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denial of his native roots; and it cannot be at the expense of his
internationalism, or of those feelings of anguish, dissidence, or es–
trangement which are also essential to his life.
ARTHUR SCHLESINGER, JR .
There seem to me two main issues raised by the
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statement: ( 1) the change of attitude toward America on
the part of American intellectuals; and (2) the prospects for culture
in a mass society.
Of course, American intellectuals have vastly changed their
attitude toward American institutions in the last generation (or
perhaps it would be better to say that bitter experience has forced
them to summon up resources within themselves and within the
American tradition to whose existence they had previously been in–
different). The twenties had placed the American intellectual in a
singular dilemma. He lived in a society which seemed to work fine
economically, but whose leaders were clearly hostile to art and in–
telligence. He therefore went through the dramatic motions of 're–
jecting' this business-dominated and business-oriented society without
really rejecting the deep sense of security it gave him. The social
framework, though suffocating and repugnant, seemed stable and
enduring. The rejection of business rule was accompanied by an
unquestioning belief in the permanence of that rule. With the
economic (and, one must add, military) foundations of life thus
secure, the intellectual could luxuriate, a bit irresponsibly, in the
mood of being in a wasteland, a member of a lost generation, a
hollow man with headpiece filled with straw, etc., while at the
same time losing himself in the creative exuberance of a brilliant
period. And, in the rejection of business rule,
.a
rejection somewhat
delighted and self-conscious, the intellectual identified business with
America and rejected America too. Like Calvin Coolidge, he really
believed that the business of America was business.
T hen came the depression; and the intellectual realized with a
shock that the foundations were not solid, that the framework was
very fragile indeed. With the chips really down, he needed every
source of support he could find. Depression thus brought about a
serious-even a desperate- inventory of American resources. " In
