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PARTISAN REVIEW
undemocratic means, is not superior
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the more democratic approach of the
Lindsay administration , which resulted in much debate but linle building.
After seven years of work on this book, Caro may have been more affected by
his subjecc's obsession with building than he himself realizes, bue he is also
right
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imply that democracy and efficient public building are not entirely
compatible . Still, the interlocking public authority system which Moses
established is particularly unresponsive
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the public will, and Caro properly
recommends that it be eliminated.
Unfortunately , Caro's emphasis on Moses' villainy persuades him
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judge Moses' actions and decisions as purely moral choices, implying that a
well-intentioned builder would have made bener plans . This is naive, for
given the distribution of economic and political power in the city during the
Moses era , even the most altruistic or democratic planners could not have
acted much differently-if they wanted
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build, and while they might have
caused somewhat less harm than Moses, none could have implemented Caro's
vision , or held back the suburban exodus .
Moreover, Caro's understandable and praiseworthy need
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document
Moses' guilt makes him so eager
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explain Moses ' plans as expressions of his
psychopathological drive for power, and later for spite and revenge , that he
often neglects
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report the man's own reasons for his plans, failing
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ask, for
example, why Moses made decisions which , by Caro 's account , seem (Otally
irrational and even politically harmful
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Moses , or
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consider what political
and other calculations went into Moses ' planning . Fortunately, Caro has dug
out so much hard-(O-find and previously secreted information about Moses , as
well as about the city in which he worked and has reported it in such detail that
his findings can be used without accepting his overly moralistic and psy–
chological explanations. Caro's reportage, although at times dis(Orted by his
need
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exaggerate Moses' power, is a superb achievement , but Caro should
have given more credit
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the power structure which enabled his powerbroker
to build as he did, for it is the principal villain in the morality play he has
wrinen .
Herbert J. Gans
