Open Letter to the Nation magazine

James Farmelant farmelantj at juno.com
Wed Nov 4 09:43:20 PST 1998


A little while back when I was at the Boston Public Library I happened to peruse through old copies of The New Repulic from the early 1970s (pre-Marty Peretz days). What struck me was not just that the magazine was far to the left of its present incarnation (which is a given) but it was also well to the left of the current incarnation of The Nation. It featured articles by anti-war activists, by civil rights activists including black nationalists etc. Its editorial stance and general tone would be totally unrecognizable by anybody who had read only Marty Peretz's version of the magazine.

It is interesting to note that both The New Rpublic and The Nation have historically tended towards a left-liberal political stance and were often sympathetic towards the CPUSA. At one point The New Republic had Progressive presidential candidate, Henry Wallace as its editor. Also, back in the late 1940s the two magazines contemplated merging since their editorial stances were so similar that they were both occupying almost the same niche in the market.

Now as Lou points out apparently The Nation is drifting in the same direction thereby furthering the narrowing of American political discourse. Whereas, in the case of The New Republic its drift to the right can be blamed on one person, Marty Peretz in the case of The Nation blame for its current drift seems to be a bit harder to pin down but the result is still unfortunate.

Jim Farmelant

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