NEW RADICALISM
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scarred, try to substitute their intransigent will for the sluggishness
of history, and at times seem almost- almost- to want everything to
explode in a tragic apocalypse.
Unavoidably, then, whatever radicalism does appear among the
young will seek to express itself in violent gestures, in stances of
generational defiance, in personal style more than intellectual content.
And what should be of special interest for readers of this magazine:
most of the intellectual spokesmen of the last few decades who have
been most influential, figures like Sidney Hook and Lionel Trilling,
cut no ice whatever among the articulate young; quite the contrary.
3. Concerning American politics the "new radicalism"
has
made
one practical contribution insofar as it has linked itself with the
tactics of passive or non-violent resistance that were first worked out
by the Negro movements. On a theoretical level, its contributions
have been sparse, indeed, its abilities meager. There is far too much
uncritical repetition of phrases like "the Power Structure" and "the
Establishment" (this last a favorite term of dismissal, used with a
gay inclusiveness).
Deep down the "new radicalism" seems to have a large respect
for the strength and durability of the American system, for it virtually
foregoes the idea that significant initiatives can come from those major
classes and groups that are more or less integrated into the society.
Few of the "new radicals" retain any faith in the Marxist notion that
the proletariat will provide the impetus or energy to change society–
they are right in abandoning that political myth-and so they look
about for new social groups to provide a dynamism for change. Some
of them have fastened their hopes upon the "underclass," the un–
structured and unrepresented poor beneath the visible social hierarchy.
What such hopes ignore is that all previous experience indicates
how difficult, if not impossible, it is to organize and keep organized
any large numbers of the declassed. But more important perhaps is
the fact that even if, as is quite possible and highly desirable, local
successes are scored here and there in spurring the underclass into
action, the likely result would be that such organizations would find
their way into the structure of society, sharing in its benefits and
values, despite the wishes of the "new radicals" who had created
them. The only way to keep the poor from temptation is to keep
them poor.
