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Show Max Lerner The Sait Lake Tribune. Sunday, October 10, 1971 A 17 Is America Doomed? A Qualified No r whether this is a dying civilization I must declare myself a skeptic. I see chills and fevers, and pretty hectic turbulence, but no smell of dying. It is not death which is in the air, but a revolutionary furor of change. I have for some time been writing and saying, for whoever would listen, that America is the most revolutionary society in our contemporary world. I see ro reason to withdraw this analysis, and I affirm it on (is America's leadership and power coming to an end? Will the nation change by revolution Such questions or great social transformations? led columnist Max Lerner to this series of five Doomed In his first inarticles. Is America stallment Lerner examines the revolutionary furor of c ange sweeping thr United States.) There is a persistent feeling in small groups, both on the left and right, that Arrierica is at the end of its tether and is practically in its death agonies. The left - blames capitalist imperialism, which is presumably the last stage before a proletarian revolution. The right has its own of doom brand sees the which of down standards moral as spelling the end of American civilization.In between these two extremes there is a pervasive sense of unease among many people, who may not feel that America is dying but who do wonder whether it is growing unlivable and in some ways coming apart. They ask themselves whether this spells the end of Americas power and leadership in the world. Hence the query which ties this cluster of articles together: Is America Doomed? Broadly my answer would be No, but a qualified and conditional No. break The End of an Era If the question is one of American world power, and its capacity for policing the world, then surely the Vietnamese war marks the end of an era. America will have to limit its world role from now on, compete more sharply and find with the other some accommodation great powers and with new forms of collective authority. If the question is that of violence and livability, then the common experience is that the cities are growing less livable and that new ways must be found to humanize the environments we live in. But tions by a book whose earlier publication in Paris caused a storm there Without Marx or Revel's The New American Revolution Jesus Has Begun. Revel addressed his book to an audience of French leftist intellectuals who suffer from a severe case of America hatred. He didn't focus on the question of Americas doom, because they see America not as a dying invalid but as a brutal imperialist and facist power. The point he makes is that the revoin 'the Communist world, the lutions Third World and even in Western Europe are impossible revolutions, either because the various countries lack the resources for success or the traditions and methods of freedom; that America alone has all the conditions necessary (lie lists five crucial ones) and that while here is no guarantee that the changes moving so swiftly in America will be earned through to the end, the chances are far better here than anywhere else for a f cluster of changes that will bring about a great social transformation by the methods of dissent, law and constitutional freedom. Jean-Franco- again. Revolution to Continue In its current form the American revolution in started somewhere the and has continued for some 15 Eiyears under ' various presidencies senhowers, .ennedy-- Johnsons and Nixon's. Its nature has little to do with the differences between Democrats and Republicans. It will continue (at a varying pace) through the 1970s and into the 1980s, for it must go on untill the fundamental changes toward which it is driving are more or less accomplished. It is a even when the consent is reluctant and sometimes painful. It differs sharply from what is happening in Russia or China, where the initial revolutions were violent and without consent and where they are maintained by a closed rather than ar. open system of power. mid-195- revolution-by-consen- t, America has never been more open than today open to change, to protests and demonstrations, to competing viewpoints, to extreme forms of dissent. The changes in Russia and China are directed by the regimes: When they begin to threaten the regime they are stopped dead in their tracks. The changes in America tend to work themselves out all the way, to some sort of consensus, sometimes to the edge of extreme danger Robert S. - One can quarrel with Revel about the terms he uses and some of his emphases, just as one can quarrel with Charles Reich who sees a greening (not a doom) of America through the new or just changes and cultural as one can quarrel with Alvin Toffler who depicts the pace of social and cultural change as so precipitous that it leads to a