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PARTISAN REVIEW
Wilson Moses:
We focus on the family because we think of it as the
fundamental institution. The burden of Jean Elshtain's remarks is that
there has to be some kind of understanding of how the institutions in
society interlock. But the debates in universities have to do with things
other than the debate between people on two extremes. Most people
are not on either of those extremes. I think of myself, Lynne Cheney,
and E . D. Hirsch as being in the middle. I see the general Holly–
woodization of American society as a problem. It's creeping into the
family, into the home, into the presidency. The fact is, we're beginning
to think of professorships as a step on the way to the Academy Awards.
This is the problem, and it's not particular to any racial or ethnic group,
but a problem of American life.
William Phillips:
I gather you would define the politically correct
people at one extreme. What is the other extreme?
Wilson Moses:
At the other extreme I would put the people who feel
that feminists don't have any legitimate point of view whatever. It would
be a position which would assume that a black person who is speaking
must be anti-Semitic. I think it's those kinds of extremes that are
prevalent in America today.
William Phillips:
Do 'you think that's a force in the academy?
Wilson Moses:
Yes, I think it is. However, it's not a large force. It's a
minority.
Roger Kimball: I
could spend the rest of the afternoon gIvmg you
candidates who populate the PC extreme. I'd be hard-pressed to come
up with people on the other extreme. I'm sure there are individuals who
could be mentioned, but most are without power. The other side is also
the dominant tendency in the university, even if the rank-and-file are in
the middle; they subscribe to Jean Elshtain's point of view, a point of
view that is continually pilloried in the publications of the MLA.
Wilson Moses:
People have mentioned here that they've spoken to
others who agree with them privately but don't want to articulate their
position publicly. I think, as a matter of fact, lots of people have had
these experiences . And certainly we can name a lot of people in the
middle. I've been more inclined in my remarks to refer specifically by
name to those who I think represent this middle.
