Why didn't "Rise and Fall" have legs?
When I first read Chodorov's Rise and Fall of Society, excerpted today as the Daily Article, I was just blown away at the clarity of argument and the precision of the analytics concerning government, society, and economy. How much could be achieved if a student read this one book sometime in the first years of college? It would immunize him or her to nearly all the nonsense you get in sociology and political science and history -- not only immunize but clarify and reveal, for once you begin thinking in Chodorovian terms, so much confusion is wiped away and so much more about the world makes sense.
But there is another mystery that struck me about this book. How could something so good but so unknown? I had never heard of it and I couldn't find anyone who had. Had Robert Lefevre's library not had a copy, no one here would have even known about it.
So this morning I was rereading Murray's tribute to Chodorov, and here we find the key. Rothbard says this book is brilliant but written in 1959 when Frank was 72 years old and had really lost all his publishing outlets. The old right had already been overthrown by the new right. National Review was founded in 1955. Frank was an embarrassment to these people who cared mainly about fighting the Cold War and using the state for their own interests. So there wasn't anyone around to promote this book or even review it. It might have been the last great book by a pillar of the old right intellectual scene. Who pay attention to anything that National Review wasn't publishing?
Comments (5)
Jim Ostrowski
One of the best essays I ever read.
Published: April 3, 2007 9:45 AM
Michael Woods
I can't help but feel an overwhelming sadness when reading Chodorov, a sadness similar to that I feel when (please don't laugh) reading Lord of the Rings. The sense of the decay of a great civilization, of an impending doom, a sense of loss, and the stoic resolution of those who fight despite the seemingly inevitable approach of defeat. I am reminded of Mises's quote, about how he felt less and less like an economist and more and more like a historian of decline.
Despite Rothbard's admonition to always be optimistic, in the face of an ever increasing welfare/warfare state and the cultural collapse of Western Civilization I find it increasingly hard to do so.
Published: April 3, 2007 10:04 AM
averros
Don't write the Western civilization off too soon... we still have tricks up our sleeves, like our technology which already broke State's hold on information and significantly reduced effectiveness of its propaganda.
Wait until 3D printing will break its controls on firearms, and the cryptography will break its hold on money and ability to wiretap and collect taxes.
We're living in an age when individuals are increasingly able to get significant offensive capabilities - and I hope to see times when they will be able to successfully challenge the ultimate sitting ducks - the territorial States.
How can any State defend itself from its population when the members of this population can print the flying assasination machines in their homes using plans downloaded from the Internet? When any ruler wannabe will find himself unable to walk under the sun without fear of being killed by an anonymous assasin who happened to dislike being pushed around by politicans? When that time comes, the servants of the State will defect in droves and learn to be polite and honest people and to make living not by threatening others but by peaceful exchange.
Published: April 4, 2007 8:43 PM
RogerM
I'm with averros to a large degree. Things are looking up if only marginally. Business Week magazine had a wonderful example last Fall. It published an hysterical article titled "Can Anyone Steer This Economy?" available at http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/06_47/b4010001.htm. The essence of the article is that market forces have taken over and the Fed and government have lost control of the economy. The author is beside himself he's so frightened by the prospect.
Published: April 5, 2007 9:47 AM
RogerM
That link doesn't work, so google for "Can Anyone Steer This Economy".
Published: April 5, 2007 9:49 AM