are in
XANDRIA
er Clark Terry, and a glib singer named
Europe. Classics-a French label that
COLLECTION
Billy Hill. (Hill was once a member of
is distributed here by Qualiton Imports
the pop group the Es-
(24-02 40th Avenue,
sex, whose delightful
Long Island City, NY
If you've been reluctant to purchase
"Easier Said Than
come to
sensual products through the mail, we
Done" reached No. 1 in
the rescue with five vol-
would like to offer you three things that
1963.) Carter is the only
umes (so far) of Benny
might change your mind.
reason for hearing The
Carter and His Orchestra
1. We guarantee your privacy.
Return of Mel Powell
(Classics 522, 530, 541,
Everything we ship is plainly and se-
(Chiaroscuro CR[D]
552, and 579).
curely wrapped, with no clue to its con-
301), which was record-
In addition to all of
tents from the outside. All transactions
ed aboard the S.S. Norway in 1987.
Carter's big-band sides through 1940,
are strictly confidential, and we never
Powell, who once played piano in
these splendidly remastered compact
sell, rent or trade any names.
Benny Goodman's big band and who
discs include his work with the Choco-
2. We guarantee your satisfaction.
last year won a Pulitzer for "serious"
late Dandies, a small, studio-only
If a product is unsatisfactory simply re-
composition, sounds as though he's
group drawn from the ranks of the
turn it for replacement or refund.
slumming here, or as though he thinks
Fletcher Henderson Orchestra and
3. We guarantee that the product
it's still 1938. His choppy, foursquare
other big bands, and the twelve ahead-
you choose will keep giving you
rhythm inhibits Carter, who seems
of-their-time-and-then-some perfor-
pleasure Should it malfunction, sim-
more in his element when surrounded
mances recorded in 1933 by the Elling-
ply return it to us for a replacement.
by relative modernists than he does in
ton-smitten Irish composer Spike
What is the Xandria Collection?
the company of musicians from his
Hughes and "His Negro Orchestra,"
It is a very special collection of sen-
own era.
which was actually Carter's big band
sual products, including the finest and
Along with Central City Sketches, the
augmented by such star soloists as
most effective products from around the
plums in Carter's recent discography
Coleman Hawkins and Red Allen.
world. It is designed for both the timid
are My Man Benny-My Man Phil (Mu-
Carter isn't extensively featured on the
and the bold. For anyone whose ever
sicmasters 5036-2C), from 1989, on
material by Hughes, but his band dis-
wished there could be something more to
which he piques the alto saxophonist
tinguishes itself in interpreting
their sensual pleasures.
Phil Woods into some beautifully ani-
Hughes's ambitious scores, and both
The Xandria Gold Collection
mated playing, and Over the Rainbow
"Noctourne" and "Music at Midnight"
a tribute to closeness and communica-
(Musicmasters 5015-2C), from 1988,
offer striking examples of Carter's
tion. Celebrate the possibilities for plea-
which rivals even Further Definitions in
abilities as a clarinetist.
sure we each have within us. Send for the
demonstrating Carter's unparalleled
Reissues like these usually put elder
Xandria Collection Gold Edition Cata-
skill at writing for saxophones. The
musicians in the hopeless position of
logue. It is priced at just $4.00 which is
most irresistible of the eight perfor-
competing with their past accomplish-
applied in full to your first order.
mances on Over the Rainbow is the stan-
ments. Carter actually seems to be
W
rite today. You have absolutely
dard "Out of Nowhere." After individ-
gaining on himself as the years roll by.
nothing to lose. And an entirely new
ual choruses by Carter and fellow
In baseball it's possible to chart the
world of enjoyment to gain.
saxophonists Frank Wess, Herb Geller,
progress of a Darryl Strawberry or a
Jimmy Heath, and Joe Temperley
Roger Clemens by measuring his rec-
The Xandria Collection, Dept. AT0991
(plus a brief spot by the pianist Richard
ord against that of a Willie Mays or a
P.O. Box 31039, San Francisco, CA 94131
Wyands), Carter leads the saxophones
Sandy Koufax at a similar stage in his
Please send me, by first class mail, the Xandria Collection
Gold Edition Catalogue. Enclosed is my check or money
through a speedy series of harmonic
career. In jazz, too, we can measure the
order for $4.00 which will be applied towards my first
variations so full of swagger that at first
accomplishments of Wynton Marsalis as
purchase. ($4 U.S., CAN., £3 U.K.)
I assumed I was hearing an orchestra-
he nears thirty by comparing them with
Name
tion of the solo Coleman Hawkins
the accomplishments of Louis Arm-
Address
played on this tune with Carter and
strong, Roy Eldridge, Dizzy Gillespie,
City
Django Reinhardt in 1937.
or Miles Davis at the same point. We
State
Zip
I am an adult over 21 years of age.
Carter recorded for a variety of la-
can compare Sonny Rollins at sixty with
bels, large and small, in the 1930s, and
Coleman Hawkins at that age. But
(signature required)
this might explain why-with the ex-
against what other jazz octogenarian
Xandria, 874 Dubuque Ave., South San Francisco 94080
ception of a no-longer-available boxed
can we measure Benny Carter? There
Void where prohibited by law.
set in the Time-Life Giants of Jazz se-
has never been anyone like him.
SEPTEMBER 1991
109
PAUL CHESLEY / PHOTOGRAPHERS-ASPEN: FAR RIGHT: LINDSAY HEBBERD / WOODFIN CAMP
110
SEPTEMBER 1991
Travel
An Asian Agenda
The biggest cities aren't always the best
by James Fallows
EOPLE TRAVELING in Asia have a
The "second cities" I have in mind
P
natural tendency to focus on cap-
are not always exactly second-ranking
ital cities-Tokyo, Bangkok,
in population and economic strength.
Seoul. The international airlines go
What matters is that they are large
there; the hotels are modern and the
enough to be interesting but don't suf-
clerks speak English; businesses, uni-
fer the distortions of being No. 1.
versities, and museums are concentrat-
Kyoto is the classic second city, a
ed in one place. In many Asian coun-
showplace of traditional culture-
tries the capital dominates to a degree
Asia's counterpart to Florence or Len-
that no single city has ever dominated
ingrad. The cities in Asian countries
the United States. Greater Tokyo is Ja-
can generally be divided into "Tokyo"
pan's equivalent of New York, Wash-
and "Kyoto" categories. Those in the
ington, Boston, and Los Angeles com-
first category, today's capitals, are
bined. In the past decade Thailand's
where you go to do your business and
industrial output has soared, but if you
realize your ambitions. Those in the
exclude businesses based in or near
second, often yesterday's capitals, are
Bangkok it has barely changed.
where you drink in the atmosphere and
The imbalance between metropolis
look around.
and hinterland is a big social problem
Seoul has skyscrapers, a few historic
for Asian societies, as it is for Third
gates and temples, and lots of pollution
World countries in general. Subsis-
and traffic jams. Kyongju, in southeast
tence farmers in Java or rural Thailand
Korea, was, like Kyoto, a capital a
know they must go to the capital if
thousand years ago and is now a city of
they want to educate their children or
temples and shrines. Such bustle as
find a paying job. But the same imbal-
Malaysia has is confined to Kuala
ance also creates opportunities for a
Lumpur. Malacca and Penang, Malay-
"second city" approach to travel. Pre-
sia's two second cities, would remain
cisely because SO many of the bad (as
recognizable in their torpor to Graham
well as good) effects of modernization
Greene or Somerset Maugham.
have been shunted away from most
My favorite illustrations of the sec-
sites except the capital, the smaller
ond-city principle are in Southeast
cities in each country can display the
Asia. In Thailand, Indonesia, and
nation's character to advantage.
Burma, travelers who make it beyond
At left: a Buddha and stupas at the temple of Borobudur, near Jogjakarta, Indonesia.
Above: women of the Akha tribe in northern Thailand, near Chiang Mai
SEPTEMBER 1991
111
the capital will have a much different
neys. Even I was depressed by the
the No. 2 city is called, is small and
and more satisfying experience than
typical one-day trip that hotels and
slow and, even compared with Chiang
those who stay on the big-city route.
tour companies offer. As the huge
Mai, unspoiled. It remains the home of
"trek" bus rolls up to each "authentic
the arts that give Indonesia its strong
B
ANGKOK, Thailand's No. 1 city in
village," the gaily costumed tribesmen
cultural identity: waxing and dying ba-
every conceivable way, will
pop out to their assigned places at sou-
tik cloth; making the leather and
someday provide rich material
venir stands. But my wife and I went
wooden puppets that are used in the
for a writer or film-maker who wants to
on a three-day trek toward the Bur-
eerie wayang shadow plays; gamelan
show, as Dickens did with London in
mese border that was authentic
music; and Javanese dance, with its
the mid-nineteenth century, how cruel
enough for us. It began with a four-
fantastic backward manipulation of the
and messy economic growth can be.
hour drive in the back of a pickup
fingers. Three times a week dance or
For the past decade the city has been
truck, then a three-hour trip upriver in
gamelan performances are held in an
booming and many people have gotten
a motorized canoe, and then what
outdoor pavilion at the kraton, the 250-
rich, but daily life for most people
seemed like a month but was actually
year-old palace of the Sultan of Jogja-
seems to have gotten worse. The bus
two hours in a howdah on the back of
karta. The courtyard of the kraton is
stations disgorge rural migrants who
an elephant as it swayed and lumbered
made of hard-packed red dirt. Barefoot
end up sleeping in shanties. The roads
up steep hills. We traveled the next
court attendants pad across it, carrying
are so glutted with cars and the motor-
few days on foot and slept in villages
special rice to the sultan's table or bear-
ized carts called tuktuks that the traffic
that may not have been "unspoiled"
ing batiks to be washed. An extraordi-
stops and the air turns brown. Chiang
but were certainly unimproved. As we
narily beautiful movie called Max Ha-
Mai, Thailand's second city, has fos-
walked on mountain trails overlooking
velaar, made more than a decade ago,
tered enough of a spillover tourist in-
glades full of swaying opium poppies, I
depicted Java during the Dutch impe-
dustry that old-timers complain that it,
speculated that the "supply-side" poli-
rial age. It's hard to find, but if you
too, is being "ruined." I think it still
cy, which would attempt to solve
ever come across it, you'll see how lit-
has a long way to go.
