As I mentioned in my first post about Level 7, Mordecai Roshwald’s novel of nuclear apocalypse somehow holds up despite the implausibility of its premise, its moral posturing and its stilted writing. How is that possible?

Perhaps it’s not quite fair to criticize Roshwald’s writing qua writing; a Polish Jew born in 1921, he learned English as a second language and, in fact, enlisted the help of a friend to smooth out his original draft of Level 7. The result is perfectly grammatical English prose that could never be taken for the work of an American author. Occasionally it gave me the feeling that I was reading Kafka in translation. But this slightly alien style works to the book’s advantage, lending Level 7 the air of a parable.

So does the anonymity of the characters, whose names were left on the surface when they descended to the military facility housing PBX Command, located 4,000 feet underground, called Level 7. We know them only by their numerical designations: X-127 (the protagonist), E-647, N-527, etc. Indeed, Roshwald provides no clues as to the nationality of the denizens of Level 7. They could be Americans or Russians. In his preface to the novel the author explains that he deliberately chose to omit national or cultural markers, since Level 7 was intended as a warning to all humanity.

For these reasons, I believe, the implausibility of Level 7’s premise doesn’t matter as much as it would in a novel whose details are more realistic. For it is implausible. That any nation would automate its military machine to the point depicted in Roshwald’s novel strains credulity. As is well known, the actual procedures governing the use of nuclear weapons in both the United States and the Soviet Union were hedged round with multiple safeguards designed, not so much to prevent accidents or deter madmen, but to keep the power of decision in the hands of the political leadership.

But unlike Red Alert, Fail-Safe and other novels purporting to give a realistic picture of nuclear war, Level 7 is, as I suggested above, a parable. Whether Roshwald intended it as such is doubtful. It seems that he really believed in the nightmare vision of push-button nuclear warfare. But still, he definitely touches a nerve. Politically, technologically, and now historically, Level 7 misses the mark. Psychologically, though, it scores a target hit. For the process of dehumanization this novel depicts, whereby ordinary men are trained, conditioned and finally commanded to commit mass murder, has had its real-life counterparts in Russia, Germany, China, Cambodia, Rwanda and elsewhere. Level 7 is a resonant parable of the bloody and tragic twentieth century. For that reason, I rate it as a must read.

Posted by tmg110 at 2:50 PM EDT

Updated: Thursday, 11 April 2013 10:05 PM EDT

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Even the Huffington Post, which would really, really like to love the Occupy Wall Street movement, is having a problem with the group’s message—if its verbal meanderings merit the term. Here’s Andy Ostroy, who, after an obligatory bow to OWS’s “raw energy, passion and commitment,” goes on to note that the message is “a hodgepodge of fanciful pipe dreams akin to Miss America's I'd like to create peace on Earth. Whoa, Andy, I clouldn’t have said it better myself!

Ostroy cites the following OWS mission statements, gleaned from a cross-section of protestors:

"I am choosing to no longer participate in what I perceive to be an abusive relationship."

 

"Our goal to create a massive independent weapon of mass help! We are not intent on destruction. We are intent on confronting and fixing what we all know is a bought government."

 

"This is our shared moment to seize prosperity."

 

"Our nation is too busy growing debt, poverty, homelessness, wars, oil spills, global temperatures and inflation on everything we need—like food, education and healthcare—to slow down, stop and fix the problem."

 

"I'm here because I love my family, and want to protect them from the thief with the gun on the street to the thief with the pen behind the desk!"

You can see why Ostroy has his doubts. And these quotes, I suspect, were carefully chosen so as to make OWS seem less crazy than it really is. The most fanciful pipe dream of all is socialism—and socialism is one of the capital demands of this misbegotten movement.

I suspect that thoughtful progressives (no, that’s not quite an oxymoron) like Andy Ostroy perceive that Occupy Wall Street is nothing more than empty-headed street theater and that it will, in the end, come to nothing.

