DIMENSIONS OF
TBE CURRENT CRISIS
The People's
Two Bodies SHELDON S. WOLIN
I
n the span of a few short years, as Americans have watched the visible deterioration of their nation's power at home and abroad, they have experienced something unknown to American history since the early nineteenth century: a sense of collective vulnerability. The several idols of our common caveunlimited power, growth, and prosperity- have toppled, depl'tvmg us of the collective image by which we had come to recognize ourselves, the American colossus astride the American century. A lot of anxious talk has followed: about America's dependence (on foreign oil, capital, etc.); about the conditions that other nations are able to impose on us; about America as victim rather than autonomous power. That Americans were beginning to perceive their government as powerless was confirmed by the astonishing rapidity with which the "hostage crisis" in Iran was converted from an incident into a general symbol of national impotence. The government's inability to impose its will on a raggle-taggle mob led by a frail fanatic seemed proof that the familiar world had suddenly been inverted: they were strong and convinced of their righteousness, we were disorganized and morally ambivalent. The nation's sense of weakness was further deepened by the President's response to the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, by the incongruity between his interpretation of the event and his actions. "The Soviet invasion;' he declared, ". . . could pose the most serious threat to the peace since the Second World War." He proposed to meet that danger by a series of gestures: boycotting the Olympic games, imposing an embargo on grain and high technology, and instituting a system of registration for a possible draft. Perhaps the clearest proof of the widespread perception of powerlessness is 9