America's drug problems by cutting off
tle kraton life has changed.
Chiang Mai is near the northern tip
the source, was touchingly ambitious.
Garuda, the main Indonesian air-
of Thailand, in the vast highland zone
You can get to Chiang Mai from
line, offers an inexpensive hour-long
that spreads across the nearby borders
Bangkok by taking either an hour-long
flight from Jakarta to Jogja, which is
of Burma, Laos, and China's Yunnan
flight on Thai Air or a relatively com-
the easiest way to get there. Another
province. This region includes the in-
fortable overnight trip (be sure to book
possibility is a special train called the
famous "Golden Triangle," where
a sleeper) on the national railroad. It's
Bima, after a famous figure from the
much of the world's narcotics supply
possible to rent a car and make the
wayang plays. It is a charming combina-
originates. Anthropologists flock here
drive in twelve or so hours, but as in
tion of squalor and elegance; the table
to study the dozen or so hill tribes,
many developing countries, driving is
may be dirty, but the waiter spreads a
such as the Hmong, the Akha, and the
not really safe. Chiang Mai has modern
starched white tablecloth over it before
Lahu, who move across national bor-
hotels-we stayed at the Chiang Inn
you dine. The Bima is, however, comi-
ders, practicing slash-and-burn agricul-
Hotel-and numerous hostels.
cally inconvenient, arriving from Jakar-
ture as they go.
ta sometime between midnight and
Chiang Mai itself has a fresh-air up-
NDONESIA HAS not been as aggres-
4:00 A.M. The leading hotel in town,
land feel after the humidity and dirt of
I
sive or clever as Thailand in pro-
the Ambarrukmo Palace, has a gamelan
Bangkok. It was the capital of the in-
moting tourism, but in a way its art-
orchestra in its lobby and a pool out-
dependent Lanna Thai kingdom 500
lessness underscores its appeal.
side. Jogja, too, has many hostels.
years ago, and the old moat is visible
Indonesia is the most exotic-seeming
When you tire of Jogja itself, you can
below the restored city walls. Just out-
place I have ever been: the Indone-
drive an hour outside town to the
side the city is the leafy, improbably
sians seem to be so wrapped up in their
mighty temple of Borobudur. This is a
Wellesley-like campus of Chiang Mai
own culture that they don't much care
multi-tiered stone monument, as big at
University. Its front gate is dominated
what outsiders might think of them.
its base as one of the Great Pyramids of
by the university seal, which depicts
When you step out onto a street in
Egypt. Indonesia's religious life in-
an elephant brandishing the torch of
Indonesia, you are enveloped by
volves Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism,
knowledge in its upraised trunk.
clouds of clove-scented smoke from
and animist faiths enmeshed with one
The city is distinctly a jumping-off
the local kretek cigarettes. I used to
another, and Borobudur itself portrays
point at the edge of the frontier. Thais
think of this as an obvious but apt sym-
both Hindu and Buddhist deities. The
are always coming in from the hills
bol for the distinctive "atmosphere" of
structure, which is covered with hun-
with tribal crafts to sell and, of course,
Indonesia. When you are lucky, you
dreds of Buddha figures, has recently
with drugs. (If this, unwisely, should
are enveloped as well by clouds of mu-
been restored in a fifteen-year project
be your interest, bear in mind that
sic from gamelan orchestras, with their
sponsored by the United Nations.
U.S. Customs pays close attention to
ethereal bronze or bamboo gongs.
It is a chore to climb to the top of the
travelers who have visited Thailand.)
The traditional stronghold of Java-
temple, but the result is worthwhile,
And foreigners are always heading out
nese arts is Jogjakarta, 300 miles south-
especially at sunset or dawn. In every
of Chiang Mai on hill-country treks.
east of Jakarta, in the center of Java.
direction you see the deep, deep green
I am sure that anthropologists would
Jakarta itself, Indonesia's No. 1 city, is
of rice paddies and palm trees, com-
deplore the superficiality of these jour-
huge and sprawling and ugly. Jogja, as
bining with the red of tile roofs and the
112
SEPTEMBER 1991
MARY BETH CAMP / MATRIX
In Pagan, Burma, which was a capital city a millennium ago, Dhammayangyi Temple is among the 5,000 monuments still standing
orange of the sun, all the colors intense
sand years ago. During a 200-year burst
Most of the structures were made of
tropical hues. The volcano Mount
of religious fervor, Pagan's rulers built
wood, and have vanished. Still, more
Merapi, whose eruptions make the re-
thousands of temples, pagodas, stupas,
than 5,000 of them, made of brick and
gion's soil so fertile, sits smoking in the
and other monuments. Then the ar-
earth, remain, some as large and gran-
middle distance. Heavy clouds blow
mies of Kublai Khan stormed in and
diose as the Victor Emmanuel Monu-
across the sky.
Pagan was abandoned. As Tony Wheel-
ment in Rome, others pup-tent-sized
er, the author of the indispensable
personal shrines. Apart from the tem-
HE ONLY Asian vista I've found
T
Burma: A Travel Survival Kit, wrote, it
ples and pagodas, almost nothing re-
more evocative is one in Bur-
is "as if all the medieval cathedrals of
mains in Pagan: a few farmers tending
ma's hinterland. It is awkward
Europe had been built in one small
plots of beans or rice among the monu-
even to mention Burma (which its re-
area, and then deserted, barely
ments, a few vendors sitting by trays of
gime now calls Myanmar) in a travel ar-
touched over the centuries."
thousand-year-old clay pipes or pottery
ticle, since the country is so difficult to
shards. I believe these artifacts to be
get to and is a place of such despair.
authentic; as I walked from temple to
Apart perhaps from North Korea's,
LINDSAY HEBBERD WOODFIN CAMP
temple, I saw other relics protruding
Burma's government is the most re-
from the dusty earth. Perversely yet
pressive and benighted in all of Asia, a
somehow inevitably, the only modern-
counterpart to Haiti's in the days of
looking factory I saw in Burma is also
Papa Doc and the Tonton Macoute.
located in Pagan, its smokestacks pok-
The country's No. 1 city, Rangoon, is a
ing up among the spires.
heartbreaking museum of decay. The
If, just before sunset, you climb to
buildings the British left behind forty
the top of one of the largest temples,
years ago are still there, but now
such as Thatbyinnyu or Ananda, and
they're crumbling in the heat and rain.
look in any direction except toward the
Yet in Burma's broad central plain,
chemical plant, you survey an unearth-
through which runs the Irrawaddy Riv-
ly scene. Dark-ocher temples stand out
er, is a marvel that should be as famous
against the baked red-clay landscape,
as the Great Wall of China. Mandalay,
for miles and miles and miles. The sun
Burma's second city, is more cheerful
starts descending, and all the reds
and bustling than Rangoon; like Chiang
deepen. No sound or glare of city lights
Mai, it is an entrepôt for traders and
intrudes. You think about how big the
smugglers coming in from the hills.
world still is, and how briefly men live.
Beyond Mandalay, five or six hours by
You will not see these sights or think
jeep, is the marvel: Pagan, which was
just these thoughts back home-or in
the capital of northern Burma a thou-
Transportation by tonga in Pagan
any country's No. 1 city.
SEPTEMBER 1991
113
Books
less hostility to his subject. Caro com-
mands an encyclopedic knowledge of
the minutiae of Johnson's life, right
down to the pearl-gray 20X beaver
Stetson and the bright floral-patterned
necktie that Johnson sported at the ju-
dicial hearing concerning allegations of
fraud in his 1948 election. Caro's ac-
count of that election, in Means of As-
cent, is a page-turning triumph of the
storyteller's art. But what animates
Caro's swarms of detail, and what fuels
his obsessive, indefatigable pursuit of
his man, is a fixation on Johnson's "ut-
ter ruthlessness
and a seemingly
bottomless capacity for deceit, decep-
tion and betrayal." Caro deems that
characterization SO essential to his ac-
count that it appears verbatim in the
introductions to both his volumes.
