United Colleges - Vox Yearbook (Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada)

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SPECIAL SECTION ON AMERICAN WRITERS.... ELIOT AND FROST AT THINKERS.ROBERT McLEAN ROBERT FROST AND T. S. ELIOT . . . TECHNIQUES IRENE HODGSON THOMAS WOLFE ... A SONNET SEQUENCE.HAROLD KARR LEWIS AND JAMES .KAY ROWLETTE 17

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REVIEWS . . . IRVIN PETSNICK The Good Society . . . Walter Lippmann First Edition: Published September, 1937, by Little, Brown and Com¬ pany. Obviously this book is not a cur¬ rent publication. However, the per¬ sistent problems with which it deals occupy such a prominent place in contemporary thought that Lipp- mann’s treatment of them is still stimulating and provocative in 1943. In the light of the realization of many destructive defects in our pres¬ ent system, and the ever increasing unrest that has resulted therefrom, Lippmann takes upon himself the gigantic task of attempting to reveal the answers to the defects, and postu¬ late to a degree, remedies for the future. He is acutely aware of the terrific and widespread reaction that has set in, which has resulted in the resigned acceptance by thousands of learned people, of some form of a collective society. Consequently, he must recognize the established posi¬ tion of this widespread movement, and give to it an unbiased, unpre¬ judiced, and disinterested analysis if he wishes to retain the objective approach for which he is so highly respected. In order to accomplish his task, Lippman divides his book into two main divisions. The first deals with the background, theory, and practical outworking of the movement which has been attempting an organized and planned social order. The second is a re-examination of the Liberal movement, its principles, defects, and consequent misunderstanding by fu¬ ture liberal men, resulting in its temporary collapse, placing it in a position of ridicule and scorn by recognized intellectuals of our pres¬ ent time. Having done this, Lipp¬ mann, sincerely aware of his own limitations, and only too ready to admit the inadequacy of his deter- minded answers, accepts the task of presenting some solution to this world-wide problem. This in outline is the purpose and plan of the book. One realizes immediately the hope¬ less task of even alluding to the important aspects of collectivism that Lippmann so minutely reveals, examines, and judges. Consequently, this will be but a bare outline of his work. He is not merely concerned with the problem of finding the necessary ideal men to run this plan¬ ned economy, but should they be found (and he is ready to admit that they may be found), would that en¬ sure the successful operation of so varied and widespread an economy with its diversified interests, and tre¬ mendous problem of allocating mil¬ lions of resources to literally mil¬ lions of variable needs. Lippmann agrees that the economy can be planned, but, if it is, then it shall be bellicose and poor, and, if it is not to be bellicose and poor, then it cannot be planned. One of the first important points that he makes is that progress comes by liberation, not by suppression or concentration. The very course of history itself proves that the strug- dle has been one of consistent eman¬ cipation from arbitrary power and centralized control. Our develop¬ ment by incorporated companies was not the inevitable outworking of the growth of techniques, machines, etc., but merely the result of established law. It has not been proven that progress, development, invention, go hand in hand with large scale in¬ dustry, but, on the contrary, that small scale industry is more con¬ ducive to elastic progress. The tre¬ mendous profits of large incorporated companies are not due necessarily to their immensity, but to the law which gives them special privileges, monopoly of raw materials, and gen¬ eral all-round advantages, which completely remove the one great fac¬ tor that should keep them in con¬ trol; namely, competition. Thus men fall into the trap of assuming that the state should take over these large incorporated companies, in¬ crease their size, and thus gain wealth, abundance, prosperity. Lipp¬ mann maintains that it is not simply by concentration that one gains pro¬ gress, but by liberation of ideas, techniques, experiment, etc. He goes on now to show not only that large scale industry leads to stagnation, stability , rigidity, and the inevitable maintenance of the “status quo,” but also the hopeless task of finding men equal to the problem of allocating scarce means to compet¬ ing ends. This is probably the most fundamental economic problem of any age. We may have the resources at our disposal; it may not even be too great a problem to determine the amount that will be available; but the task of allocating the same to thousands of complex needs, which in turn are governed by thousands of personal interests, subject to thousands of changes, has gone be¬ yond the possibility of even the mathematicians. The tremendous task that the collectivist faces is not simply to put the ideal people in the place of authority, but to find men who shall be not men, but super-men. It contains the illusion that the economy lends itself to full understanding, and one has only to place the right men in authority, and all be a Garden of Eden. In other words, it is a double complex problem; that of finding men of ideal character, not subject to all the degrading influences of human na¬ ture, and also of super-human abil¬ ity, who can plan a future which they are unable to imagine, and who can manage a civilization which they are unable to understand. In Book II Lippman examines the collectivist movement, and passes judgment upon it. All collectivists must finally arrive at their end—the totalitarian state. He examines the Fascist movement and uncovers its paradox. It must produce leaders out of an economy which is char¬ acterized by rigidity, militarism, and conformity to mass, a hopeless task unless you allow for a hereditary caste, which again creates the di¬ versity of interest that the Fascists have set out to abolish. Similarly, he passes condemnation on the com¬ munist movement. Lippmann main¬ tains that the communist regime is necessarily a war economy, retain¬ ing its growth and stability upon the basis of simple purposes, demands, and allocation of resources that war brings. In relation to this, Lippmann goes on to prove that war economy is conducive to collectivism by over¬ simplifying the problems of a peace economy. In wartime there is only one purpose, one job to do, one de¬ mand for resources, one planning body, and, any individual interest, desire, or purpose is submerged be¬ neath the one all-inclusive purpose at hand; namely, war. In wartime the planners are in control. They know what is needed, where re¬ sources must be allocated, and they (Continued on page 47) 16

