COMMENT
11
most callous acceptance of greed, and not only by the so-called yup–
pies but also by those who write about and against them; and the
destruction of an income tax code, which, though far from per–
fect, nevertheless worked on the principle of gradual taxation.
(The Democrats, of course, cooperated for their own - electoral–
reasons.)
These are domestic issues which, however, have their impact
on the country's international standing as well- if only because they
overshadow everything else. Our image, of course, has suffered ever
since Jack Kennedy was in the White House . And my European
friends, most of whom are on the left, have had a certain amount of
anti-American bias all along. But
their
America-bashing consists of
blaming us not only for "imperialism" and "war-mongering," but for
whatever is wrong in their own countries, from unemployment to
backwardness, and from pollution to poverty . By doing so, con–
demning America ends up as being, also, the sort of patriotism–
German, French , Spanish and so on-that their (mostly implied)
Marxism denies. The effect of America-bashing in this country,
however, is simply anti-American: it deflects us from taking con–
structive action . If it has any impact at all, other than to boost the
egos of the bashers and to further their careers, it might be to sim–
plify even further the complex and contradictory character of
American policy making.
E.K.
The first question that strikes one after reading Allan
Bloom's
The Closing of the American Mind
is how this book became a
best-seller.
It
is full of philosophical talk and theoretical rumina–
tions. It is also interspersed with homey stories and examples from
popular culture, but I do not think these lighten it sufficiently to
boost its sales. Could it be that Americans like to read about the
decline of our civilization? We are reminded that Spengler's
Decline
of
the West
was intellectually fashionable in its day. And like Spengler
in his dismal prophesies, Bloom connects our decline with the cur–
rent state of thought in the various fields of knowledge. There is one
important difference, however: unlike Spengler, and inconsistent