Now comes another enormous biog-
raphy of Johnson, covering much of
the same ground, by Robert Dallek, a
historian at the University of California
at Los Angeles and the author of a
prizewinning study of Franklin Roose-
velt's foreign policy. Like Caro, Dallek
cannot contain Johnson's large life be-
tween two covers, though he has man-
aged in this first of two projected vol-
umes to bring the story as far as
A Fairer
and emphasize the most scurrilous de-
Johnson's election as Vice President, in
tails of the subject's life, and to assume
1960. His research is every bit as com-
not merely a critical posture but an ad-
prehensive as Caro's. As a dramatist he
Likeness
versarial one toward the biographee.
may have to yield to Caro, though his
Without such salacious revelations and
personality sketches and his eye for the
by David M. Kennedy
such authorial animosity, modern biog-
telling anecdote are masterly-remi-
raphies risk wanting for credibility
niscent of Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., at
and, presumably, for readers. Whether
his best, in his Age of Roosevelt. Dallek
LONE STAR RISING: Lyndon
it is modern lives or only modern lit-
can also spin a mighty good yarn, while
Johnson and His Times, 1908-1960
erary tastes that have grown more
avoiding melodramatic excesses like
by Robert Dallek.
lurid and antagonistic is an interesting
Caro's description of Johnson's oppo-
Oxford University Press, $30.00.
speculation.
nent Coke Stevenson, accompanied by
Few contemporary practitioners of
the famed former Texas Ranger Frank
AINT MY picture truly like
the biographer's craft have honored the
Hamer, as they strode down the street
"P
me," Oliver Cromwell alleg-
wart doctrine more sedulously than
of the Rio Grande Valley town of Alice
edly instructed his portraitist,
Robert A. Caro. The two volumes pub-
in 1948 to challenge the vote count in
"roughnesses, pimples, warts, and ev-
lished to date of his biography of Lyn-
the now-notorious Ballot Box Number
erything.
In the three centuries
don Johnson (The Path to Power, 1982
13: "two tall, broad-shouldered, erect,
since Cromwell's time his injunction
[previewed in The Atlantic], and Means
silent men-two living legends of Tex-
has been transformed. It once served
of Ascent, 1990), which take the story of
as," with Hamer's right hand "poised
as a reminder to the biographer to
Johnson's life as far as his election to
just above the butt of his gun, his fin-
strive for realism and balance and criti-
the U.S. Senate in 1948, abundantly
gers curled for the draw." On balance,
cal distance, but it has somehow be-
demonstrate Caro's thoroughness as a
as a historian seeking to place his sub-
come an imperative-the wart doc-
researcher and his skill as a drama-
ject in context and as a biographer sen-
trine, it might be called-to expose
turge. They also attest to his remorse-
sitive to the full range of Johnson's stu-
114
ILLUSTRATIONS BY KENT BARTON
SEPTEMBER 1991
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sents an extraordinary challenge
to any biographer. He was a man
of vibrant compassion and colossal vul-
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needed first paycheck on athletic
equipment for his impoverished pupils
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in the dusty little Texas town of Co-
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115
a storm of warring human instincts: sin-
the main chance but also men of vi-
Coming
ner and saint, buffoon and statesman,
sion who worked effectively for a
cynic and sentimentalist." His aide
larger good.
Next
George Reedy called him "a man of too
Here lay a rationale for the lower Colo-
many paradoxes." Telling his life story
rado River dam project-and for a raft
Month
would tax the narrative power of Tol-
of other federal projects in Texas and
stoy and the descriptive talents of
In
the South which Johnson promoted-
Mencken. Dallek is aware of the scope
which reached far beyond the interests
of his burden as Johnson's biographer,
of Brown & Root.
and he prudently warns the reader that
The
Atlantic
his subject presents "contradictions
I
T WAS JOHNSON'S appreciation of
that defy easy understanding."
that rationale which led President
Caro seeks understanding through
Roosevelt in 1937 to pay special at-
simplification, with the result that his
tention to the new young representa-
account, especially in Means of Ascent,
tive from Texas's Tenth Congressional
is in the end as one-dimensional as the
District. Johnson was "the most re-
THREE FORESTRY
lone and level Texas llano. Dallek ren-
markable young man," FDR told his
ders his subject with much more chiar-
assistant, Thomas Corcoran. "Now I
MYTHS
oscuro. Indeed, Dallek often casts
like this boy, and you're going to help
by Perri Knize
light where Caro only sees shadow. In
him with anything you can." Corcoran
he U.S. Forest Service ar-
Caro's view, for example, the Texas
helped plenty. "When Roosevelt told
T
gues that federal timber is
political operator Alvin J. Wirtz pro-
me to take care of the boy," he later ex-
needed to meet an escalating
moted Johnson's candidacy for Con-
plained, "that meant to watch out for
demand for wood; that the sale
gress in 1937 as a means to rescue
his financial backers too. In Lyndon's
Wirtz's client Brown & Root from im-
of federal timber aids timber-
case there was just this little road
minent ruin. The construction firm of
dependent communities; and
building firm, Brown and Root." Dal-
Brown & Root had staked its future on
lek adds, "Word went out
that
that timber sales make a prof-
it for the federal treasury. All
the prospect of federal funding for a
Federal contracts in Texas were to go
dam on the lower Colorado River, near
these claims, the author ar-
to 'Lyndon's friends." For example,
gues, are without foundation.
Austin. Congressman Johnson would
Brown & Root was awarded the con-
be the instrument of obtaining that
tract to build the Corpus Christi Naval
funding, and to get him elected, ac-
Air Station-one of many such favors.
cording to Caro, Wirtz cynically in-
For Caro, these kinds of revelations
CHARLEMAGNE'S
structed Johnson to run as "Roosevelt's
suffice to damn to perdition Johnson
man." That electoral strategy, Caro
and all his works. For Dallek, they are
DREAM
writes, was "nothing but pragmatism."
part of a larger design, one for which
by Kenneth C. Danforth
Wirtz in fact shared "the views of the
not Johnson but Franklin Roosevelt
F
or more than a millen-
reactionary Roosevelt-hating business-
was the original draftsman. Roosevelt's
nium Europeans have
men of whom he was both legal repre-
purpose was announced in the Roose-
sentative and confidant."
sought to link two of their
velt Administration's 1938 Report on
Dallek acknowledges the interest
greatest rivers, the Rhine and
Economic Conditions of the South, which
the Danube, by a canal. The
that Brown & Root had in the young
described the region as "the Nation's
Johnson, and the enormous, often sur-
goal will be reached next year,
No. 1 economic problem.
"
The
when one of the greatest pub-
reptitious, probably illegal role that
New Deal fired its first salvo in the war
lic-works projects in history is
Brown & Root, along with Wirtz,
on southern poverty with the Tennes-
finally completed.
played in financing Johnson's later po-
see Valley Authority, launched in 1933
litical career. But Dallek also offers a
as the country's first comprehensive
description of Wirtz as someone who
experiment in regional economic de-
"loved Roosevelt and the New Deal,
velopment. By the late 1930s a much
How I CAME WEST,
and
was a champion of public pow-
enlarged array of New Deal programs
er and Federal welfare programs."
could be brought to bear to channel
AND WHY I STAYED
Moreover, Dallek adds that "like Lyn-
federal resources southward: Farm Se-
by Alison Baker
don, [Wirtz] saw FDR's New Deal as
curity Administration loans to farmers,
n one wall of her cabin
helping to create a more prosperous
Work Projects Administration and Pub-
"O
Texas and new south." He concedes,
lic Works Administration contracts for
she had a USGS map, all
construction projects, U.S. Housing
squiggles, with red-headed
Wirtz and Johnson were self-serving
Authority subsidies to home-builders,
pins marking the cheerleader
opportunists.
but they were also
new breed southerners who saw the
and Rural Electrification Administra-
sightings." A short story.
Federal government as a vehicle for
tion grants to electrical cooperatives.
advancing the interests of their state
Lyndon Johnson used them all. Within
and region. They were not only
two years of his election to Congress
shrewd operators with their eyes on
he had secured some $70 million in
116
SEPTEMBER 1991
federal monies for his constituents.
can economic life.
[T]he plight
The Second World War, of course,
of the children at Cotulla and his
vastly accelerated the pace of govern-
sense of exhilaration at being able
ment investment in the South-and in
to help them,
the suffering
the West as well. Taken together, New
caused by the Depression and the
Deal and wartime policies constituted
humane response of FDR's govern-
ment, all made him a strong believer
PASSION
a far-reaching program for the forced
in using Federal power for the good
economic modernization of the South
of needy Americans everywhere,
and the West. Beyond that economic
David Krogh
but especially in the South.
development beckoned a vision of po-
Competling Sw a to sus Mail
litically modernizing the South, relax-
Dallek insists that it is only within
PROBING THE DEEP ROOTS
ing the death grip of the conservative
this larger framework that we can appre-
OF AN INTRIGUING HABIT
southern establishment on the Demo-
ciate the true drama of the victory mar-
cratic Party, and clearing the path for
gin of eighty-seven votes that "Land-
SMOKING
the civil-rights movement. Though
slide Lyndon" achieved in the 1948
those policies proved largely success-
Democratic senatorial primary cam-
THE ARTIFICIAL PASSION
ful, they were ferociously resisted by
paign against Texas Governor Coke
DAVID KROGH
many southerners, and are controver-
Stevenson.
