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Fifty years is an expanse of time which is meaningful in both historical and personal terms. Significant change can occur in a half-century. yet it is not so difficult for an individual late in life to remember a "then" fifty years distant from the "now" with which he is confronted. The three essays which follow attempt to limn out the reality of a "then" only fifty years in the past, a "then" which in a few more decades will be unimaginable.
In 1948 the civil rights revolution began. The Democratic Party's adoption of a civil rights plank in its presidential platform led to the States Rights revolt in which Strom Thurmond ran for President in opposition to the Democrat Harry Truman and two other candidates. In the following five decades the revolution in the name of civil rights grew beyond the expectation of equal opportunity to become a demand for equality of results.
The resulting "dismantling" of America is here revealed in James Owens' essay. Dr. Owens concludes his essay with a thought-provoking survey of the options available to Americans in the decades to come.
In 1948, the Institute for Social Research completed the field work which became the basis for its series Studies in Prejudice. A particularly insightful judgment of these studies has been offered by the late Christopher Lasch: "The purpose and design of Studies in Prejudice dictated the conclusion that prejudice, a psychological disorder rooted in the 'authoritarian' personality structure. could be eradicated only by subjecting the American people to what amounted to collective psychotherapy--by treating them as inmates of an insane asylum."*
Raymond V. Raehn discovers in the work of the Institute the origins of the present regime of "political correctness," an attempt to impose upon the American people a kind of collective psychotherapy (or brainwashing). Mr. Raehn's essay is a convincing demonstration that, as Richard M. Weaver wrote, Ideas Have Consequences
In 1948, Francis Parker Yockey published his Imperium: The Philosophy of History and Politics. A sequel to Oswald Spengler's The Decline of the West, Yockey's Imperium attempts to apply its insights to a consideration of the possible future of Europe and America. Sharing with Spengler his belief that the sense of national identity was particularly weak in America because of its origin as a colony, Yockey was, nonetheless, far from pessimistic when he wrote in 1948.
Fifty years after its first publication, Michael W. Masters has examined Yockey's work as it applies to America. He has given Imperium a fitting commemoration.
"Suggestions for Further Reading" is simply that, not an exhaustive bibliography. It has been deliberately limited to include only the most significant titles.