sure it Stops. So, eVen WITH beer and
rowdiness prior to the Degmnlng o| a
movie, when the rowdincss can oiiend
people (i e,, during the mDVIe), it
somehow disappears. in essence,
there is no real practical reason tor
the “no beer drinking in South
Lounge” role.

As more and more of these dumb
rules are being made and enforced
and as less and less questioning of
these rules is taking place, it is in
creasmgly becoming sad and sorry
that Grinnell, the soscalled laidsback,
liberal community, is turning into just
a sorry lot oi sheep who mindlessly

david i. I. blatt

Bankruptcy of liberalism

In listening to Senator Edward Kens
nedy's speech on Tuesday, I was
Struck by the parallels between Ken-
nedy’s campaign oration and two
elements oi my Grinnell Experience.

The first of these is Professor C. Eds
win Gilmour, who was iond or saying
that American liberals haven’t had a
new idea in 25 years.

The second element is the SGA
presidential campaigns, which always
feature some candidate who plaintive-
ly asserts that SGA need not be a joke
but can be an effective mechanism for
“Student Input” (or whatever SGA is
supposed to be good for), it only
students take it seriously and elect
qualified leadership.

Essentially, Kennedy aitirmed to us
that the Federal government can in-
deed be an effective mechanism [or
for solving the coutnry’s problems and
pursuing liberal notions oi the good
society, if only the right man is placed
in the top job,

This message is hardly new; tour
years ago Jimmy Carter asserted that
the country possessed deep reservoirs
of talent and virtue and needed only
his own brand or leadership to apply
them to setting things right. The dii—
ference is that Kennedy, at least for a
college audience, appeared less cognis
zant of the constraints on traditional
liberal policies under which President
Carter has had to operate.

He criticized the president for cams
paigning like a Democrat and govern
ing like a Republican, implying that
the era of big government and activist
Federal programs is not yet over,
There is no disrllusionnient or malaise
among the pcople. Senator Kennedy
said; they are ready as always to
“roll up their sleeves" and get
America moving again, etc, except
for a lailure of leadership in the
presidencyithc ultimate repository oi
liberal hopes and dreams

with a proper tie, extensive) exera
cise of presidential power, happy days
could be here again, as illustrated by
Kennedy's talismanic invocation of the
hallowed '605,

But it the '605 are the best the
senator can come up with as an exama
ple oi the triumph oi liberalism, a look
beyond the rhetoric merely proves
Gilmnur‘s point about the bankruptcy
of Democatic liberal ideas, The last
decade is viewed many diiierent ways
by diiiereiit people, but ior most

November lo, l 979

Americans, nothing substantially
changed despite the sense of excite»
ment and efficacy which suffused
American politics. .

The turmoil, violence, and political
activism of that era produced a na-
tional catharsis and venting of frustras
tions more than a lasting rearrange
ment of the social and political
systems. Domestic poverty, oppres~
sion, and racism proved far more
deep-rooted and intractable even than
“Communist aggression" in Vietnam,
and those radicals who did have
original ideas about reorienting
American society duly resubmerged
,out oi the public eye once it became
apparent that the Revolution was not
around the corner.

Even if the '605 are to be taken as a
goal for the future, not even Teddy
Kennedy can resurrect them. To begin
with. the economic abundance which
made the modest social experimenta-
tions of the Federal government possi
ble no longer exists: “The Era oi
Scarcity is upon us, and it will wait for
no one.” In the most basic economic
terms, there are not enough resources
and wealth to satisfy all the old
demands that have been made on
them, much less new demands,

Moreover, the Era of Scarcity is one
ly the inescapable physical manifestaa
tion of a more pervasive problem of
American society, This problem can
better be described in President
Carter’s terms of a national malaise
than in Senator Kennedy's uniair and
simplistic (though commonpiacei
blaming or all problems on presiden-
tial timidity and mismanagement, But
however one wants to describe it, it is
clear that things have simply gotten
out oi hand in this country, No in-
dividual, interest group, or govern-
mental body wants to bang its head
against the political wall in a vain et-
fort to mold American society accora
ding to some vague ideal, it's much
easier and more secure to go every
man for himself.

The iederal government, in par
ticular, and American society, in
general, have iar surpassed the scope
or rational human management, Socies
ty is too vast, impersonal, and com-
plex to do anything but lumber on in»
exorably and incrementally in its pre
sent path, until jolted aside by iorces
more poweriul than liberal govern-
ment programs

temphasis on that last word, please)
iollow, without evcil asking "why?”
The point is: it you all asked “why?”
you'd see that there really is no good
reason ior many at these “rules," and
this very fact should instigate some
reaction But, apparently it doesn't,
Ain’tita shame

Ted Kennedy's leadership qualilies
(whatever that muchsabused term
means) can do little to affect the
future except in tcrms oi symbolic
manipulation oi perceptions, and even
there Kennedy's traditional liberal
rhetoric cannot help but raise expecta
tions that will only be dashed later.

in order to truly meet the ciiallenges
of the future, which will be much
more than a repetition oi the past,
political leadership in this country
must do exactly what Senator Ken»
nedy proclaimed it must not do- pro
mote lower expectations and more
modest horizons ior government ac-
tion, and begin to cultivate an
awareness that hard times are com»
ing, hard times that will require far
reaching and unpreccndented
changes. Yet no contemporary na
tional politician is willing to go so far
out on a limb. Liberal values have so
dominated the American policy that
every candidate is expected to deliver
better times

Consequently, ‘lic 1980 presidential
election is likely it) he decided on the
basis of current ccol‘iomic conditions,
personality affect, media-filtered
perceptions, and the other usual com-
ponents ol national politics li Senator
Kennedy’s muchrvaunted lcadership
abilities do secure his victory (and I
hope he Wins), the second Kennedy
Administralioii may prove to be the
last gasp of traditional American
liberalism, with its chronic optimism
and laith in the future.

The sooner we recognize the stag.
gering magnitudc of the crises lurking
on the political horizon, the Sooner will
genuinely new ideas appear in nu»
tional politics and the sooner will
presidential elections become more
important than son contests.

When that time Conics, Ed Gilmour

may even be popular.
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