160
I do not feel isolated and therefore I
cannot take pride in my isolation. In
fact the book which is supposed to
testify to this isolation was written in
close contact with my friends and my
students (many of whom have become
my friends) here and abroad, in Wal–
tham and elsewhere. Mr. Berman as–
sures us that Waltham isn't
"that
far
out." Indeed, from Waltham so many
students went down South because of
their "flat refusal to stand any longer
for systematic injustice." For them too,
my book was written, and they did find
an "echo" of the world in its pages–
perhaps they could read
it
without the
time-honored cliches in their mind–
the comforting cliches of rejecting pes–
simism because in reality things aren't
that bad and may even be looking up a
bit. Accentuate the positive. Well, I
did. Immediately preceding the sen–
tence (quoted by Mr. Berman) about
the negative character of the critical
theory of society is the statement (not
quoted by Mr. Berman):
the chance is that, in this period,
the historical extremes may meet
again: the most advanced conscious–
ness of humanity, and its most ex–
ploited force.
It
is nothing but a
chance ...
(Ibid.,
p. 257)
This was my way of "accounting" for
the young people who are risking their
lives in the South, and not only in the
South of this country. And my book
ends with quoting one of the greatest
tributes that has ever been paid to
hope-to uncompromising hope. Mr.
Berman ends his review with the ma–
ture, realistic understanding of the man
who knows the world and the rules of
the game while making his bow before
the "spirit":
There are times when even the best
Ideas serve only as dead weight,
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