Posted by tmg110 at 10:59 AM EDT

Updated: Friday, 7 October 2011 11:20 AM EDT

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It occurs to me that with relatively few edits, ECOEVOLUTION’s rant could pass for an historical document, e.g:

Greed has been decimating Russia long before the so-called boogieman of the counterrevolution arrived. Since the days of the Tsar, economic LIE, greed year by year, decade by decade has been transferring Soviet Russia’s wealth, Soviet Russia’s future, to soulless kulak exploiters who have that has become Soviet Russia’s ruling rural Aristocracy. The kulaks’ insatiable greed is nothing less than a deadly cancer, which is now attracting the white blood cells of the Bolshevik Party voices of freedom, demanding our future back, demanding our small "d" - democratic country back. Perpetual imperialist wars powered by vast corporate profits were massive malignant tumors eating at Russia’s heart and soul. The kulak is sickness personified, a rural brothel owner rampant with a super strain of a syphilitic political disease that seeks to destroy our workers’ and peasants’ democracy, while justifying the insanity, the immorality of greed run amok in the land of the worker’s paradise. Soviet Russia in 1929 is a very, very, sick country. Russia’s kulaks, Russia’s ruling rural oligarchy, Russia’s exploiters of the poor peasants, Russia’s worshippers of greed are virulent viruses that must be excised from the Russian body if We the Workers and Peasants are to survive, if our worker’s and peasants’ paradise is to survive. Kulak greed alone has brought Soviet Russia to our current precipice. The Bolshevik Party at long last is a new force of energy that may move our country away from our decades long downward spiral that has brought us to the very edge. Will Soviet Russia be a country of, by and for the workers and peasants? Or will Russia be a country of, by and for the cruel kulak exploiters?

See? Piece of cake!

Posted by tmg110 at 9:41 AM EDT

Updated: Friday, 7 October 2011 10:41 AM EDT

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The Occupy Wall Street gang have taken to calling themselves "the 99%”; that is, they claim to represent those average Americans like you and me who labor under the yoke and lash of the super-rich 1%. How accurate is this claim? Cast your eye upon the following screed and judge for yourself.

This filthy stew of words was posted in response to the publication of the so-called Declaration of the Occupation of New York City on by EXOREVOLUTION on October 6, 11:19 am:

Greed has been decimating America long before the so-called boogieman of 9/11 arrived. Since the days of the Reagan "trickle-down" economic LIE, greed year by year, decade by decade has been transferring America’s wealth, America’s future, to a soulless Corporatocracy that has become America's ruling Aristocracy. Wall Streets insatiable greed is nothing less than a deadly cancer, which is now attracting the white blood cells of the Occupy Wall Street voices of freedom, demanding our future back, demanding our small "d" - democratic country back. Perpetual Pentagon wars powered by vast corporate profits are massive malignant tumors eating at America's heart and soul. Washington DC is sickness personified, a corporate-owned brothel rampant with a super strain of a syphilitic political disease that has destroyed our democracy, while justifying the insanity, the immorality of greed run amok in the land of the free and the home of the brave. America in 2011 is a very, very, sick country. America's top 1%, America's ruling oligarchy, America's corporate political puppets, America's worshippers of greed are virulent viruses that must be excised from the American body if We the People are to survive, if America is to survive. Al Qaeda was not angry about our freedom. Al Qaeda was angry about our greed. The Twin Towers represented the twin towers of Militarism and Corporatism fueled by only one unholy thing, voracious, violent, virulent greed. Greed alone has brought America to our current precipice. Occupy Wall Street at long last is a new force of energy that may move our country away from our decades long downward spiral that has brought us to the very edge. Will America be a country of, by and for the people? Or will America be a country of, by and for the corporations?

It speaks for itself, don't you think?

Posted by tmg110 at 9:22 AM EDT

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Well, if any doubt remained that the Occupy Wall Street protesters are a clot of fatuous idiots, this closes the case: Declaration of the Occupation of New York City

It’s the idiots’ manifesto, oh-so-cleverly patterned on the American Declaration of Independence. Reading it, you can practically smell the reek of dirty socks moldering under the bed in some college dorm room. The Declaration is loaded with gems of cluelessness, such as: “They [evil corporations] have profited off of the torture, confinement, and cruel treatment of countless animals, and actively hide these practices.” OK, check the box for PETA. (And incidentally, “profited off of the torture”? Shouldn’t that be “profited from the torture”? I’m just saying.)

And how about this? “They [evil corporations again] have held students hostage with tens of thousands of dollars of debt on education, which is itself a human right.” Who knew that we all have the right to a free B.A. in interpretive dance or eco-feminism?

