The Coming Revolution in America

SPREADING POLITICAL VIOLENCE of a revolutionary character now seems inevitable in America. Despite the complacency of middleclass opinion—the mellow, reassuring voices, the routine analyses—there is hatred in the air. Something genuinely incommensurate is opening up. One senses the presence of something very much like the instinctive periodic desire for war discerned by William James. The call for “confrontation” is an academic euphemism. The real demand is for force, combat, violence. Far from obliterating these primitive desires, affluence has only sharpened them.

During the past two or three years the American Left, unable to make much headway within the rules of liberal democracy, has thrown the rules overboard and resorted to force. And against all expectations, force has proved highly effective against a confused and leaderless majority. Across the board, and in varying degrees, the liberal democratic institutions have proved vulnerable. No one can tell how vulnerable they finally will be. But some have collapsed like paper bags.

About the Author

Jeffrey Hart

Jeffrey Hart is a contributor to National Review.

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SPREADING POLITICAL VIOLENCE of a revolutionary character now seems inevitable in America. Despite the complacency of middleclass opinion—the mellow, reassuring voices, the routine analyses—there is hatred in the air. Something genuinely incommensurate is opening up. One senses the presence of something very much like the instinctive periodic desire for war discerned by William James. The call for “confrontation” is an academic euphemism. The real demand is for force, combat, violence. Far from obliterating these primitive desires, affluence has only sharpened them.

During the past two or three years the American Left, unable to make much headway within the rules of liberal democracy, has thrown the rules overboard and resorted to force. And against all expectations, force has proved highly effective against a confused and leaderless majority. Across the board, and in varying degrees, the liberal democratic institutions have proved vulnerable. No one can tell how vulnerable they finally will be. But some have collapsed like paper bags.