COMMENTS
Eric Breindel
was an extraordinary journalist. He has been lavishly praised
by Governor Pataki, Mayor Giuliani, Senator Moynihan, Robert F
Kennedy, Jr., Norman Podhoretz, Martin Peretz, and others. But I would
like to emphasize that he was courageous, honest, balanced, and principled.
He was also an intellectual journalist, which is rare.
In a volume of his selected pieces,
A Passion Jor Truth,
just published by
HarperCollins, Breindel covers a wide range of subjects and issues. There
is astute comment on the question of Communism in America, on Senator
McCarthy, and on those who refused to answer questions about their poli–
tics. Breindel is particularly perceptive when he points out that McCarthy
made it difficult for liberal anti-Communists to call anyone a Communist.
He discusses many national and international questions, and is most enlight–
ening on the subject of Israel, which he supported strongly, and on the
problems of anti-Semitism in America. There are observations on reverse
racism, such as the Crown Heights affair, among other such incidents.
Breindel is always reasonable, restrained, and remarkably intelligent about
everything he discusses. We should remember, too, that most of these pieces
were written when Breindel was ill and in considerable pain.
The volume's introductions, written by John Podhoretz and Senator
Moynihan, are complete and very informative, and the book ends with the
memorial comments that were made at Breindel's funeral.
WP
Community--or Contradiction?
On the same day that Li ttleton was said
to "produce deracinated teens due to the lack of a sense of community,"
and that administrators, teachers, and parents were said to create "skewed
community values," President Clinton declared that "we have to redefine
the national community so that we have a shared obligation to save chil–
dren's lives." Moving on to the issue of gun control, he pleaded: "You
change the culture, we'll change the laws."
I would suggest, however, that we'd better begin by asking ourselves
what we mean by
community.
Originally, the word was defined in opposi–
tion to
society--Gemeinschaft
vs.
Gesellschqft,
as coined by Ferdinand Tonnies.
Community, based on personal feelings and contact, derived from close–
ness and togetherness. Society, based on the common interests of
communities that ultimately comprised the nation, was an impersonal and
fairly removed association to defend common interests. Thus it was
assumed that belonging to one's small group and being part of one's
national entity described allegiances that might well clash, but that citizens,
