LETTTERS
Editors: I have been much interested in your article by Michael Walzer on "Failed Totalitarianism" in the Summer 83 Dissent. It has set me to thinking that possibly we (in the U.S.) are living...
...1. Sales Through Dealers and Carriers, Street Vendors, and Counter Sales: Average no...
...Editor: Irving Howe, 521 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y...
...copies of single issue published nearest to filing date-6,731...
...Where the Sandinista government has been forced out of this posture, the primary responsibility lies in Washington, not in Managua...
...q Central America Editors: I have read, with a mixture of pleasure and dismay, Irving Howe's "Central America — Cry Halt...
...Actual no...
...What words better describe the era of Reaganism both at home and abroad...
...policy of military intervention with such a large dose of traditional liberal misperceptions...
...copies of single issue published nearest to filing date-7,550...
...Copies Printed (Net Press Run): Average no...
...Finally, it is fascinating that you choose to end with a 142 blind endorsement of the Contadora strategy...
...10017...
...John Glenn is calling for a 6 percent increase over inflation...
...Dissent, Summer 1983...
...3685...
...copies each issue during preceding 12 months—None...
...To have her written off as a sentimental eccentric, which is the general tenor of Rosenberg's article, is a disservice not only to Emma herself, but to the historical record...
...Absolute poverty in the late 20th century is an obscenity: its eradication must be the highest priority of any serious program for global economic reform...
...Voting for liberal Democrats is an easy path to follow...
...But I do know that some sort of reactivation of our democratic priorities is essential if we are to avoid a sort of casual authoritarianism ourselves...
...A. No...
...Ronald Dellums on a platform of reducing military spending, repealing the tax breaks for the rich, and favoring workplace democracy, would that be enough to heal our ailing economy...
...Or more likely, have you begun taking too literally the mainstream journalism to which many of us would like to see you as an alternative...
...But the reason for such a policy should have nothing to do with using economic blackmail to coerce Nicaragua into "easing domestic repression and adopting a nonaligned policy...
...also a very tough one...
...E. Total Distribution (Sum of C and D): Average no...
...copies each issue during preceding 12 months-6,672...
...DONALD F. BUSKY Philadelphia q STATEMENT OF OWNERSHIP, MANAGEMENT, AND CIRCULA TION (Required by 39 U.S.C...
...Actual no...
...There is nothing wrong with Mr...
...of Issues Published Annually: Four...
...How to do any effective job of public education in our social priorities is a very acute question...
...of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date-2,300...
...B. Paid Circulation...
...Samples, Complimentary, and Other Free Copies: Average no...
...If we try, we are going to be ultimately disappointed with the results...
...Actual no...
...She impressed us immensely although we were not anarchists but members of the Labour party...
...and, of course, we should drastically curb the ability of multinational corporations to cross frontiers in pursuit of the lowest taxes and highest profits...
...Actual no...
...Second, can Dissent give us a list, even a very short list, of countries in the Western Hemisphere that have done a better job than Nicaragua in remaining nonaligned...
...Or a descent into another sort of "failed system" of our own...
...10017...
...Actual no...
...B. Annual Subscription Price: $14.00...
...copies each issue during preceding 12 months-100...
...ALEX RUDLING Norwich, England q Encouragement Editors: A short note to congratulate you on the quality of the Summer 1983 issue...
...we can tell ourselves that by doing so we are making some progress...
...It is easy to decry the apparent failure of anarchism to maintain a mass following on a world scale...
...copies each issue during preceding 12 months-6,572...
...But will any Democratic presidential candidate call for them...
...Weisskopf's ideas...
...He wants to increase military spending 3 percent a year over inflation...
...It is possible to attribute this to an inherent defect in the theory...
...But such measures do not guarantee any reduction in absolute poverty...
...They have a part to play and, given a democratic basis for the socialist movement, will continue to play it...
...The drop-off of voter and citizen participation and the great corruption and cynicism of so much in our corporate and military policy—not to mention the "Pentagonese" of our English language...
...copies each issue during preceding 12 months-7,575...
...2. Mail Subscriptions: Average no...
...See the ad on the inside back cover...
