The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 52, No. 3, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 1, 1964 Page: 3 of 8
eight pages : ill. ; page 21 x 14 in.View a full description of this newspaper.
Extracted Text
The following text was automatically extracted from the image on this page using optical character recognition software:
By BILL BROYLES
Thresher Contributing Editor
If 1964 were an ordinary
presidential election year, the
Republican candidate would be
attacking the Democratic in-
cumbent on such specific issues
as the budget deficits of the
past four years, corruption in
high places, the chaos in Viet
Nam and U.S. prestige abroad.
Such chinks in the Democratic
armor of peace and prosperity
are quite apparent, and Barry
Goldwater, like any normal
presidential candidate, is dis-
playing them to the public.
Past Versus Present
There is, however something
revolutionary about the Gold-
water candidacy, an air of
radical change which fails to
fit traditional political pat-
terns. Unlike most modern re-
volutions, the Goldwater up-
heaval is a move at restoration,
an attempt to recall past values
and to impose the simplicity of
their moral imperatives upon
the complexity of the present.
What is at issue is in effect
present reality— the nature of
the state of affairs which di-
vides the "from where we have
come" and the "to where we
are going." To the Goldwater
mind, the nation is coming from
a past where people were both
courageous and moral, where
individual initiative function-
ing in an atmosphere of free-
dom from governmental inter-
ference produced the unsullied
greatness of Ameiica.
in your heart...
By EDDIE PRICE
Mr. Price, a Hanszen Senior, read
History at Cambridge last year as
the Abraham Exchange Student
from Rice. He was invited to con-
tribute an essay based on his exper-
ience abroad dealing with the Gold-
water candidacy. This is his report.
—Ed.
Last week Barry Goldwater
charged that American prestige
in Europe has "dipped below
the peril point." His informa-
tion came from the CIA, but
you don't need access to any
confidential reports to know
that what he says is true.
You can read it in any Euro-
pean paper or ask anyone who
has been there recently. For
this summer the United States
committed one of its worst
blunders in foreign relations
since the outbreak of the Ko-
rean War. It let Barry Gold-
water be nominated for the
Presidency.
Don't be fooled by any of
Goldwater's talk about con-
sulation with our allies to
strengthen NATO. The only peo-
ple in Europe who want to talk
to him are the Fascist rulers of
Spain and the neo-Nazis in Ger-
many. (Goldwater, of course,
is not a Nazi, but it is extreme-
ly difficult for a European to
visialize an anti-fascist rightist,
and in politics what you are
is often much less important
than what people think you are.)
Everyone else in Europe is
scai*ed to death of the Arizona
senator.
Warmonger?
What Goldwater is saying to-
day to ameliorate his war-
mongering image will, I suspect,
have little effect in Europe.
What really worries the people
Compared with this America
ancP with its Americans, pres-
ent reality reveals: what is to
them the tragic sight of a na-
tion in moral decay, a nation
cowardly in foreign affairs and
decadent in its morals.
To them, something valuable
is missing in the present, some-
thing basic to the American
way of life has slipped through
the fingers: of the politicians
who have had custody of Amer-
ica since 1932.
The restoration of this moral
fiber assumes the nature of a
crusade, a religious quest to re-
deem Jerusalem from the liberal
infidel.
Unspoken Communication
As: the chief apostle of this
crusade, Barry Goldwater can
be greeted with cheers (As he
was in Winston-Salem, N. C.,
where these remarks were
made) at such statements as
"I don't like the way the coun-
try is drifting. I find it hard
to put my finger on what is
wrong. Something deep in your
hearts tells you something is
wrong."
The cheering crowd doesn't
have to be told what is wrong;
they know.
These supporters can accept
the use of vague generalities
and appeals to national honor
through the use of words such
as freedom and liberty whose
actual meaning may not be
clear.
The images which these
words evoke are in reality
meaningful to only a part of
America, and that is the in-
creasingly prosperous middle-
class.
It is from these people, the
citizens of economic boom in
the Southwest, that the Gold-
water philosophy was born.
With prosperity comprising the
circle of their experience, they
see little or no need for the
government controls which in-
sured this prosperity or for the
government benefits: to those
impoverished when they feel
were disinclined to take ad-
vantage of the opportunities
which they themselves followed
to success.
They . then can understand
when Barry calls this prosper-
ity false and these benefits to
the poor cynical, simply be-
cause the issue to them be-
comes not the prosperity but
the freedom, and not the po-
verty, but the individual in-
itiative.
State and Nation
As a Senator from the un-
usual state of Arizona, Barry
Goldwater could rest his case
with this: America and be
understood. As a candidate for
President, however, he must
face all the people and, con-
sequently, a number of Amer-
icas.
To the America of the poor,
of the Negro, of the farmer,
and of the aged, his emphasis
on morality has little effect,
and his attitude of national
courage is construed as temer-
ity. The moral crusade has, of
necessity, broadened its base
and modified its early ambi-
tions of dismantling the gov-
ernment at home to regain
morality and strengthen it
abroad to bolster courage.
Government to this: broad base
of the electorate is an instru-
ment, a servant to the out-
standing needs of the people.
The pure, unrefined Gold-
water attitude strikes these
voters as silly, as an attempt
to re-solve the problems of the
thirties while ignoring the
problems of the sixties, prob-
lems which are very pressing,
and very real.
These people are the workers
who feel the squeeze of auto-
mation, the businessmen who
understand the relation of gov-
ernment to the economy, the
aged who face rising hos-
pital costs with limited re-
sources, the Negro who needs
protection of his civil rights,
and the citizens who see a
connection between a chauvinis-
tic foreign policy and the possi-
bility of nuclear war.