serious future shock. I have my differences from each of them. But what all of us share is the sense of new anC vital energies in motion. If this is dying, then historic death chooses strange and unrecognizable forms indeed. Or to put It more pungentlv, what a helluva way for a civilization to die! s, Dietary patterns are changing and certain adjustments are needed if we are to avoid nutritionally inadequate meals. to James L. Breeling of the American Medical Assn., we eat out more often and fewer meals are eaten with the family. Snacks minimeals . ahd fsuch as pizza rolls) are one of the hottest items According Los Angeles Times Service o n supermarket shelves. many people live on potato chips, hot dogs and soft drinks. Everyone should eat properly so as not to end up with an overall nutritional deficit. Chances are that in the next 10 years, new foods will replace traditional foods at an accelerating rate. Furthermore, too According to Breeling, her present concourse, ciliatory d r a matized by overtures to Washington, or will sink back into sullen, isoladangerous striving for supreme power against Premier Chou who did appear in Pekings streets on Oct. 1. They represent contending groups and policies. Lin is losing his last desperate fight. He is supported by a minority of Chinas generals and the extreme left, which was suppressed during the chaotic cultural revolution that began in 1966. Chou speaks for the majority of the generals of the regime. The events preceding the hollow national day offer clues to the riddle. The first has apparently not previously been publicized. Early in September, pamphlets concerning the Ninth Party Congress of April, 1969, which ended the cultural revolution, were withdrawn from Communist book stores in Hong Kong. Leftist cadres were instructed to return Lin Piaos political report to the congress ana the party constitution which enshrined him as Maos successor. tion. The outcome of Elegant the intense power struggle among the leaders of the Peoples Republic can, however, be anticipated with some confidence. Unless the hawks can incite border clashes with the Soviet Union and escalate conflict into limited war, the moderates will win. Since war is unlikely, the odds favor the reasonable doves, who hold the major domestic advantages. Fits new edibles are classified as fabricated foods and provide 25 to 50 percent of the allotment of nutrients, excluding calcries. New or fabricated foods should contribute 5 percent or more of the recommended daily intake of calories or essential nutrients. The big problem is that a product may be marketed as one thing, but used as another by the consumer. Pizza rolls are an example. If this minimeal takes the place of dinner, it should be fortified to enhance its nutrient All Facts Only that conclusion fils all the facts available outside China. Although all the pertinent facts are not available, the evidence is sufficient for analysis of the power struggle. The mysterious chain of events which began early in September culminated on Oct. 1. Just 22 years earlier, Chairman of the Communist party Mao the establishment of tho proclaimed Peoples Republic of China from the massive Gate of Heavenly Peace and declared: Today, the Chinese people stand erect. Ever since, Oct. 1 had been marked not only by a great parade reviewed by all major leaders, but by announcement of major policies or by pointed omissions in statements, Last week, for the first time, there was no parade, no ceremonial appearance of leaders, and no statement The new tendency will be to set nutritional standards for classes of foods and not for individual items. This will be less confusing to the housewife and a more convenient way for her to relate her nutritional knowledge to changing patterns of eating and new foods. Perhaps this sounds complicated. However, the goal is to eliminte certain deficiency diseases from ohr population. We know that virtually all foods could be improved by fortification. But promoting fortification is not easy because there is considerable resistance to nmrition.il improvements from natural food devotees and other vested interest groups. For the first time, Mao did not accept the acclaim of his people. For the first time since 1966, his appointed surcossor, former field marshal Lin Piao, the Communist partys deputy chairman, did not address the throngs. The bizarre Oct. 1 and preceding events pose the riddle. It should lie road in view of one fundamental reality. Mao is not the issue. He has been elevated to status and is virtually powerless. Had lie died, his death semi-celesti- could not be concealed indefinitely. Canceling the celebrations would have been pointless. Rather the Chinese leadership might have displayed its unity on Oct. 1. Lin Piao, not Mao, is the issue, lie is Gorens Weekly Bridge Quiz Q. 1 As South, vulnerable, you hold: What