...should keep its hands off (and its weapons out of) Nicaragua...
...Hart has been ambivalent in his votes on new weapons systems...
...Listen closely to what Walter Mondale is calling for with respect to the military...
...SIMONE PLASTRIK, Business Manager 144...
...Yes, the U.S...
...copies of single issue published nearest to filing date-819...
...Also, to characterize her emotions and their expression as "Victorian" is, in the atmosphere of contemporary Britain, an unfortunate phrase in the light of Prime Minister Thatcher's espousal of "Victorian values...
...Louis F. COOPER Washington, D.C...
...E Copies not Distributed...
...3. Frequency of Issue: Quarterly...
...What would Mr...
...q "A Path for America" Editors: In a letter in the Spring 1983 Dissent (addressing Michael Harrington's article, "A Path for America"), David Bensman argues convincingly that American democratic socialists must "think in global terms" and "fashion a political strategy to mobilize the mass of American workers to a program for a 'new international economic order.' " Unfortunately, Bensman does not emphasize enough the importance of ending absolute poverty, which is the moral imperative of this era...
...they must be coupled with massive efforts to meet the essential needs of the world's poorest billion people...
...Actual no...
...9. For Completion by Nonprofit Organizations Authorized to Mail at Special Rates (Section 411.3, DMM...
...Is Cranston a peacemaker...
...G. Total (Sum of E, F 1 and 2—should equal net press run shown in A): Average no...
...Please keep up the good work...
...copies of single issue published nearest to filing date-6,620...
...I must, however, disagree with his political 143 conclusion—namely, that we must elect a Democrat to the presidency in 1984...
...But, in reality, we are only perpetuating a bad system...
...What evidence can Dissent offer that any other nation in Central America has as good a record of political tolerance (especially at such a difficult moment) as that of Nicaragua...
...5. Location of the Headquarters of General Business Offices of the Publishers: 521 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y...
...I do not have the answer, I fear...
...D. Free Distribution by Mail, Carrier, or Other Means...
...10017...
...Building a viable democratic socialist party in this country is very hard work...
...Their hearts may not be cold—at least not yet—but their minds are certainly too fuzzy to be doing any good job of making that democracy we do have work...
...This year Congress passed Reagan's 5 percent increase in military spending...
...I don't think so...
...C. Total Paid Circulation (Sum of 10B1 and 10B2): Average no...
...The issue is a tribute to the intellectual richness of contemporary American democratic socialism and to the nuances, breadth, and texture of its many concerns...
...Emma was an authentic revolutionary with a profound passion for human liberation, head and shoulders above the contemporary leaders of the British labor movement with whom we were only too familiar...
...q Emma Goldman Editors: Karen Rosenberg's article on Emma Goldman (Dissent, Summer 1983) seems to have the object of damning Emma with faint praise...
...Emma stayed with my wife and me in 1937...
...I've read most of it and it is extremely good—everything from Walzer's fine essay to Corradi's extraordinary review of Didion's Salvador...
...For further information on Latin America, our correspondent should read Democracy and Dictatorship in Latin America, a booklet of essays by Latin American writers who oppose dictatorships of both right and left...
...But if he should have some genuinely innovative and idealistic ideas, they simply will not elect him (at least generally...
...Has Dissent become the mouthpiece for liberal holdouts in the State Department...
...Ask Amnesty International, or the ACLU, or Clergy and Laity Concerned, or any other responsible investigative group what they think of this equation...
...She had a similar effect upon other young socialists in our city...
...10017...
...Soiffer propose in opposition to the Contadora strategy—an indefinite prolongation of the civil war in El Salvador...
...are living in a period of somewhat "Failed Democracy...
...The only way to end the continuing structural weaknesses in our economy is to replace the capitalist system with democratic socialism...
...There is neither a statement nor an inference in my piece that the left and right "are equally to be regarded as 'killers and terrorists.' " But that important elements of the guerrilla forces are authoritarian in character and have not hesitated to use terrorist methods against opponents within their own camp is by now a commonly known fact—for overwhelming evidence, see the article by Gabriel Zaid, "Enemy Colleagues" in the Winter 1982 Dissent...
...2. Returns from News Agents: Average no...
