THE POLITICS OF POLEMICS
The level of discussion and debate today is so low that it
is impossible
to
make any sense out of anything. Name-calling, ranting,
cliche-mongering, argument by assertion, excommunication, posturing,
appeals to one's radicalism or one's fear of radicalism - all these ex–
pressions of contempt for intellectual discourse have become the stand–
ard modes of disagreement. There are complex reasons, of course, but
I think the main ones are the breakup of the old intellectual communities
and the emergence of new figures and movements, wild, sprawling, dis–
sident, chaotic. Everyone is busy taking sides, bouncing from
is~ue
to
issue, frantically looking for solutions that aren't there. And as soon as
two people get together they are polarized.
Going to extremes, that old American custom, has taken over: no
sooner is a new idea or movement born than it develops a lunatic fringe,
and it doesn't take long for the fringe to be mistaken for the center-or
to become the center. And then there is the bad faith of those who claim
to be defending civilization against the extremists when they are really
just protecting their investments.
Some random examples, in no special order:
The Greening o{ America.
It's hard to understand the success of
a book so full of truisms and false hopes. Its best parts are simply a
rehash of radical theories and criticisms of existing society, presented
with a breathlessness and innocence that gives them the air of fresh
discovery. The rest is a compendium of fashionable notions about youth
culture and the new radicalism, all lumped together into one huge his–
torical package. Perhaps Reich's success is due to the fact that he has
concocted a soothing mixture for both radicals and liberals: his prescrip–
tion for the new society involves little pain, less effort, and above all, no
revolution. Even the style is simple and declarative, in keeping with the
author's evident sincerity. It's the old wave of the future, with conscious–
ness filling in for determinism.
Old and New Polemics.
An old form of political polemic which
proves its case simply by asserting it is being revived. For example: a
