Our Country and Our Culture

"Most writers who advocated socialism during the 1930s no longer saw themselves as 'rebels and exiles'; in the early years of the cold war, many even agreed that America had 'become the protector of Western civilization, at least in a military and economic sense.' But few intellectuals extended their new optimism about the nation to mass culture. 'Its tendency,' the editors of PR complained, 'is to exclude everything that does not conform to popular norms; it creates and satisfies artificial appetites...[and] has grown into a major industry which converts culture into a commodity.'
"In our own uncertain era, it is useful for women and men with a reputation for thoughtfulness and creativity to reflect on issues that bear profoundly on both their craft and their country. We asked four questions:
"1. What relationship should American intellectuals have toward mass culture: television, films, mass-market books, popular music, and the Internet?
"2. Does the academy further or retard the engagement of intellectuals with American society?
"3. How should American intellectuals participate in American politics?
"4. Do you consider yourself a patriot, a world citizen, or do you have some other allegiance that helps shape your political opinions?"

E. J. Dionne, Jr., Katha Pollitt, and others attempt to answer these questions in a special issue of Dissent.