...Hollings, during the 1979 and 1980 budget sessions, led the fight in the Senate to increase the Pentagon budget 2 percent more than Reagan's own request...
...1. Office Use, Left Over, Unaccounted, Spoiled After Printing: Average no...
...All three of the top contenders want to increase military spending...
...Actual no...
...Nevertheless, anarchists should be listened to...
...q Against the Democrats Editors: Thomas E. Weisskopf's "Reaganomics: Is It Finally Working...
...You may not like what I am about to say, for it implies a very rough road indeed: We can't solve our economic and social problems by liberal reforms of capitalism...
...copies each issue during preceding 12 months-4,272...
...7. Owner: Foundation for the Study of Independent Social Ideas, Inc., 521 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y...
...He has been a consistent supporter of the B-1 bomber...
...What about the other Democratic challengers...
...6. Names and Complete Addresses of Publisher, Editor, and Managing Editor: Publisher: Foundation for the Study of Independent Social Ideas, Inc., 521 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y...
...RICK VALLELY Belmont, Mass...
...First, it is distressing to see Dissent parrot Reaganite charges of Nicaraguan political repression, as if it were National Review or the New Republic...
...Actual no...
...10017...
...Actual no...
...And even if the Democrats ran someone like Rep...
...STEPHEN M. SOIFFER Cortland, New York IRVING HOWE Replies: Costa Rica has a far better "record of political tolerance" than the present regime in Nicaragua...
...I don't see a whole lot of difference between these figures...
...8. Known Bondholders, Mortgagees, and Other Security Holders Owning or Holding 1 percent or more of total amount of Bonds, Mortgages, or other Securities: None...
...copies each issue during preceding 12 months-903...
...Extent and Nature of Circulation: A. Total No...
...Her purpose in being here was to address a meeting on the Spanish Revolution, especially to expose the Stalinists and their role in contributing to the defeat of the Republican cause...
...From Bakunin onward, they have warned against excessive centralization of political organizations, against tendencies exaggerating state power, and against the fetishism of the party...
...10017...
...copies of single issue published nearest to filing date— None...
...copies of single issue published nearest to filing date—I 11...
...The meeting was called by a local group of anarchists, anti-Stalinist members of the Labour party, and members of the Independent Labour party associated with the Spanish POUM...
...Nevertheless, false consciousness, even among the left, cannot last forever...
...2. Date of Filing: Sept...
...copies each issue during preceding 12 months-2,300...
...I certify that the statements made by me above are correct and complete...
...Managing Editor: Edith Tarcov, 521 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y...
...of copies of single issue published nearest to filing date4,320...
...1983...
...In addition, I am appalled at the inference that the left and the right in El Salvador are equally to be regarded as "killers and terrorists...
...4. Complete mailing address: Foundation for the Study of Independent Social Ideas, Inc., 521 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y...
...The purpose, function and nonprofit status of this organization and the exempt status for federal income tax purposes have not changed during preceding 12 months...
...The public wants a "leader" who will tell them what to do if they want to hear what he may choose to say...
...Dissent, Fall 1983), is an excellent economic analysis of the relative weakness of the current economic recovery in comparison with those of previous years...
...Where on earth do you people get your information...
...Certainly, the international monetary and trading regimes should be restructured so as to give developing countries (both middle-income and low-income) more power...
...ANN HUBBELL Ypsilanti, Mich...
...For capitalism would still exist, and it is very much the capitalist system itself that is at fault...
...That can't begin to happen until we liberate ourselves from the false belief that supporting Democratic party politicians in any way advances the democratic socialist movement...
...It is hard to know how to respond to something that so thoroughly combines eloquent denunciation of the brutal and stupid U.S...
...copies of single issue published nearest to filing date-7,550...
...copies each issue during preceding 12 months-7,575...
...Our right wing (from Jerry Falwell to George Will) wishes to regulate our personal behavior in a sort of authoritarian mold— while at the same time allowing the utmost in corporate lawlessness and even chaos in society, and leaving the poor gasping and the rich enriching themselves...
...1. Title of Publication: DISSENT A. Publication No.: 00123846...
Vol. 31 • January 1984 • No. 1