do you bid now? Neither side vulnerable and as South you hold: V A J 1097 3 A 1072 4K72 The bidding has proceeded: West South East 3 A Pass Pass Fass ? - What do you bid now ? Q. 3 As South, vulnerable, you hold: Q. 2 A A J83 On Sept. 11, all als dropped A K 96 AAK764 The bidding has proceeded: East North West South 2 V 1 A Pass IV What do ou hid now ? (J. 4 Neither vulnerable and as South you hold : A 9 VAQS086 AA75 AAQ43 What do you hid now? 1- - 5 East-We- vulnerable and ns South vou hold: Chinas senior from view. generCivil and mili- ceeding wonderfully, thanks to Chairman and Chou s talents. Lin Piaos name was pointedly omitted. The bare facts are supplemented by rumors that former chairman of the the archPeople's Republic Liu Shao-chvillain of the cultural revolution, has escaped. Power Struggle Maos brilliant leadership En-lai- i, Only a major power struggle explains all those events, particularly cancelling AFL-CIPresident asks George Meany angrily, What right has the President or anyone else to nullify a legal contract? The fiery old union leader believes that, without any due process of law, the President has deprived workers of their property by declaring they may not collect raises that were agreed to as long as WASHINGTON two years ago. During the Nazi cceupat ion of France War II, a German lieutenant spotted a Normandy peasant gazing intently down a deep well, droning mo- in a 31." His stispiiior.s on sly aroused, the Nazi demanded an explanation. The poas.un (xmiled to the well, the soldier leaned over to peer down it and the peasant pushed him in. A few minutes later another Nazi soldier this one a major came upon the peasant looking down into the well, lepeating to himself, At a college convocation in California an earnest young girl asked visiting lecturer Christopher Morley, Do you think a girl should learn about life before 20?" Morley regarded her gravely, then answered, Heaxens, no! That's too large an audience. Who should pop up again for a conference but that little Spanish beauty, Carmen Cohen. Surely you will recall that her father, for reasons only he rould explain, always hailed her by her last name, Cohcr,, but her mother always called her Carmen. Is it any wonder that by the time the unfortunate lass reached the age of 12, she didn't know whether she was Carmen or Cohen? Virtually every man in his youth has fallen madly in love with some inaccessible movie queen. Norma was the girl who made my heart beat faster. Humorist S. J. Pcrelmati confesses that he fell successively for the charms of Contine Griffith, Trisnlla Dean, Aileen Pringle, and most madly of all, for Nila Naldi, with whom he once wrote it was his "boyhood ambition to coast on a Flexible Fiver." Tal-mad- As South, both sides vulnerable, vou held: A A7 4 2 V AK864 ) 32 The bidding has proceeded: West South North East 1 2 A ? Pass What do you bid? (Look for answers Monday.) bargaining has been thrown into limbo by the freeze. The coal strike is a direct result of this, with the union unwilling to contract that might accept a three-yea- r be meaningless, depending on what the President orders as Phase 2 of his wage-p- i ice package. One-Ye- ar border. The aircrafts intrusion into Mongolia may have been attempted to provoke Moscow. The Soviets did not bite. If Liu had been aboard, the crash would still not have dictated calling off Oct. 1 celebrations. The Chinese high command apparently attempted to thwart a coup by canceling leaves and flights in order to freeze troops in place. It is worth remembering that opposing military coups initiated the cultural revolution and that armed power had, since 1966, been the determining factor in Chinese politics. Yet Lin has never really commanded his fellow marshals and generals. If he had, he would have attained supreme power years ago. Instead, he tried to use adolescent Red Guards rather than troops, to seize power. Lin, not Mao, ignited and directed the cultural revolution, which ended with the pragmatists dominance. y Having failed, several times, the ambitious' Lin is again striking for limit-lessl- predominant power. However feebly. He is, fortunately, unlikely to succeed. one-yea- y Senator Soaper y & lomb soflens SOFT CONTACT LENSES are interested If Contracts If labor contracts are subject to be set aside any time a national administration says so, from now on we will sign r contracts," United nothing but Automobile Workers President Leonard , Others E volved Woodcock has said. The .3 union leaders argue that the 1970 There are several other unions with contracts, signed long before the freeze Economic Stabilization Act has the effect was decreed, that stipulate raises due to ot giving the President the right to period go into effect during the repeal for whatever period he chooses vhen Mr. Nixon decreed that no one various sections of the nations labor could