POSSIBILITIES FOR POLITICS
Stalinism now renounce politics entirely, in both instances because of
an inability to draw simple distinctions. Once bitten, twice shy? Perhaps;
but not forever shy.
C. Wright Mills has written a book in total opposition to such cur–
rent inclinations as quietism, ideal-community building, advocacy of
"preventive" atomic war, a truce with the right because of fear of
Stalinism. From the sociological bulk of his book, an analysis of the
current status of American labor leaders, he develops a political program
for what might roughly be called the anti-Stalinist left. Very possibly,
some readers will find his optative tone the product of an act of will,
for his book would indicate that he does not share the extreme pessim–
ism of most radical or once-radical intellectuals. As a result, the book
suffers from a certain lack of maneuverability in argumentation and of
emotional rapport with its probable audience; but at the same time, we
owe him a considerable debt of gratitude for having tried, in a time of
depressed silence, to reopen a discussion on politics.
The book is based on an intensive poll of labor leaders, from the
results of which Mills constructs a portrait of their views on American
society. He contrasts these views with those of the several small, political–
ly alert publics that compete for domination of American politics, and
then discusses possible relationships between the labor leaders and these
publics in the event of war or economic slump. He is thus able to shuttle
between his limited subject and its large implications.
The politically alert publics designated by Mills are worth mention–
ing, for they may provide usable categories, once subjected to criticism
and test, for future discussion. They are: the far left (the Marxist
sects) : the independent left of homeless radical intellectuals; the rhe–
toric-ridden but disoriented liberal center; the Stalinists; the largely an–
achronistic practical conservatives (Taft) "who lean heavily on the
standard American success story and the beneficient role of the small
businessman" and who yearn for laissez-faire economy, a minimum
intervention in foreign matters and punitive measures against labor; and
the sophisticated conservatives who envisage a bloc between corpora–
tion business and military bureaucracy, with a docile labor leaderslaip
as junior partner, in order to establish a garrison state.
At the moment, says Mills, it appears as if the significant political
battles are between the practical right and the liberal center, but "be–
hind men's backs" there moves along "the main drift." This, in essence,
is the drift to a
stateified
economy, in which the state "becomes the
regulator of the national labor force" as well as, in its role as a major
purchaser for military and foreign-program needs, a stabilizer of the
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