Speaking solely for myself, I find it valuable to look for serious contrary views -- the strongest argument in opposition to where I stand -- on which I can hone my own argument. If all I ever converse with is people who agree with me, what I am going to learn? People who have been through the left generally know the arguments I want to make.
And once you know the history of American radicalism, it is amazing how many leading American social thinkers, from the Seymour Martin Lipsets and the Daniel Bells to the Will Herbergs and Hannah Arendts, came out of the left. Once doesn't even have to descend into the dregs of neo-conservatism, with the Irving Kristols and Getrude Himmelfarb, to make this case; I would not want to have to argue that Kristol is very smart. But the best thinkers come out of the left. Even Justin's Judge Posner comes out of a red diaper family.
And there is an idea connection, as well. You look at something like the theory of 'managerial revolution' popularized by James Burnham in his right wing, post-Trot phase, for example, and what do you find but a popularized version of the 'bureaucratic collectivism' thesis he developed with Max Shactman.
Speaking of all this, I was happy to see Jeffry Issac's essay on Tony Giddens in the latest issue of _Dissent_, because he actually takes grapples with Gidden's 'third way' arguments, as opposed to just dismissing him for being an apostate. The only authors I have read that do this are Issacs and Chantal Mouffe. I recommend them both.
Leo Casey United Federation of Teachers 260 Park Avenue South New York, New York 10010-7272 (212-598-6869)
Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never has, and it never will. If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet deprecate agitation are men who want crops without plowing the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its waters. -- Frederick Douglass --
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