The Third World War

The New Leftists base their theoretical case on a moral argument. Established society is, in all its dimensions, incurably evil, corrupt, vicious. A moral person must therefore break utterly with established society, with its beliefs, standards and values as well as its institutions; he must become an alien. Reform is impossible. Established society must be destroyed. A new social order with new beliefs and values, spiritual home of a new kind of man, must be created in its place.

What will this new kind of man be like? What qualities, values, virtues will he display? The general trend of the answer emerges clearly in New Left writings, rhetoric and discussion. The well-known “Port Huron Statement,” adopted by Students for a Democratic Society in 1962, is a representative version. “Men,” it declares, “have unrealized potential for self-cultivation, selfdirection, self-understanding, and creativity. It is this potential that we regard as crucial and to which we appeal. . . . The goal of man should be human independence; a concern . . . with finding a meaning in life that is personally authentic. . . . Human relationships should involve fraternity and honesty. . . . [The negative tendencies of today can be overcome] only when a love of man overcomes the idolatrous worship of things by man. . . . We believe in generosity of a kind that imprints one’s unique qualities in the relation to other men, and to all human activity.”

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James Burnham

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The New Leftists base their theoretical case on a moral argument. Established society is, in all its dimensions, incurably evil, corrupt, vicious. A moral person must therefore break utterly with established society, with its beliefs, standards and values as well as its institutions; he must become an alien. Reform is impossible. Established society must be destroyed. A new social order with new beliefs and values, spiritual home of a new kind of man, must be created in its place.

What will this new kind of man be like? What qualities, values, virtues will he display? The general trend of the answer emerges clearly in New Left writings, rhetoric and discussion. The well-known “Port Huron Statement,” adopted by Students for a Democratic Society in 1962, is a representative version. “Men,” it declares, “have unrealized potential for self-cultivation, selfdirection, self-understanding, and creativity. It is this potential that we regard as crucial and to which we appeal. . . . The goal of man should be human independence; a concern . . . with finding a meaning in life that is personally authentic. . . . Human relationships should involve fraternity and honesty. . . . [The negative tendencies of today can be overcome] only when a love of man overcomes the idolatrous worship of things by man. . . . We believe in generosity of a kind that imprints one’s unique qualities in the relation to other men, and to all human activity.”