But here’s my favorite: “They [yes, those evil corporations] have perpetuated colonialism at home and abroad.” Ah, colonialism, that hardy perennial of the hard Left! But I ask you, how can there be “colonialism at home”? Isn’t that something of a contradiction in terms? Perhaps it was a nod to the agenda of Native American activists. The authors of this comic masterpiece certainly bent the knee to every other piety of the radical fringe.

Nonsense on stilts? That goes without saying. Still, Occupy Wall Street has served a useful purpose. Look at the way in which the mainstream media, establishment liberals, Big Labor, etc. are slobbering all over these morons. It shows you just how far the progressive establishment has fallen in the Age of Barry.

Posted by tmg110 at 9:50 AM EDT

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Without doubt, Barack Obama has been a big disappointment to the progressive establishment. As Jonah Goldberg recalls in this article for NRO, there was a moment in 2008 and early 2009 when people like Paul Krugman, Tom Friedman and Tina Brown were touting Obama as the second coming of FDR. He gave Chris Mathews a thrill up his leg. David Brooks rhapsodized over the crease in Barry’s trousers. But in 2011? Um, not so much…

During a recent appearance on MSNBC’s Morning Joe, Ms. Brown opined of Obama: “He wasn't ready, it turns out, really." No kidding, Tina! And what does that tell us about you and your kind, who so assiduously boosted Mr. Hope & Change back in 2008? It makes you a bunch of utterly clueless dolts, that’s what! But perhaps I’m being too harsh. After all, Ms. Brown has recognized reality—rather late in the day, to be sure, but better late than never.

Other progressives, however, are not at all prepared to concede that they may have made a mistake. In their view, it’s not Obama’s fault that he’s a failure. It’s the American people’s fault, or the Constitution’s fault, or even democracy’s fault. If only we were ruled by the Chinese Politburo! That’s Tom Friedman’s dearest wish. Then rational decisions about solar panels, light rail and population control would never be blocked by stupid members of Congress or dissatisfied voters. Bev Purdue, the liberal Democratic governor of North Carolina, thinks that “[W]e ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won’t hold it against them, whatever decisions they make.”

All this constitutes a startling admission: that progressivism without authoritarianism is simply unworkable. In the past, progressives were leery of laying a frank and unambiguous claim to the limitless power they think they deserve. But the setbacks and disappointments of the Obama years have unhinged them, and the mask has slipped.

Posted by tmg110 at 8:17 AM EDT

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So Chris Christie has decided to pass on the 2012 presidential sweepstakes and fulfill his obligations as governor to the people of New Jersey. That makes him a stand-up guy in my book. And I believe that his decision was also correct from the standpoint of practical politics. To jump into the GOP primary battles at this point in the process would have been perilous for him—look what happened to Rick Perry. Instead, Christie has raised his national profile and collected some valuable political chips to cashed later.

Meanwhile, which of the declared Republican contenders stands to benefit the most from Christie’s decision? I agree with Doug Schoen that it’s Herman Cain. Alone among the GOP candidates, he connects with voters in the Christie style. Cain’s charm is seasoned with a pinch of menace—a good combination for a presidential candidate. He wows practically every audience he addresses. He has the right message on the economy. At this point I’m not prepared to say that he should be the Republican Party’s 2012 presidential candidate—Cain’s lack of foreign policy experience is a concern—but I’m certainly intrigued by him.

Posted by tmg110 at 1:28 PM EDT

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I recently had the pleasure of rereading Level 7 by Mordecai Roshwald.

Roshwald is a man of the Left, so it was no surprise to discover in retrospect that his grim little parable of nuclear war, published in 1959, harps on all the favorite strings of the old Ban-the-Bomb movement. I doubt that when I originally read Level 7 in the late Sixties, Roshwald’s position on the ideological spectrum was very obvious to me. At that time, the apocalyptic vision of a world laid waste by atomic war was the nightmare that haunted us all. And Level 7, for all its implausibility, moral posturing and stilted writing, gave form and voice to that vision.