Why do millions of people (including one
sial still.
It now seems beyond question-
out of every four Americans) ignore the
This is the picture into which Dallek
thanks largely to Caro's investigative
harmful consequences of tobacco and
paints Lyndon Johnson. He persua-
effort-that Johnson's operatives in
continue smoking? Author David Krogh
provides some fascinating answers in a
sively renders this part of his story as
the 1948 election illegally added 202
provocative investigation of this passion,
something considerably more interest-
votes to his count in the town of Alice,
with an appendix on how to quit.
ing than the saga of a self-serving pork-
and perhaps more elsewhere. Whether
208 pages, 30 illustrations
barrel politician. In Lyndon Johnson,
this manipulation of the voting returns
2246-1, $17.95, cloth
Franklin Roosevelt had found one of
merely offset identical abuses by Ste-
Spanning the Sciences
the few promising instruments of his
venson's forces will probably remain a
W.H. Freeman and Company
"southern strategy." Roosevelt's
moot question. But the story of the
The book publishing arm of Scientific American
"Brain Truster" Rexford Tugwell once
1948 election is not just a melodrama
described FDR's purpose as, simply,
of electoral villainy, nor simply an epi-
"a better life for all Americans, and a
sode in an individual's political career.
Introducing
better America to live it in. I think it
It is a key chapter in the history of the
was that general." The President's
modern South, and of the nation.
concern merged with the aching ambi-
As Dallek makes clear, Coke Ste-
Ladybug
tion of the young congressman, an am-
venson was no rudely wronged white-
bition that transcended his personal
hatted innocent. He had helped W.
Ladybug
the new
magazine
desires. "Of all the things I have ever
Lee "Pappy" O'Daniel steal the 1941
for children
done," Johnson reflected in 1959,
senatorial election from Johnson
ages 2 to 7
"nothing has ever given me as much
through fraudulent reporting of the
from
satisfaction as bringing power to the
vote from certain Texas counties. He
CRICKET
hill country of Texas. Today in my
was associated with the so-called Texas
magazine
home county we have full grown men
Regulars, a potent political faction that
who have never ever seen a kerosene
in 1944 had split the Texas Democratic
Discover the pleasure of quiet moments with
lamp except possibly in a movie-and
Party into pro- and anti-Roosevelt ele-
your child, in a world of ideas, adventures,
that is all to the good."
ments. The Regulars denounced "the
and activities. "It's a delight to the eye, an
Communist-controlled New Deal,"
adventure for the mind."
OHNSON NOT ONLY shared Roose-
called for a restoration of states' rights,
J
velt's vision; in due time he vastly
and asserted "the supremacy of the
-Lloyd Alexander, author/Newbery medalist
amplified it. Roosevelt's war on
white race." Their actions foreshad-
southern poverty would prove to be
$19.95
for an EIGHT-ISSUE TRIAL
owed the 1948 split in the national par-
only a preliminary skirmish in what be-
ty, when the Dixiecrats bolted in pro-
subscription. Send no
came Johnson's full-scale, nationwide
test against the strong civil-rights plank
money. We will bill you later. It's like getting
War on Poverty. Roosevelt's relatively
in Harry S. Truman's platform.
one newsstand copy FREE! Order now by
modest aspirations for the New Deal
Stevenson himself had commented
calling toll free or by sending us this coupon.
would inflate into Johnson's heady
about a wartime lynching in Texarkana
Name
dreams of the Great Society. Johnson's
that "certain members of the Negro
Address
"whole life experience," Dallek
race from time to time furnish the set-
writes,
ting for mob violence by the outra-
City, State, Zip
was at the core of his identity as a
geous crimes which they commit." He
LADYBUG, Box 58344, Boulder, CO 80322
southern New Dealer liberal nation-
was also an isolationist who opposed
1-800-BUG PALS
alist who aimed to integrate the
the Marshall Plan. According to the
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South into the mainstream of Ameri-
legendary Texas historian J. Frank Do-
SEPTEMBER 1991
117
"A remarkable range of examples for visual thinking. A real treat for all who
reason and learn by means of images." RUDOLF ARNHEIM
bie, Stevenson knew "as much about
foreign affairs as a hog knows about
"The book itself provides a model of good design-each beautifully printed page
Sunday." He represented, in short, ev-
a harmony of space, type and illustration. NEW YORK TIMES
erything from which Johnson and the
national Democratic leadership were
"Spectacular, reminiscent of E. H. Gombrich's Art and Illusion." BALLAST QUARTERLY
trying to liberate the South: its stultify-
ing heritage of parochialism, economic
backwardness, racism, and isolation-
"An incredibly beautiful,
ism. For this reason Truman, like Roo-
true, refined and luscious
sevelt before him, favored Johnson's
book." DENISE SCOTT BROWN
making
candidacy. Dallek even speculates that
and ROBERT VENTURI
Truman's Attorney General, Tom
Clark, may have lobbied Supreme
of three
display
data
cranked
Court Justice Hugo Black to issue the
A three dimensional fold-up from
the
court order that effectively ended Ste-
the first English translation of Euclid's
methods for
were
Although
venson's petition to keep Johnson off
Geometry, published in 1570
Direct
more
universe
Buniquo
wodow
the ballot.
solar
and
graves
directing
Plantary
It is the cardinal virtue of Dallek's
book that here and elsewhere he ren-
ders the events of Johnson's life in
ENVISIONING INFORMATION
their full historical context. The result
is a biography that illumines not only
by EDWARD R. TUFTE
both the excellencies and the malig-
nancies of Johnson's often baffling
Over 400 illustrations with exquisite 6- to 12-color printing throughout. Finest examples
character but also the political and so-
in technical, creative, and scientific presentations: diagrams, legal exhibits, computer
cial landscape across which he so huge-
graphics, charts, maps, and use of color. Moneyback guarantee. $48 per copy postpaid.
ly moved. Dallek does not blink at the
Also available: The Visual Display of Quantitative Information, $40 per copy postpaid.
unsavory parts of his subject, nor does
he luxuriate in them. He understands
Send check to: Graphics Press Box 430-M Cheshire, Connecticut 06410
that political survival in Texas may
have necessitated dirty tricks, and as-
suredly required occasional ideological
Answers to
trimming and the delicate balancing of
the August Puzzler
principle and practicality. Truman
knew this too, and did not object to
Johnson's support for the Taft-Hartley
ROLIBERTHGIR
Law, an anti-labor measure opposed by
IGEDETALENNP
liberals and passed over Truman's veto.
There was no political advantage to a
ARALLSEINESS
Texas politician in antagonizing "the
NECAEIRAWGRE
big oil boys" when, as Johnson ex-
TPICPHOROLTA
plained, "labor's not much stronger in
SUSKATLEBLES
Texas than a popcorn fart."
NIIARGOTIEST
TRIAUNDAOCOR
A
LONG AS HE was a Texas politi-
AMADOEHSURTE
cian, this was the balancing act
that Lyndon Johnson was com-
EEDCSAGEDIMU
pelled to perform. Witnessing the con-
XTRAPTDIESPL
servative Republican take-over of
ETALONAVDANA
Congress in 1946, he shifted right-
ward, muting his New Dealish senti-
"RECTANGULAR"
ments. Yet Dallek suggests that this
was a tactical adjustment, not proof of
1. R(I-GO)-R 2. G-IN-S-ENG 3. ELIDE (hidden) 4. DELIBERATED (anag.) 5. TEL-EPA-
insincerity or of callous opportunism.
(THIS)T (tape+ let rev.) 6. ARE-NA (rev.) 7. R(ACE)-R 8. LACK-A-DA-IS-1-CAL(1) 9. EART-
Insofar as possible Johnson stayed true
(HEN-WAR)E (a tree anag.) 10. SP(RIGHT-LINE)-SS 11. ELS(I)E 12. R(I)SER (anag.
to his New Deal heritage. In his maid-
+I) 13. PIC-K-SUP 14. H-O-LOG-RAP-H 15. ROLLER COASTER (anag.) 16. TR(y)-EAT
17. SUPERGIANTS (anag.) 18. ELBOW GREASE (anag.) 19. S(EST)ETS 20. GROUNDHO-
en Senate speech, in 1949, he opposed
G (anag. +g) 21. TI(BE)T 22. AN(IM)-A 23. T(RUST-I)EST 24. A(IRMA)DA 25. co(y)-
applying cloture to debate on civil-
MIC(e) 26. RUMOR (homophone) 27. EXTERMINATE (anag.) 28. DR-ATT-ED 29. CARD-
rights legislation, thus preserving the
I-AC(e) 30. SPONTANEOUS (anag.) 31. DI(SAD-VAN)TAGED (dated GI anag.) 32.
classic southern device of the filibuster
D(A-V)ID 33. ESPLANADE (hidden) 34. PLUM-P 35. EXTRAPOLATE (anag.)
as a defense against civil-rights reform.