In order to become President,
Goldwater must bolster the core
of his moral crusade with voters
from the above-m en t i on e d
groups and from the large por-
tion of the electorate who
neither feels the direct neces-
sity of government nor the
fervor of the crusade. In order
to get these votes, he must
make a play to the discontents
Goldwater impression abroad
there is what he might actually
do if he were elected President,
and this is something no one,
not even Goldwater himself,
can safely predict.
But the Europeans are gen-
uinely afraid that this man, who
proclaims an unswerving dedica-
tion to the permanent emascula-
tion of all Communists every-
where as the only thing he needs
to formulate an effective for-
eign policy, and who proposes
to reply to major international
crises by turning the militai-y
loose to "solve" the problem
any way they want to, might
do something which would pro-
voke the Russians into respond-
ing in a rather unpleasant way,
with nuclear missiles.
No Provocation
He wouldn't mean to, of
course. That's the most fright-
ening part. For he doesn't seem
to realize that, however uni-
quely determined America must
be to cut off Communist aggres-
sion of any kind, we must not
be provocative.
When a great nation has
drawn a line and said, "Thus
far and no further," it is not
going to, it cannot allow that
line to be crossed with im-
punity. Not even England in
1939. Not even Russia.
And once a conflict has start-
ed between two . nuclear powers
over something which both
sides consider vital — un-
negotiable — or an unclarified
action is initiated which may
seem to threaten what one side
holds sacred, the side which is
losing is going to be forced to
escalate the conflict to avoid
catastrophe, even if escalation
means mutual annihilation by
nuclear missiles. That "vic-
tory" to which Goldwater is
dedicated will never be won,
for Krushchev would push the
button of destruction before he
would see Russia defeated by
the United States.
President's Burden
The security, the prosperity,
the very survival of Europe as
a civilization depends almost
entirely on the actions of the
American President, for any
nuclear war between the United
States and the Soviet Union
would involve massive retalia-
tion against Europe just as
surely as against America.
And yet the Europeans are be-
rated for interference in our
internal affairs when they pro-
test against our selection of this-
man who holds their lives in his
hands, this man over whom they
have, no power of choice. No
wonder the Europeans are un-
easy in their dependence, no
wonder they are mistrustful of
America as a guardian.
The very fact that a major
American party sees Goldwater
as a credible possibility for the
Presidency, the fact that Gold-
water is going to maintain his
grip on that party for many
years to come, the fact that
he could become President any
time between now and 1972, is
enough to terrify any European.
And any American as well.
which past administrations,
(preferably the present one)
have gathered.
In perhaps his favorite area,
what he feels to be the em-
asculation of American foreign
policy, his appeal becomes a
double-edged sword, attracting
those who are frustrated with
the past course of American
relations to the Communist
world but repelling those who
believe that Goldwater's policy
would lead to nuclear war. To
those who feel that they have
been unnecesarily hindered by
governmental controls he can
offer nothing without alienat-
ing people who depend on gov-
ernment protection.
White Backlash
In only one area can be com-
bine his moral crusade with
pressing reality and appeal to
the great mass of voters, and
that is the race issue, and with
it the question of rioting and
order in the streets. Often called
the "white Backlash," the
effects of this issue on the per-
formance of voters is the im-
ponderable of the campaign. Up
until now, Goldwater has only
alluded to the qusption, not
willing to become a demagogue.
References linking both the
rioting and the undesirable
effects of the Negro revolution
to the Democratic administra-
tion have been frequent, how-
ever, and in spite of a pointedly
oblique approach, quite obvious
as to intent and meaning. It is
only through the unknown
effects of such an irrational
issue that Goldwater can both
break the South and win enough
of the industrial state to carry
the election.
It is ironic that a campaign
born in sincere moral fervor has
been linked, however reluctant-
ly, to the one issue that can
arouse fear and hate regardless
of party lines; it will be tragic
if with it he wins.
aroid s
Garage
J A 8-332.3
Automatic Transmission;
* Paint & Body Shop
Air Conditioning
* Foreign Cars
Wrecker Service
2431 Dl'NSTAX
VISIT THE BEAUTIFUL
STARUTE BALLROOM
OPEN FRIDAY, SATURDAY, & SUNDAY
9810 SOUTH MAIN
MO 6-4305
CHUC-WAGUN
BEST HAMBURGERS
AROUND
ASK YOUR FRIEHDS...
THEY EAT HERE!
5210 KIRBY
JA 4-5078
a the t
Jhchanted
7 p<ubu£4
cup 7 PM * TIL MIDNIGHT TUES THRU SAT
1522 WKSTHKIMER • 3 HOCKS WBT Of TOWER THCATft
The ideal
Association...
You and
University
! i Your Neighbor
in the Village
AND LOAN ASSOCIATION
Home Office—2500 Dunstan (in the \ 'Vai?'— Houston
Branch: 5225 Bellaire Blvd.
Branch: 204 N. Main, Corvod
THE RICE THRESHER, OCTOBER 1, liUi I—P A G E 3
Upcoming Pages
Here’s what’s next.
Search Inside
This issue can be searched. Note: Results may vary based on the legibility of text within the document.
Tools / Downloads
Get a copy of this page or view the extracted text.
Citing and Sharing
Basic information for referencing this web page. We also provide extended guidance on usage rights, references, copying or embedding.
Reference the current page of this Newspaper.
Kelly, Hugh Rice. The Rice Thresher (Houston, Tex.), Vol. 52, No. 3, Ed. 1 Thursday, October 1, 1964, newspaper, October 1, 1964; Houston, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth244921/m1/3/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu.; crediting Rice University Woodson Research Center.