The Fortunes of the Left

See, See! What shall I see? A horse’s head where his tail should be.

When inviting me to write this piece the editors of NR asked me to include an evaluation of the Left’s chances of taking power.* Truthfully, I did not know whether to laugh or cry. Not wishing to offend my hosts, I shall pretend that the question deserves to be answered seriously: The chances for an electoral victory by an opposition to the left of liberalism are nil and receive no attention within any section of the left-wing movement; the chances for a seizure of power by one or more sections of the Left are slightly inferior to the chances of a seizure of power by a coalition of the Campfire Girls and the Gay Liberation Front under the leadership of Ti-Grace Atkinson. I respectfully submit—without a trace of malice—that those conservatives who fear for the life of the American state be given prompt psychiatric attention. If Jerry Rubin and Mark Rudd are awakening such fears, then it is the fearful, even more than the feared, who need urgent and kindly attention.

EG

About the Author

Eugene Genovese

Featured Tags

See, See! What shall I see? A horse’s head where his tail should be.

When inviting me to write this piece the editors of NR asked me to include an evaluation of the Left’s chances of taking power.* Truthfully, I did not know whether to laugh or cry. Not wishing to offend my hosts, I shall pretend that the question deserves to be answered seriously: The chances for an electoral victory by an opposition to the left of liberalism are nil and receive no attention within any section of the left-wing movement; the chances for a seizure of power by one or more sections of the Left are slightly inferior to the chances of a seizure of power by a coalition of the Campfire Girls and the Gay Liberation Front under the leadership of Ti-Grace Atkinson. I respectfully submit—without a trace of malice—that those conservatives who fear for the life of the American state be given prompt psychiatric attention. If Jerry Rubin and Mark Rudd are awakening such fears, then it is the fearful, even more than the feared, who need urgent and kindly attention.