But seven years later, in 1956, he was
118
SEPTEMBER 1991
one of only three southern senators
shreds." So, too, Caro implies, was the
had started reading Thomas Wolfe,
who refused to sign the "Southern
social fabric in general, and Lyndon
however, and discovered that he had
Manifesto," which pledged resistance
Johnson was the culprit. This view of
been "a writer all along without really
to the Supreme Court's school-integra-
history is consistent with the conven-
having realized it."
tion decision in Brown V. Board of Edu-
tions of dramatic (or melodramatic)
That morning he and the others
cation of Topeka. That refusal, said Or-
narrative of which Caro is a master, but
looked up from their pancakes and cof-
egon Senator Richard Neuberger,
it does scant justice to the complex rea-
fee as dull rumbles shook the barracks.
constituted as "courageous an act of
lities of modern American history.
Someone said it must be dynamite, but
political valor as I have seen.
"
It also, to put it mildly, assigns a rath-
even as the men nodded agreement,
Johnson was by then well on his way
er large explanatory role to a single
they heard fighter planes screaming
to becoming the most powerful Senate
man's personality. It is, in the end, a
overhead. Still clutching their bonus-
majority leader in American history.
cartoon.
ration half pints of milk, they ran into
The columnist Stewart Alsop mused
Robert Dallek is not a cartoonist but
the quadrangle and saw columns of
that he had perhaps become even more
a scrupulously faithful portraitist. He
smoke rising above Wheeler Field.
powerful than the President, "because
appreciates how tangled is the skein of
Japanese pilots, flying so low the sol-
he loves to exercise power and Presi-
history, and how mysterious is the hu-
diers could see their faces, strafed
dent Eisenhower does not." His influ-
man heart-especially Lyndon John-
them with machine-gun fire, and they
ence in Congress, his geographical
son's heart. He gives us Johnson warts
rushed back inside for their weapons.
background, and what Dallek calls his
and all. He knows that if you want Fal-
"This is it," one man said to another.
"genuine commitment to New Deal,
staff, you can't have him lean. If under-
Jones described Pearl Harbor morn-
Fair Deal programs, the liberal nation-
standing Johnson's life is in fact the
ing-using nearly the same words-
alism of the thirties and forties, that
key to understanding the 1960s, in
four times in his writing, first ten
transformed America," made him a
Dallek's telling neither the puzzle nor
months later, in a book report on The
natural vice-presidential candidate on
the solution will be a simple matter.
Red Badge of Courage for a University of
the Democratic ticket with John Fitz-
How the liberal legacy fared in John-
Hawaii English course, and then in
gerald Kennedy in 1960. On Novem-
son's hands in the tumultuous decade
From Here to Eternity, The Pistol, and
ber 22, 1963, in Dallas, he became
of his presidency will be the essential
the nonfiction WWII. And no wonder:
President of the United States.
subject of Dallek's next volume. This
he knew he was an eyewitness to an
This installment of Dallek's biogra-
reviewer can't wait to read it.
event that changed millions of lives,
phy ends in 1960, but in a sense both it
his among them. Yet those unforgetta-
and Robert Caro's volumes are books
ble few minutes had a particular im-
about the decade that followed. For
pact on Jones. In their smoke and con-
both authors, the paradoxes of John-
A Voice
fusion a young writer suddenly saw his
son's life mirror and perhaps embody
great subject-men at war.
the central, agonizing paradox of the
1960s, the decade of triumphant liberal
Against
From that moment, though he was
soon fighting on Guadalcanal, even
achievement and catastrophic liberal
failure. Both Caro and Dallek seem
Anonymous
killing a Japanese soldier in hand-to-
hand combat, Jones was as much ob-
preoccupied with some urgent riddles.
Perhaps, they suggest, much as a
Death
server as participant. The regimental
doctor teased him in the heat of battle:
knowledge of Lincoln's life can help
unlock the historical meaning of the
by Michael Lydon
"Hello, Jonesie. Getting more ma-
Civil War, a deep understanding of
terial for that book of yours you're
Johnson's life will provide clues to
gonna write?"
I laughed, a little hysterically
these riddles: How did American soci-
THE JAMES JONES READER:
probably. "More than I want, Doc."
ety, just as it conquered the heights of
Outstanding Selections From
liberal reform, almost immediately
His War Writings
Days and nights facing instant death
slide into a bitter repudiation of the
Birch Lane Press/Carol Publishing,
numbed Jones and the other soldiers to
liberal heritage? What explains the
$24.95.
their souls, an agonizing process Jones
seismic shift in American political and
later called "the evolution of a soldier."
cultural values which shook this coun-
HEN THE JAPANESE attacked
try in the 1960s and whose aftershocks
W
The last step in this process, Jones
Pearl Harbor, on December 7,
wrote in WWII, was "to accept ano-
unsettle us still?
1941, James Jones was there,
nymity in death," and this step his own
Caro places the epicenter of that
a twenty-year-old enlisted man eating
nascent hope of immortality would not
shift in Dallas, precisely at the instant
Sunday breakfast in the mess hall at
let him take.
of Kennedy's death. Until that mo-
nearby Schofield Barracks. Nothing
ment, he writes, "the delicate yet cru-
seemed to set him apart from his fel-
I remember lying on my belly more
cial fabric of credence and faith be-
lows. The son of a small-town Illinois
than once, and looking at the other
sweating faces all around me and
tween the people of the United States
dentist, Jones had joined the Army out
wondering which of us lying there
and the man they had placed in the
of high school, one more directionless
who died that week would ever be
White House" was intact. "By the time
Depression kid looking for three
remembered in the particulars of his
Johnson left office, the fabric was in
squares and a bunk guaranteed. He
death by any of the others who sur-
SEPTEMBER 1991
119
vived. And of course nobody else
assimilate, down the streets and
novels plus a volume of short stories
would know, or much care. I simply
down the hills, along the flumes and
and two books of reportage. All sold
did not want to die and not be re-
irrigation ditches that webbed the
well, and Jones lived well in Paris on
membered for it. Or not be remem-
carmine earth of the plateau and
the proceeds. Yet Major American
bered at all.
now were torrential rivers.
Writer status is no guard against fash-
Luckily, Jones suffered head and an-
-the scope and detail of Eternity's
ion, and Jones's reputation rode a roller
kle injuries just bad enough to get him
realism, and its frank vernacular lan-
coaster, up when he wrote about war,
shipped to an Army hospital in the
guage, owe more to Dreiser, Sinclair
down when he took on peace. Critics
States-"the best way to be wound-
Lewis, and James T. Farrell. An enor-
savaged The Merry Month of May ("as
ed," according to Corporal Fife in The
mous best seller, Eternity became, like
great a crime against nature as against
Thin Red Line, the second of Jones's
The Grapes of Wrath before it and The
literature"-Newsweek), even his
three great war novels. More serious was
Caine Mutiny after it, a novel that a big
friend William Styron found Go to the
the emotional damage. When again de-
public and critics alike took to heart.
Widow-Maker "filled with plywood
clared fit for active duty, Jones thrice
The stubborn southern loner Prewitt,
characters, implausible dialogue, and
went AWOL to escape going back into
the cynical Sergeant Warden, and Mag-
thick wedges of plain atrocious writ-
combat, this time in Europe. Army
gio, the scrappy Italian (soon played by
ing," and Mailer wrote in Advertise-
psychiatrists found a "psychoneurosis"
Montgomery Clift, Burt Lancaster,
ments for Myself that Jones had "sold
that had not been present when he en-
and Frank Sinatra in a film that swept
out." Jones's struggles against the
listed, and in July of 1944 Jones was
the Academy Awards), became well-
blockbuster trap are evident in a letter
honorably discharged for "disability in
loved characters. Readers everywhere
to Helen Meyer, the president of Dell
line of duty and not due to his own
winced and cheered simultaneously as
Publishing, defending his offbeat, and
misconduct." He went home to Robin-
Prewitt killed cruel Fatso Judson to
short, A Touch of Danger.
son, Illinois, and began to write.
avenge Maggio's murder:
I think when you say "major novel"
Seven years of flailing, the first two
His knife went into Fatso at the dia-
you really mean "big, long, natural-
sympathetically guided by Wolfe's leg-
phragm, just under the ribs.
istic novel." Such as Jones is "noted
endary editor, Maxwell Perkins, of
for."
They stood that way perhaps a
Scribner's, produced From Here to
second or two, perhaps five seconds,
I don't think you understand
Eternity, a big, brawling novel about
thigh to thigh, Prew with his lower
what's a major book, Helen. It
lip between his teeth pushing and
doesn't have to be 500,000 words.
the soldiers in pre-Pearl Hawaii. De-
spite occasional run-on sentences in-
twisting the knifeblade probing in
The somber tone of Whistle, Jones's
spired by Wolfe-
the fat until the haft was buried in it
unfinished and posthumously pub-
gouging.