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Eliot and THIN ROBERT JjTROST as a teacher has expressed the opin¬ ion that just as important as a professor’s classroom instruction and his competence as a technician, is the man himself. He believes that on any campus there should be a man who by his achievements in fields outside the univer¬ sity can inspire the youth on the campus. His own teaching has been highly successful and has been based on a determination to make it “personal” in the best sense of the word. I mention this because I believe it is a clue to the nature of the man himself and to his “be¬ liefs” as they are discovered in his verse. He believes in the intangibles, in the strength and vigour that comes to a man through the weld¬ ing of men’s purposes and aspirations togethef in friendship and understanding. But as much as he believes this, he is not demonstrative either as a person or as an artist. He is quiet, unassuming, and competent. He has a pro¬ found and scientific reverence for the “fact”— the thing in itself. He is an acute and tireless observer of the ways of men and nature. Throughout his career as a poet he has re¬ mained true to his intention to write only of what he has detailed and honest knowledge. It is first-hand careful observation that he has put into verse. His poetry is a quiet and patient chronicle of what he has seen and heard in New England. It is observation stripped of accidental qualities; object and word are re¬ fined to an amazing concentration of effective¬ ness. It would be foolishness to suggest that there is nothing further to be found in Frost. It is true that when one first begins to read him he demands undivided attention and concentra¬ tion, but as one persists he quite literally blooms into one’s consciousness, melodically, rhythmically, and in intelligence. On the whole I have not found him as obscure as I was led to assume he would be. His “beliefs” are no more hidden than in the work of any highly conscious artist. His idiom is “personal” and individual. Usually it is not didactic, but not always. As one reads, the contours of his thought rise from the factual surface of his verse. From the very tone one is convinced that there are meanings and intuitions under the surface of the words. The style, the subject matter, the tone is the intensely personal one of a confession of conviction. The unity of the poet’s personality is evident. There is a sense of form. It is the mark and mystery of a con¬ summate artist that he says simply what he wants to say; and when he reaches the point when he cannot in so many words express the inner truth which burns in his consciousness, that he can somehow suggest it too, so that this final mystery is at once inexpicable and accepted. In the ‘form’ of the work, its sense of completeness, there is a final statement of faith that the writer could not reduce to factual ob¬ jective statement. Such a state is achieved in Shakespeare and Keats. It is present in the work of Robert Frost as well, and is the stamp and seal of his genius. Since I have stated that there are convic¬ tions and “beliefs” in the work of Frost it is a proper question to ask me what they are and where they are to be found. I shall list them first and reserve until later an evaluation of them. He is deeply concerned with the nature of man’s existence as a moral creature and the 18