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THROUGHOUT THE DEVELOPMENT OF UTOPIAN VISIONS, THEIR GENERATORS HAVE SHOWN AMBIVALENT REACTIONS TO TECHNOLOGY. UTOPIANS HAVE ALTERNATINGLY SEEN TECHNOLOGY AS THE LIBERATOR OF HUMAN BEINGS FROM MEANINGLESS TOIL & SUFFERING, & AS THE DESTROYER OF ALL SOCIAL STABILITY. DYSTOPIAN WORKS IN RECENT YEARS HAVE PRESENTED VISIONS OF UNCONTROLLED TECHNOLOGY DESTROYING HUMAN FREEDOM, WHILE UTOPIANS HAVE EITHER OPPOSED TECHNOLOGY OR WANTED IT KEPT UNDER STRICT SOCIAL CONTROL. THE CRUCIAL THEME UNDERLYING ALL OF THESE PROPOSALS IS THE NEED TO RESIST TECHNOLOGY-FOR-ITS-OWN-SAKE, MAKING TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION A SELECTIVE PROCESS. ONLY CONCERN WITH THE QUESTIONS RAISED IN SUCH WORKS CAN AVOID THE DANGERS PRESENTED IN TECHNOLOGICAL DYSTOPIAS. MODIFIED HA.

The problem of violence in American culture has been a subject of increasing concern during the past two decades. In the fifties, there was rampant the school of "consensus" history writing, which tended to deny the existence of conflicts about basic issues in American history. More recently, the past has been portrayed in an entirely different light: Conflict, and particularly violent conflict, are seen as having been virtually endemic. Against the background of violent crime and civil disturbance, several presidential commissions have investigated violence, and they usually emerge with the conclusion that Americans are a peculiarly violent people. The atrocities of the Vietnam war, and police and ghetto violence, have led many to wonder at the same time whether the alleged merits of the American political system are as great as its defenders have insisted.

Our age, with its many disquietudes, has been peculiarly open to radical critiques in ethics and polities. Peter Brock's account of pacifism, therefore, appears at a time when interest in the subject should be greater than in certain previous periods. We have not had comprehensive studies of the American peace movement since those of Devere Allen and Merle Curti. Brock's very detailed work does not, of course, purport to be an examination of the peace movement as a whole but only of the pacifist stream within it — that tendency which in principle rejects all war, whatever the professed goals, and stresses the notion" of non-violence. Although be treats the theme only down to 1914, some of the seminal issues of pacifist thought and practice in any age — including our own — are illustrated in this massive volume. The extensive bibliography could be a point of departure for many specialized studies.

The restlessness of the sixties of the twentieth century has been exemplified particularly in the civil rights movement, in the student revolt, and in greatly expanded antiwar dissent. The background of this disquietude is rooted in the American tradition of dissent; in rejection of the alienation which has tended to accompany complex industrialism; and in the relatively great economic affluence which provides opportunities to think about injustice and the larger purposes of life. There is strong moral justification for the dissent of our day; and, in many respects, American moral consciousness is broader and deeper than in previous generations. For the most part, the black man has been treated as a thing, and he legitimately aspires to recognition as a human personality. The student revolt reflects a repudiation of the anonymity which so often accompanies a multiversity type of higher education. The antiwar movement represents a long-needed revolt against what is, in effect, a warfare state and a particularly unjust war in Vietnam. Although some of the dissent is doubtless a kind of compulsive revolt, much of it is an expression of genuine conscience. It is justified in terms of ends, and much of it in terms of means as well. In selecting means, the dissenter should give the benefit of the doubt to existing laws before adopting civil disobedience; he ought not to violate human personality, in the name of which he is speaking; and he ought to test his proposed action against the judgments of critics—even though he alone must make the final decision. In general, a conscientious dissenter may help overcome feelings of anonymity, counteract social inertia, and vindicate the integrity of personality.

The restlessness of the 60's of the 20th cent has been exemplified particularly in the civil rights movement, in the student revolt, & in greatly expanded anti-war dissent. The background of his disquietude is rooted in the US tradition of dissent; in the rejection of the alienation which has tended to accompany complex industr'ism; & in the relatively great econ affluence which provides opportunities to think about injustice & the larger purposes of life. There is strong moral justification for the dissent of our day, & in many respects, Amer moral consciousness is broader & deeper than in previous generations. For the most part, the black man has been treated as a thing, & he legitimately aspires to recognition as a human personality. The student revolt reflects a repudiation of the anonymity which so often accompanies a multiversity type of higher educ. The anti-war movement represents a longneeded revolt against what is, in effect, a warfare state & a particularly unjust war in Vietnam. Although some of the dissent is doubtless a kind of compulsive revolt, much of it is an expression of genuine conscience. It is justified in terms of ends, & much of it in terms of means as well. In selecting means, the dissenter should give the benefit of the doubt to existing laws before adopting civil disobedience; he ought not to violate human personality, in the name of which he is speaking; & he ought to test his proposed action against the judgments of critics-even though he alone must make the final decision. In general, a conscientious dissenter may help overcome feelings of anonymity, counteract soc inertia, & vindicate the integrity of personality. HA.

The professional patriot has existed in every age. He is characterized by a tendency to repeat endlessly his own claim to patriotic virtue, not infrequently hiding ulterior ends (econ gain or personal power) behind his slogans. More often than not, he has a conspiratorial view of history, associates patriotism with the waging of war, & concentrates his ideological attack on a central enemy. In modern Amer life, that foe is communism, the crusade against which is often used to condemn any basic soc change. The professional tends to associate free enterprise with the true Amer way & frequently mixes together religious, econ, & patriotic slogans. The goals of the professional patriot can hardly be approved by those who reject the supreme value of the nation-state & who look forward to greater human solidarity. A conscientious human being, moreover, cannot promise unqualified loyalty to any org or person, but only to the right as he sees it. Methods often used by the professional patriot are widely condemned, & rightly so. But the repudiation tends to be merely verbal, for in fact those methods-prevarication, distortion, & ethnocentrism in internat'l morals-are in considerable degree approved in practice. Though the professional may represent unethical means in their more blatant forms, he is not alone in adhering to them. HA.

The professional patriot has existed in every age. He is characterized by a tendency to repeat endlessly his own claim to patriotic virtue, not infrequently hiding ulterior ends (economic gain, for example, or personal power) behind his slogans. More often than not, he has a conspiratorial view of history, associates patriotism with the waging of war, and con centrates his ideological attack on a central enemy. In modern American life, that foe is communism, the crusade against which is often used to condemn any basic social change. The profes sional tends to associate free enterprise with the "true Ameri can way" and frequently mixes together religious, economic, and patriotic slogans. The goals of the professional patriot can hardly be approved by those who reject the supreme value of the nation-state and who look forward to greater human solidarity. A conscientious human being, moreover, cannot promise unqualified loyalty to any organization or person, but only to the right as he sees it. Methods often used by the pro fessional patriot are widely condemned, and rightly so. But the repudiation tends to be merely verbal, for in fact those methods—prevarication, distortion, and ethnocentrism in inter national morals—are in considerable degree approved in prac tice. Although the professional may represent unethical means in their more blatant forms, he is not alone in adhering to them.