Then Fatso started
lished last novel, won wide respect,
But in early March the times be-
down.
rounding off his career on an apprecia-
tween the rains got shorter and the
Eternity made Jones famous, a lion
tive note. Yet in the decade and a half
rains themselves got longer, until fi-
nally there were no times between,
of New York's hard-drinking literary
since, Jones has drifted into a "jury's
but only rain, of which the earth
crowd, profiled in Life and paired with
out" limbo, and bringing in a favorable
would avidly drink its fill and then,
Norman Mailer as an angry young man
verdict today means bucking current
like a man dehydrated in the desert
of the postwar novel. In the twenty-six
critical trends. Not only is he a tradi-
who cant keep from drinking too
years until his death, in 1977, Jones
tional realist in the postmodern era, he
much, vomit all the rest it could not
wrote steadily, publishing six more
is also a White Male Author if ever
120
SEPTEMBER 1991
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a better, stronger
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esty that Raymond Chandler would
nation.
Yes, please rush my FREE $5 certificate
have applauded. The tone of The Merry
and catalog of all 50 gourmet coffees.
Month of May seems oddly prim unless
Find out how you can help. Write:
Name
we remember that this is not Jones
Civil War Battlefield Campaign
Address
speaking but the narrator, Jonathan
The Conservation Fund
James Hartley III, a stuffy bachelor.
1800 N. Kent Street, Suite 1120
City
Hartley thinks he is simply telling how
Arlington, Virginia 22209
State
Zip
his friends the Gallaghers fell apart as a
5991
SEPTEMBER 1991
121
family during the Paris student protests
tences that occasionally bridge long
In the last lines of Whistle, dictated
in 1968, but what we see-quite as we
streams of thought. In The Thin Red
as he was dying of heart failure, Jones
might in a Ford Madox Ford novel-is
Line, Jones keeps us looking through
brought his fellow feeling for soldiers
that Hartley's gossiping. tongue trig-
his soldiers' eyes as they discover both
to a climax of nearly unbearable inten-
gered the tragedy.
combat's horrors—
sity. His prose, always direct and un-
The editors of the Reader have a
point, however: the war trilogy-Eter-
What if just as he put up his head an-
adorned, becomes sublimely simple.
nity, The Thin Red Line, and Whistle-is
other one exploded and a piece of it
By this time, helplessly unable to cope
took him square between the eyes,
with the frenetic getting and spending
Jones's masterwork. Jones defined
or knifed into his face, or ripped
of the home front, Prell has committed
"greatness in art" as "telling the whole
through his helmet and split his
suicide and Winch has gone mad.
truth beautifully, to create catharsis,"
skull?
Strange, however, the sad-faced cook
and in these three fine novels he
who always fed his men, has recovered
achieves it, purging himself, in pun-
-and its perverse pleasures:
and is shipping out to fight in France.
gent English prose, of all he learned
The truth was, he liked all this shit.
Pacing the deck of the troopship one
about life as a soldier.
He liked being shot at, liked being
night on the North Atlantic, he realizes
Jones builds his trilogy on one com-
frightened, liked lying in holes
that he cannot go "into Europe with
pany of soldiers, about eighty men,
scared to death and digging his fin-
this new outfit knowing what he knows
drawn from every corner of America.
gernails into the ground, liked
from the Pacific," and he jumps over-
Cocky kids at first, stuck at a sleepy
shooting at strangers and seeing
board. His body swells in the cold wa-
Hawaiian outpost, they get drunk and
them fall hurt, liked his stickywet
fight over women and points of pride
feet in his stickywet socks. Part of
ter, and he hallucinates that he is grow-
him did.
ing bigger until he is "bigger than the
until, at the end of Eternity, Pearl Har-
galaxy out in the universe."
bor shatters their world. The Thin Red
Dreiser unifies his huge cast around
And as he swells
Line catches them in the hell of com-
this picture of a
one character, Cowperwood; Jones
fully clothed soldier with his hel-
bat, crawling up God-forsaken hills on
unifies his around three, Prewitt, War-
met, his boots, and his GI woolen
Guadalcanal, their bellies pressed into
den, and Stark. Unlike Dreiser (and
gloves seems to be taking into him-
the mud to escape withering Japanese
unlike Balzac, Trollope, and most oth-
self all of the pain and anguish and
fire. In Whistle those who don't escape
er serial novelists), Jones gives the cen-
sorrow and misery that is the lot of
limp home, cocky no more, to cling to-
tral characters new names in each nov-
all soldiers, taking it into himself
gether in the hushed wards of a Ten-
el. Jones felt he had to do so because
and into the universe as well.
nessee Army hospital, hoping to heal
the story of Eternity demanded that
Then he shrinks, back into himself,
their scarred bodies and souls.
Prewitt die even though Jones needed
then into a sea horse, an amoeba, an
The three novels cover "a time span
the character in the second and third
atom. His last thought: "He did not
corresponding to my own experience,"
books. His solution was to use slightly
know whether he would drown first or
Jones wrote in Whistle's introduction,
different names for the three charac-
freeze."
yet far from being a shapeless reminis-
ters, leaving enough similarity to be a
cence, the trilogy has a structure that
clue to their continuing identity. Thus
in solidity and scope can stand beside
Prewitt is Witt in The Thin Red Line and
Dreiser's Trilogy of Desire. As Dreiser
Prell in Whistle. Warden becomes
follows financier Frank Cowperwood
Welsh and then Winch; Stark becomes
Brief
from youth through victorious middle
Storm and then Strange.
years to the defeats of old age, so Jones
Jones was trying to solve a problem,
Reviews
follows his soldiers as they progress
not pose a paradox, but using different
from innocence through experience to
names for the same character served
reflection. Dreiser grounds his dramat-
his deepest concerns as a writer. From
ic curve on geography, using precise
the Emerson quotation that opens
pictures of place to make us see Cow-
Eternity, that all history may "be ex-
perwood moving from Philadelphia to
plained from individual experience,"
Chicago to London and finally to New
to his dedication of Whistle to "every
York. Jones paints his three locales and
man who served in the US Armed
HARD DRIVING by Dermot Cole. Paragon
the troopships that connect them in
Forces in World War II," Jones tried to
House, $21.95. The 1908 auto race
equally vivid detail, making us feel ev-
create characters as real and ornery as
from New York to Paris was a circula-
ery step of the soldiers' long voyage
the soldiers he fought beside and
tion-raising caper fomented by Le Ma-
west and then east around the curve of
thereby save them all, himself includ-
tin of Paris with cooperation from The
half the earth.
ed, from anonymous death. Prewitt,
New York Times. There were six en-
Dreiser, his roots in nineteenth-
Witt, and Prell stand proud and dis-
tries-three French cars, one German,
century realism, writes as an outside
tinct, yet they also blend into one an-
one Italian, and, at the last minute,
observer. Jones, a twentieth-century
other, one containing many, many con-
one American. The original plan called
realist, begins that way but digs pro-
taining one. Through the paradox, in
for an ice crossing of the Bering Strait
gressively deeper into each character's
short, Jones makes the few characters
(Roald Amundsen, when consulted,
point of view until, in Whistle, we see
he did name brothers to the unnamed
thought it could be done, given a sup-
the soldiers' outsides only in short sen-
millions.
ply of sledges, folding boats, and pem-
122
SEPTEMBER 1991
You deserve a factual look at
mican), but that lunacy was aban-
Loan Guarantees for Settlement of Soviet Jews
doned. Milder lunacies survived, for
Should the U.S. Play a Role in this Humanitarian Enterprise?
the enterprise was not the sort to at-
Only a few months ago, the world was able to watch the thrilling spectacle of the airlift of 15,000
tract sensible or even reliably honest
Ethiopian Jews to Israel. But the rescue of the Ethiopians, heartening and important though it
men. Crews bickered, rules were ab-
is, is really onlya "sideshow" in the ongoing saga of this ingathering. The greatest challenge facing
ruptly altered, cheating was lavishly
the Jewish state today, almost even more daunting than the implacable hostility surrounding
Israel and the ever-present military challenge, is the ingathering of the Soviet Jews.
charged, and the American press held
What are the facts?
they may not take more than $100 out of
carnival while American roads (fright-
the country. There are no ready jobs, and
ful) and American weather (appalling)
For years it had been one of the great
there is no ready housing. It is a daunting
policy objectives of the United States vis-a-
and almost overwhelming task to absorb
whittled the field down to four. Absurd
vis the Soviet Union to allow the free em-
these people. It is estimated that it will
as the race looked at the time and in
igration of its citizens. Of all the national-
ultimately cost more than $50 billion.
some respects still does, it established
ities in the Soviet Union, the Jews are by far
But Israel is determined to overcome
the viability of cars as long-distance
the most endangered and the most anx-
this challenge, to build the 260,000 new
ious to leave the country. Finally, the gates
housing units that will be needed, to build
transport vehicles. It also inspired the
have begun to open- a little slowly at first,
the 12,000 new classrooms, to create the
U.S. government to fix up its roads.
but then wider and wider. Under U.S. immi-
360,000 new jobs, and to integrate the
Mr. Cole describes the entire trek with
gration laws, only a small number of these
1 million Soviet Jews into Israeli life, just
Soviet fugitives are able to come to our
as it has done with over 1 million previous
an unpretentious efficiency that makes
country. The vast majority plan on settling
immigrants. Israel and world Jewry will
for very good reading.