get a raise. It is patently obvious relations laws. They argue that Congres.s that the executive decree has the effect of cannot delegate this kind of power to the executive branch. partially invalidating these contracts. Can Congress' give a president that auShould the courts accept the unions thority? there would be a bedlam of arguments, It would appear at first blush to be a activity to receive retioactively the pay moot question since Mr. Nixon already increases that the President ruled out. has nullified at least a part of many This would pile new inequities on top of labor agreements, and the polls show the glaring inequities already present in that he has the support of a substantial the presidential program. majority of the public as a whole and More important, the courts might even a slim majority of labor union throw back to Congress the responsibility members. of itself spelling out a detailed program of wage and price restraints f just as Illegal Powers? Meany now argues is the least Congress But Meanys question is neither moot should do. nor merely academic. Many legal scholIt just may be, however, that the leadars believe that in passing the Economic ers of a Democratic Congress dont want Stabilization Act of 1970 Congress handed that responsibility. Despite all that it the President powers that the lawmakers means in terms of the extension of execcould not legally bestow. The matter is utive power, they seem happy enough to surely coming to a head, because U.S. let Mr. Nixbn have the credit or, more District Judge Aubrey Robinson has likely, the blame for what happens to ruled here that there are serious constithe economy in the next year. tutional questions not only as to whether Congress exceeded its authority, but also whether the 1970 law contains adequate provisions for a judicial review ot actions taken by the President. Its hard to understand the commerBut if a president can say to a firm, cials. Why is it, for example, that the You may not raise prices, or to unions man who can t hold on to a football and firms, You may not negotiate any never drops the razor? contracts that involve a pay raise during retroacnot on a even this period, Pulaski Day is on October 11. Cant tive basis, why would he not also have we have a joint celebration indicating the power to say that an already-existin- g that Columbus proved the world was contract must be suspended during the rcund, theieby discovering the poles? freeze? Union lawyers may very-- well argue Watching an apple fall gained Isaac that Congress did not have the power to Newton a certain fame. If he had tried authorize the President to say any" of swallowing a pill at a drinking fountain, he could have discovered gravity, hythis. draulic nower and drowning all at once. There can be rio doubt that collective I in Woild ton e i And Stop Me no Day celebrations, where Lin Piaos failure to appear would have been glaringly obvious. Yet the moderates could not let him speak. Only thwarting Lin's attempt to take power is, therefore, consonant with the events. from Lin had pointedly refrained endorsing Peking's conciliatory foreign policies. He had alienated most of his fellow generals, and his support had dwindled to a minority which advocates a hard line at home and abroad. He can only prevail by inciting war with the Soviet Lnion over the single explosive the disputed foreign - policy dispute left i three-judg- e National Shao-ch- federal court has now A, been named to decide a case that almost certainly will go to the Supreme Court. It is equally certain to produce a ruling of mayor proportions regarding the limitations of presidential power. The lawsuit in question was filed by Meat Cutters and the Amalgamated Bucher Workmen. The union charges freeze th?t Mr. Nixons wage-pricurongly denied its 150,000 members pension benefits, health insurance and a 25; cent wage increase. We have the New Ibausch Just Try far-of- Q. 6 darned! I wonder how they got there Its a Meanv Who Questions Nixons Authority Thwart Coup tary aircraft were grounded, and army leaves were canceled. On Sept. 12, Moscow later announced, a Chinese passenger aircraft crashed over Mongolia. Those public events are underlined by a letter from an acute Chinese observer in Peking. He wrote: Everything is pro- No Address Classes of Foods y Fading Military whatsoever. content. i, quasi-militar- Tse-tun- g Fabricated Foods . The great China riddle MUNICH with some caution. can now be read The outstanding issue is whether the hawks or doves will prevail. China will either pursue , le Carl T. Rowan Elegant En-la- Poor Nutrition 111 lV Solution to Chinas Power Struggle Emerges Dr. T. R. Van Dellen Snacking Trend Could Mean er, New, Vital Engergies Book Confirms Outlook and beyond. I feel confirmed in this view of revolu- Who them? 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