Most of the time, of course, the world and I went about our business with no thought for the looming nuclear apocalypse to which people like Roshwald were pointing with such alarm. Everybody recognized that nuclear war was a possibility, but some built-in psychological self-defense mechanism prevented us from believing that it could actually happen. Books like Level 7 made a powerful impression precisely because they challenged that refusal to believe. Such books were disquieting. It could happen, they insisted. It could.

Yet the collective unconscious was right and the books were wrong, for despite all the predictions of apocalypse no nuclear war occurred. In retrospect this seems to me to be the chief irony of the Cold War. The “atomic madness” that supposedly dominated the superpowers turned out to be a figment of the antiwar Left’s overheated imagination. At no point during the period when the United States and the Soviet Union both possessed nuclear weapons did the theoretical advantages of deliberately starting a war appear to outweigh the obvious disadvantages. The phrase “balance of terror” seems trite now precisely because it turned out to be such an accurate short description of the international situation created by the Bomb.

That a balance of terror constrained the superpowers became obvious at a relatively early stage of the Cold War, whereupon Roshwald and his compatriots shifted their focus. Perhaps a single madman with access to the nuclear trigger could start a war that neither superpower really wanted. That was the thesis of Red Alert, the 1958 novel by Peter Bryant that was adapted by Stanley Kubrick for his comedic masterpiece, Dr. Strangelove. Or perhaps a mechanical failure could result in the accidental release of nuclear weapons, followed by all-out war. That was the thesis of Fail-Safe, the best-selling 1962 novel by Eugene Burdick and Harvey Wheeler, which was also made into a film.

Level 7, though less realistic in background than Red Alert and Fail-Safe, is in some ways more interesting. It depicts a military mechanism so highly automated as to make human participation all but redundant. When the war begins, the officers of PBX (Push-Button X) Command launch thousands of intercontinental ballistic missiles against the enemy merely by pushing a few buttons. And except for their fingers on the buttons of the PBX console, the entire process is managed by machines. Why human beings are required at all is something of a puzzle to both the novel’s protagonist, Officer X-127, and to the reader.

Roshwald believed that the ever-increasing automation of the machinery of nuclear war would eventually reach a culminating point similar to that depicted in Level 7. At that point, “atomic madness” would not simply be institutionalized—it would be hard-wired into the machine itself. Thus he depicts a world that has handed its fate over to the autonomous, even godlike machinery of death. But this god, having been created by human beings, is like them capable of error.

When the inevitable happens—when X-127 and his fellow officers are called upon to push their buttons—it turns out the war was started by mistake. Twelve of the enemy’s missiles escape their controls, destroying a couple of cities. The machinery reads this as the first move of an all-out attack and orders immediate retaliation. Two and a half hours later, the world lies in ruins and most of humanity had perished. Only those in the deep subterranean shelters like Level 7 still survive.

Implausible? Of course. But somehow, despite all the baloney, Roshwald’s thermonuclear fairy tale has stood the test of time. Why it has will be the subject of my next post about Level 7.

Posted by tmg110 at 11:43 AM EDT

Updated: Thursday, 11 April 2013 10:01 PM EDT

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Though the yellow sign on the ragged lawn

To the right of the steps is laconic,

That passers-by avert their eyes says much.

This property is now available.

One day the offices were vacated,

And the mail was stopped, and the phones were stilled,

And the plugs were pulled, and the potted plants

That stood in a row on the windowsill

Were taken down, and probably thrown out.

No wonder passers-by avert their eyes.

Blank windows glare upon the sidewalk now,

And few would care to meet their glassy stare,

Or listen for the open office doors

That rattle on their hinges when trucks pass,

Or conjure forth a dream of midnight winds

Sweeping along the roof, reaping dead leaves,

Chasing them down to the lawn, past the sign

That reads: This property available.

(Author's note: This revision was undertaken to eliminate several awkward passages in the original. Is it an improvement? That's for the reader to say.)

Posted by tmg110 at 10:26 AM EDT

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On the day before their leave began, the soldiers of the 511th Military Police Company participated in an awards ceremony. I'm proud to report that among those honored was PFC Alexis A. Gregg, who was decorated with the Army Commendation Medal for meritorious service during the 511th's deployment to Afghanistan. She also received the Combat Action Badge.

Lexi's in Florida now, enjoying the first days of her well-earned leave.

Posted by tmg110 at 11:51 AM EDT

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