in Israel. And that is as it should be. Be-
carry virtually all of the cost of this absorp-
cause the state of Israel has one single
tion and will create the massive additional
IN THE SHADOW OF THE REICH by Niklas
purpose: the ingathering of Jews, especial-
infrastructure needed to sustain a popula-
ly those that are persecuted and who are in
tion increase of over 20% in just two or
Frank. Knopf, $23.00. Mr. Frank is the
need, from all corners of the world. And it
three short years. In this fiscal year alone,
son of Hans Frank, Hitler's governor-
doesn't make any difference, of course,
more than $6 billion or 20% of Israel's
general in Poland, who was hanged for
whether they are "Europeans" or whether
budget will go toward absorption of immi-
they come from the Arab countries, from
grants. The American Jewish community
war crimes at Nuremburg. Mr. Frank's
Asia or, as now in the case of the Ethiopian
will have raised more than $4 billion and
letter to his father is an outpouring of
Jews, whether they are black Africans.
has agreed to co-sign a further $900 mil-
hatred and contempt so violent that
So far, about 300,000 Soviet Jews have
lion guarantee to help with these costs.
arrived in Israel. A total of about 1 million
one is tempted to label it pathological,
There is one urgent matter, however, in
are expected within the next three years.
which the assistance of the United States
for quotations from actual documents
Since the population of Israel is about 5
will be needed. Israel will ask the United
and diaries are interspersed with ob-
million, that is equivalent to the United
States to guarantee (not to grant, not even
scene and sadistic fantasies and specu-
States having to absorb about 45 million
to lend) $10 billion for housing, funds that
new immigrants - more than the popula-
will be needed, in $2 billion yearly install-
lations. Frank senior was a good
tion of the states of California and New
ments, over a 5-year period. This is a finan-
Nazi-a murderer, a party sycophant,
York combined - and that within a 3-year
cial transaction that is virtually without
a liar, a hypocrite, a pious blabber-
period! And the United States is a rich
risk and at virtually no cost to the United
country and an immensely large one. Isra-
States. In contrast to many of the develop-
mouth, a bisexual lecher, and a thief of
el is a poor country. Its per capita income
ing countries, Israel has never defaulted on
everything from Gobelin tapestries to
is less than $10,000 per year and more than
a loan and has never asked for "forgiveness"
200,000 pickled eggs. He also perpe-
one-half of the country's budget is dedicat-
of any indebtedness. It has a perfect pay-
ed to defense. And it's small: the size of the
trated bad verse, but that can hardly be
ment record. American guarantees of this
country is one-half that of San Bernardino
$10 billion loan are absolutely required in
blamed on the Nazis. Detestation of
County in California. The Soviet immi-
order to make the orderly absorption of
his father is not the whole motive for
grants come virtually penniless, because
Soviet Jews into Israel possible.
Mr. Frank's savage excoriation. He be-
The matter of the loan guarantees will be before Congress almost immediately. The United
lieves that the qualities that made
States, a country of immigrants just like Israel, has tremendous moral responsibility in this
Frank senior and the rest of the Nazi
matter. As with all other financial assistance to Israel, the funds under this guarantee will
be used only within Israel's 1967 borders. No funds will be used to settle Jews in Judea/
brutes what they were remain under
Samaria (the "West Bank"). But the United States must focus on the humanitarian nature
the surface of modern Germany-that
of this enterprise. It must not be "linked" and must not be conditioned upon any political
is, "an ancient, inbred, eternally recur-
issues, such as the procedural questions of the peace process, the question of settlements
in the administered areas, or any other "concessions". Israel, like the United States, is a
ring pleasure in imprisoning, torturing,
beacon of liberty and of hope. The United States should approve the $10 billion loan
and killing people." That perception
guarantee to Israel - its best friend and staunchest ally in the world - and should assist,
frightens him. His eloquent and often
virtually without risk and expense to itself, in one of the greatest liberation movements of
our times: the exodus of 1 million Soviet Jews and their orderly absorption in Israel.
sickening diatribe is an attempt to give
a general warning as well as to exorcise
This ad has been published and paid for by
Yes, want to help the publication of these ads and in
his terrible ghosts.
clarifying the situation in the Middle East. I include my
FLAME
tax-deductible contribution in the amount of
THE DARK SISTER by Rebecca Goldstein.
$
A /35
Viking, $19.95. Henry James, taken se-
Facts and Logic About the Middle East
P.O. Box 590359
San Francisco, CA 94159
My contribution is in the amount of $50 or more. Please
riously as a model, is a dangerous influ-
FLAME is a tax-exempt, non-profit educational 501(c)(3)
send me your booklet containing over 24 of the ads that you
ence. Ms. Goldstein has not taken him
organization. Its purpose is the research and publication of
have published in national media over the last few years.
the facts regarding developments in the Middle East and
seriously. She has pilfered his charac-
exposing false propaganda that might harm the interests of
My name is
ters, his family, and his style with irrev-
the United States and its allies in that area of the world. Your
tax-deductible contributions are welcome. They enable us to
I live at
erent abandon, and tossed them into
pursue these goals and to publish these messages in national
the novel being written by the protago-
newspapers and magazines. We have virtually no overhead.
In
State
Zip
Almost all of our revenue pays for our educational work, for
nist of her own novel. That novel, Ms.
these clarifying messages, and related direct mail.
Mail to: FLAME, P.O. Box 590359, San Francisco, CA 94159
Goldstein's, is basically about tensions
SEPTEMBER 1991
123
West Germany
ORIGINAL Schuco
and influences among relatives-
are laid low. They have interviewed
mother and daughters, sister and sis-
farmers, barely escaped arrest for tres-
ter, father and everyone-but it touch-
passing, and listened to reports of
2
es on SO many other topics that the
UFO sightings, to which the locals
reader constantly alternates between
seem unusually prone. They have re-
surprise and curiosity. There is a decid-
sorted to dowsing and a psychic. They
ed but ambiguous feminist element in
seem to have done everything possible
Grand Prix
the story. The heroine believes her
except take deep soil samples (when a
5 1/2"long
1936 Mercedes
theme to be "How the kinds of gifts
surface soil sample was carried home,
that are celebrated in men are seen as
the burglar alarm became deranged)
All metal body using 1930's tooling. Features include: rack
ghastly monstrosities in women." Her
and study the chemicals used by the
and pinion steering, key-wind clockwork motor, visible
working differential, metal wheels with knock-off hubs,
publisher, a roaringly radical feminist,
farmers on whose land the phenomena
and "changeable" rubber tires; car comes complete with
orders her to "stop being SO fucking re-
appear. (The authors have been ap-
speed jack, tool kit and spare parts.
$65
actionary." Publishers, reviewers, and
proached by scientists from a number
In silver, red, blue or green with assorted
agents all draw Ms. Goldstein's satirical
racing numbers.
of disciplines but "do not readily part
Shipping $6 ea. In NV add 6% tax. Satisfaction Guaranteed.
fire, as do psychiatrists, spiritualists,
with our often hard and expensively
Pay by: Visa, MasterCard, American Express or check.
advertisers, and a few innocent by-
gained knowledge.") In addition to the
Lilliput Motor Co. Ltd. P.O. Box 447, Yerington, NV 89447
standers. The underlying intention of
many-often handsome-photo-
Call: 1-800-TIN-TOYS (846-8697) Fax: 702-463-5581
the novel is serious and the conclusion
graphs of the manifestations, this re-
is macabre, but for most of its length
port contains a summation of the the-
the text is wittily eccentric.
ories advanced to account for the crop
Schuco
circles, explanations of the inadequacy
THE TERRORS OF ICE AND DARKNESS by
of the same, and accounts of similar ap-
Christoph Ransmayr. Grove Weidenfeld,
pearances worldwide. The circles re-
$18.95. This novel is constructed in
main provocative and inexplicable, for
three layers. First there is a narrator,
the only firm conclusion drawn by the
Beautiful Notebooks,
who is trying to find out what became
authors is that neither wildlife nor hu-
Portfolios,
of his acquaintance Mazzini, an Italian
man pranksters can be responsible.
author who has disappeared in the Arc-
Journals.
tic. Then comes Mazzini, who was in
BRIEF LIVES by Anita Brookner. Random
All Handcrafted.
the North because of his obsession
House, $20.00. When a novel opens
with the Austro-Hungarian North Pole
with "Julia died," the reader is entitled
Simply the finest. Select leathers
Expedition of 1873. Finally there is
& Cloths. All notebook sizes, incl.
to expect something in the way of ten-
LEFAX/Filofax, Daytimers, Time/
that expedition itself, which never
sion or action, if only a family row over
Design. Portfolios for all tablets.
reached the pole but produced records
the will. Ms. Brookner provides noth-
Acid-free paper journals. Free
that the author quotes to fine effect,
ing of the sort. Her narrator, Fay, has to
catalog. Call or write:
because a number of its members
consider herself a friend of Julia's, al-
The Bindery on Main
wrote well. (One of them, Sir Julius
though she never liked that arrogant,
Workbench 8B
Payer, cartographer and commander on
self-centered, slyly catty ex-diseuse,
208A Oak Street, Ashland, OR 97520
land, in fact wrote brilliantly of the
and assumes that Julia found her bor-
503/488-0196
fearsome beauty of the North and later
ing despite a loose professional con-
turned to painting to record it. He was
nection. Fay had been a promising
an amazing man and deserves a book
singer, on radio, of the type of senti-
American Library Association
to himself.) All these elements-narra-
mental ballad popular in the 1940s, but
tor, missing Mazzini, antique expedi-
gave it up when she fell in love with a
tion-are blended by the author into a
handsome, energetic lawyer. The man
discussion of Arctic exploration and an
had a batty and possessive mother and
inquiry (predictably inconclusive) into
a house decorated in chichi by his di-
the fascination that has lured to ice and
vorced wife. Ignoring these impedi-
darkness so many men who did not
ments, Fay married him, committing
need to go.
herself to a life of meek obedience and
suppressed resentment. It may be Ms.
