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PARTISAN REVIEW
Before we had a chance to explore any of these knotty issues, it was
the journalist's, Professor Dragunsky's, turn. He admonished, most
extensively that we ought not overdramatize the influence of the media;
did not agree that Christian traditions had been destroyed by commu–
nism rather than just interrupted; and ended up asserting that the great–
est challenges came from multiculturalism, global relationships, and the
changing roles of men and women. (I gave examples of how we
addressed these issues at the
PR
conference of May
lO-II,
2002-
which will be printed in October
2002.)
Professor Salmin added that
one thousand years ago Russia had an Orthodox program, which some
centuries later was copied with a few errors, and now is trying to be
reproduced with "yet a few more errors."
A "representative of the younger generation," who had visited the
U.S., and Harvard, a number of times, said that he did not understand
the American mentality. Long after the Vietnam War, he had found
Americans seriously questioning their self-identity, whereas a few
months ago, he could note only the pervasiveness of "United We
Stand." He wanted to know why he did not read or hear serious reflec–
tions about this drastic turnaround. (I tried as best as I could to explain
and exemplify how our democracy works by means of public opinion
polls and media reports and distortions, Congressional and White
House "collaboration," along with a sort of taken-for-granted "politi–
cal correctness" and a certain naivete.) Pointing to some of the pieces in
my edited book,
A Partisan Century: Political Writing from Partisan
Review,
I went on to explain, at length, how our views of liberalism, of
tradition, etc., differed from their European and Russian meanings. And
I stated that America is not a country of intellectuals, but of the descen–
dants of pioneers who were busy developing the frontiers.
The next interlocutor stated that she was against utopias, and liked
neither multiculturalism nor globalization, but had observed "glocal–
ization," a confluence of global and local reactions to globalization. She
urged that we build a world that is fairer, not just for America, but for
the entire world. Is this yet another utopia? I asked. The following two
questioners focused on education. The first one assumed that
PR
is anti–
elitist and thus does not value high-level education. I disabused him of
this belief, by telling him of our conferences on education, of my own
experiences, and by elaborating on the problem that exists in every
democracy: how to maintain and raise standards while educating every
individual without leveling down. The next speaker perceived education
as "the key problem to tolerance," because tolerance cannot ensue with–
out enlightenment. We all agreed that only openness and total honesty
