Rothman wary of shift in culture; scholar Stanley Rothman says there has been a change in society and a breakdown in the social order that one day will turn around, but he does not know when

0 Comments | Insight on the News, July 1, 2002 | by Stephen Goode

Insight: You're talking about history as a pendulum that swings back and forth?

SR: I tend to be a pessimist by nature, but I do believe there is such a thing as human nature. I find our capacity for destruction horrifying, and I believe there have to be structures of authority in society. There have to be taboos. We meanwhile try to break away from them all and we try to create an artificial equality.

It seems to me the present situation is unstable and eventually will turn around. When, I cannot tell you. Human beings are caught in webs of silliness which come and go.

Personal Bio

Stanley Rothman: The scholar winces at political correctness.

Currently: Chairman, National Association of Scholars; Mary Huggins Gamble Professor Emeritus of Government, Smith College; director of the Center for the Study of Social and Political Change.

Born: Aug. 4, 1927; Brooklyn, N.Y.

Family: Wife, Eleanor; one son; two grandchildren.

Education: A B.S.S. from City College of New York; Ph.D. from Harvard University.

Books: Author of 14 books, including European Society and Politics (1970), Roots of Radicalism (1982), Media Elites (1986) and American Elites (1996). Many articles in magazines, including Commentary and National Review.

Favorite movies: "The thing that turns me on most is an old Ginger Rogers-Fred Astaire movie. I also love Nelson Eddy and Jeanette MacDonald. They all take me back to another day, before the current trouble. I also thought A Beautiful Mind, which I saw very recently, was a great movie."

STEPHEN GOODE IS A SENIOR WRITER FOR Insight.