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GEORGE P. ELLIOTT
out large-scale organization of storm-troopers there can be no violent
seizure of power. Rioters, lynchers, and fantasy cowboys America has
in plenty, but where are the disciplined thugs? In the gangs, of course–
devoting themselves to the most American of enterprises, making money.
I think that the largest and most enduring reason not to fear Gold–
water fascism, or anything close to it, is money. No political issue
would justify for Republicans-or many other Americans-the sacrifice
of the right and power to make money. What's good for General
Motors is good for the nation, but what
is
good for fascism is sometimes
bad for General Motors-the destruction of civilization, for example.
Also, an American is poor only if he personally is worthless or un–
fortunate, and no political action can remedy those conditions. (This
belief is another profoundly traditional ingredient of Goldwaterism.)
It comes down
to
this: fascist anti-Communism means total war, which
is obviously unprofitable; let's keep our anti-Communism profitable,
which means more Cold War. Which means, in fact, status pretty much
quo ante Goldwater. Let us not derogate our prodigal avarice and our
national disinclination
to
organize politically.
Goldwater's conservatism is even more detestable than the muddled
liberalism by which we have long been ruled, and it has even fewer
virtues. But he is right: it is the only available alternative. Having the
one, we had better have the other, so that every citizen can have a
clear choice of what to vote against.
RICHARD HOFSTADTER
Barry Goldwater is something new, very new, in our politics.
As a rule, such men have flourished only in minor parties, yet he has
not only won the nomination but gained unusually firm control over
a major party. Normally a major party nomination is won partly by
establishing predominant popularity among its voters and partly by
accommodating other -party leaders. Goldwater has won without doing
either, but by arousing great intensity of conviction among a minority
of enthusiasts, and then imposing upon this minority a tight disciplinary
structure. Hitherto our major parties have not been founded on
ideologies: they have worked by arranging continual compromises
among heterogeneous interests, and they have been led by men of