CIRCULAR EVIDENCE by Pat Delgado and
Brookner's intention to prove that a
Colin Andrews. Phanes Press, $30.001
heroine who resembles a torpid jelly-
Looking for the library?
$14.95. For ten years Mr. Delgado and
fish can be made appealing, but if so, it
Mr. Andrews, both electrical engi-
is a regrettable ambition. Julia-by far
Then follow this sign.
neers, have been examining the flat-
the best-realized, if also the nastiest,
It's the new national
tened circles and rings that mysterious-
character in the novel-is right: Fay is
ly appear in fields in southern
boring, whether one views her as an in-
library symbol.
England. They have measured them,
dividual or as a social specimen.
photographed them, and analyzed the
use your library
various swirling patterns in which crops
-Phoebe-Lou Adams
124
SEPTEMBER 1991
THE PUZZLER
BY EMILY Cox AND HENRY RATHVON
MITOSIS
In replicating itself, diagram A shares half its material with diagram B. That is to say, each of the 38 clue answers is split
into front and back halves, and each diagram gets 19 front halves and 19 back halves. When the answer pieces have
been properly assigned to their diagrams, solvers will find that by adding a letter to the square joining the two, they can
spell an appropriate nine-letter word reading from left to right. Answers include two proper nouns.
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
A
B
8
9
8
9
10
11
12
13
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
30
31
32
33
34
35
33
34
35
The solution to last month's Puzzler appears on page 118.
ACROSS
24. Chances for some music (8)
4. Little guy's race time (4)
27. Get back the heart of Chris
6. Shining silver trash (8)
1. Brainy cryptic split into two parts
Evert (6)
7. Endangered lives with king
(6)
28. Boxing champ spies woman's
captured by Communist (6)
3. Weigh undersized Laker? (6)
name (6)
12. Direction for brewing teas (4)
5. Cut of meat having red vein (6)
30. In cocktail, brown pigment is
13. Worker with a van full of rocks,
8. Draw conclusions about Atlantic
resting (10)
also (8)
coastal city lower down (8)
32. Studies of geese sex changing (8)
14. Pet female auto? (6)
9. Like some rockets a GI must let
33. Workers run into folks from
16. Comedy's opening guarantees
loose (10)
Warsaw (6)
criticisms (8)
10. Talks about bridge's last tricks (6)
34. One refusing study-that is right
18. Sneaks duck aboard ship (6)
11. Corrects me in finales (6)
(6)
20. Person in an agreement to pace
15. Distrusts religious groups keeping
35. Stop to put a spare on? (6)
around hot spot (10)
us quiet (8)
22. Awful ruler's head bone buried
17. Pilots aircraft's nose by way of hills
in pit (8)
(8)
23. Good bit of corn equipment (4)
19. Makes bands arrange songs,
DOWN
25. Colder and wetter eels tire out (8)
holding tenor's debut back (8)
1. Some hear a bicultural language (6)
26. Adult strips, going back in a
20. Andalusian article found in red
2. By bequest, gets into the woman's
trance (6)
wine cabinet (8)
things? (8)
29. Sort of a bigot, mad as I get (6)
21. Cutting show's first audience (8)
3. CEOs, by the way, eating liver? (10)
31. Reportedly dug with care (4)
NOTE: The instructions above are for this month's puzzle only. It is assumed that you know how to decipher clues. For a complete introduction to clue-solving,
send an addressed, stamped envelope to The Atlantic Puzzler, 745 Boylston Street, Boston, Mass. 02116.
SEPTEMBER 1991
125
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126
SEPTEMBER 1991
WORD HISTORIES
Etymologies derived from the files of the Dictionary of American Regional English
BY CRAIG M. CARVER
anathema
ing can be made not only for
good purposes but also for
Amid a scandal involving First
evil ones, in ecclesiastical
American Bankshares, of
Greek and Latin anathema
which he had been chairman
came to refer to "anything of-
for ten years, Clark Clifford,
m
fered or devoted to evil, an
the consummate Washington
evil or accursed thing" ("Nei-
insider and adviser to Presi-
ther shalt thou bring anything
dents, was asked why, at the
of the idol into thy house, lest
age of seventy-five, he had
thou become an anathema,
gone to work for a bank to
like it"-Deuteronomy 7:26,
begin with. "The suggestion
Douay). In the Christian tra-
of retirement is total anathema
dition, to be accursed is to be
to me," he said. "I didn't want
word was used in the sense of
late as the seventeenth cen-
cut off from the Church and
to go to Florida and rot."
"offering" in the Septuagint
tury ("Will not permit a [spi-
consigned to damnation-an
Anathema (someone or some-
("Judith offered for an anathe-
der's] web-the very pattern,
implication that entered into
thing cursed, shunned, or re-
ma of oblivion all the arms of
index, and anathema of super-
the meaning of the English
viled) is from the classical
Holofernes, which the people
naturall wisdome-to remain
word in the sixteenth cen-
Greek anathema (a votive of-
gave her. Judith 16:23,
untouched"-Edward' Top-
tury. Its figurative secular
fering), and means literally
Douay version) and appears
sell, The Historie of Serpents,
sense has been common al-
"that which is set up." The
in English with this sense as
1608). Because a votive offer-
most as long.
and knee"-Horace, Odes, in a
duke it out
ing-slang explanation of duke,
1666 translation), from the
it is possible that the term de-
Germanic root *dud- (to shake).
"I love duking it out with Tom
rives from dookin, which was
From this root came several
and Dan and Peter." These
gypsies' and thieves' cant for
English words, including the
are not just any Tom, Dick,
"fortune-telling." Dookin is
Middle English doten ("to be
and Harry but the news an-
from the Romany word dukker
weak-minded or deranged by
chormen of the three major
(to tell fortunes). Since a com-
reason of old age," hence dote,
networks: Tom Brokaw, of
mon method of fortune-telling
dotage, and dotard) and doderen
NBC; Dan Rather, of CBS;
was palm reading, dookin
(to shake, tremble), later be-
and Peter Jennings, of ABC.
would have been interpreted
coming dodder and giving rise
The speaker is Bernard Shaw,
as reading one's "dook," or
to the related terms dadder,
the anchorman at CNN, dis-
palm, later confused with
dudder, and didder. From didder
cussing his competition: "I
duke.
("By his extraordinary chatter-
talk to them all the time, so-
ing and diddering, one half of
cially, professionally. We al-
his Teeth dropt out"-Cyrano
ways peel off into some corner
de Bergerac's Comical History,
when we're together on a
translated by Archibald Lov-
story." Duke, meaning "a fist,"
ell, 1687), which is used chief-
comes circuitously from the ti-
ly in northern England and is
tle Duke of York. The early
the origin of diddle (to jerk up
nineteenth century saw the
and down), came the midland
development of Cockney
and southern variant in which
rhyming slang, in which a
the pronunciation -ther re-
word or phrase stands in for
placed the older -der-as it
something that it rhymes with.
dither
did, for example, in father,
For example, holy friar means
mother, feather, and hither. It
"a liar," trouble and strife is a
"Across this country people
was not until around 1900 that
wife, and Duke of Yorks are
have started to transform the
the current sense of dither-
forks. Because fork tines are
American school," President
"to vacillate or act indecisive-
like fingers and five fingers
Bush remarked in a speech
ly"-developed, no doubt
make a hand or fist, Duke of
earlier this year. "They know
arising from the tremulousness
Yorks, or simply dukes, be-
that the time for talk is over;
of someone in a state of agitat-
came hands or fists. Duke it out
their slogan is: Don't dither,
ed indecision ("All newspapers
(to fight with the fists) is from
just do it." The original mean-
are run by madmen, but the
the earlier put up one's dukes
ing of dither is "to shake, trem-
'Watchman' merely dithers"-
(1874; literally, "to raise one's
ble, or quiver" ("So tremulous
H. C. Bailey, Mr. Fortune's
fists to fight"). Although most
is she/Dith'ring both in heart
Practice, 1923).
etymologists accept the rhym-
SEPTEMBER 1991
ILLUSTRATIONS BY LYN BOYER-PENNINGTON
127
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