Editor's Note
Rothschild, Matthew
EDITOR'S NOTE Matthew Rothschild Tree-House Time The great poet Adrienne Rich writes in one of her poems about the need to "build a tree house without a tree." That's the dilemma of the left just...
...Today we are reaping the whirlwind of traditional liberalism...
...I can only hope that before the casualties mount, the American people will come to their senses and revoke the Contract on America...
...Each month, we're setting out to bring you two or three funny little columns, along with Molly Ivins's indispensable wit, which has kept many of us going through the years...
...I must admit I got a chuckle out of that one...
...I've never believed in "the worse, the better" theory...
...In this particular moment of reactionary politics, it has fallen to us on the left to defend much of what used to be called liberalism—the basic welfare state, the idea that we as a nation have a responsibility for the least among us, and the notion that the government should serve some function other than rolling out the carpet for rampaging capitalism...
...It's an important, even vital job...
...God forbid the old magazine lets a few rays of hope in now and again...
...We need to go beyond liberalism and start thinking about breaking away from the cash economy, which should no longer be the whip and spur of our lives...
...It assumes that corporations, with only a modest restraint here or there, will operate in the best interests of society...
...As you may have noticed, the March issue contained satirical bits from Kate Clinton, Barbara Ehrenreich, and Michael Feldman...
...In the thirteen years that I've been at this magazine, the most common complaint I've heard from readers is that we're too depressing...
...All we're doing is lifting the shades to let in a little more light...
...indeed, it tramples on them, as it befouls the environment and squeezes every drop of profit out of the hired help...
...We're certainly not cutting back on our hard-hitting political coverage that gives no quarter to the Republicans—or to Bill Clinton...
...It is incapable of meeting the needs of people...
...And we need to start talking about a guaranteed job or a guaranteed livable income for every American so that no one has to fear the next lay-off and so that those in this society with the least wealth are not constantly pitted against each other...
...And it presumes that the selling of one's labor is the most rational way to organize work...
...I'm hoping you'll enjoy these offerings...
...We can't get to a better America until we can dream it up...
...Alongtime subscriber from Cortland, New York, writes me with the following complaint: "Your exuberant optimism seems out of character with the rest of the magazine, and I am afraid signals a disappointing change of direction...
...Pass the pessimism, please...
...We should insist on a shorter work week at higher pay, so that we can all have more time to pursue happiness instead of the next pay check...
...Why build a tree house if you can't make room in it for hope and humor...
...I know I do...
...It may seem foolish, but now is the time to be Utopian...
...Nor are we trimming back on our investigative reporting: our piece on Gulf War Syndrome last month, and our cover story on crack-cocaine manufacturing by police departments this month should indicate that we haven't gone into the bromide business...
...4 / April 1995...
...If the Republicans succeed, they will cause great suffering in this country—to children, to the poor, to immigrants, to women on welfare, to women who need abortions, to gays and lesbians, to African-Americans, to consumers, to the economy, and to the environment...
...It strikes me as immoral, because for millions of people it will be "the worse, the worse...
...Lest you share the Cortland concern, I'll promise you a dollop or two of pessimism every issue...
...We need to build a mass leftwing movement in this country even when it seems impossible...
...And I've sympathized with this reaction now and again...
...This month, Feldman is back (page 12) and is joined by Will Durst (page 21...
...We're not trimming our coverage of social issues: we've devoted a lot of space recently (and will devote a lot more) to welfare, health care, labor, and other urgent concerns...
...Undaunted, my colleague Ruth Conniff and I have set out to disappoint our friend from Cortland even more...
...But then I'm exuberantly optimistic...
...We've launched what we call the Humor Project...
...That's the dilemma of the left just now...
...Since liberals are stuck in the La Brea Tar Pits, we on the left are forced to do their job...
...The market does not act in any magical or munificent way...
...Liberalism accepts the free market as the ruling principle of our society...
...But in the meantime, the left needs to do more than carry liberalism's portfolio because part of the crisis of liberal politics today has been brought on by the limits of liberalism itself...
Vol. 59 • April 1995 • No. 4
