Moving again, sorting

.. as contradictory as isolation-

ism and internationalism could

sometimes prove themselves to be,

there was a common factor between

them, though only of a negative

character: isolationism existed

in a sphere of timelessness; in-

ternationalism existed in the fu-

ture. Neither existed in the world

of the present. Thus the attitudes

which the young republic had adopt-

ed had not yet satisfactorily sol-

ved the problem .. of how to chart

a course in the world as it was.

There is so much exercise given to

the term, "sorting," in the social

sciences these days, that its vir-

ility in the reclamation of socks

from the laundry room has fallen

almost into desuetude. Be that as

it may, we soldier on, who jetti-

son whole shelves of our library

as we move house, tripping lightly

as we're dripping priceless cash-

meres from a maze of vegan fibers.

I nearly threw out Felix Gilbert

this morning, the fellow whose ob-

servation opens this entry. In the

ostensibly better world to which

all our mobilizations - our sort-

ings - are directed, if in vain, a

disposal of Professor Gilbert is

an opening of the sea cocks in the

hull of human progress. Now, my an-

cient, trusty Harper Torchbook of

the text transcribed above, priced

at 1.25 pre-supply side American

dollars, finds itself back aboard,

illuminating the dawn from one of

its unexcavated layers of wisdom.

Writing in 1961 of General Wash-

ington's time - even then, past -

Gilbert allowed drop an unexamined

paradox which comes in handy in an

age like ours, as binomially ossi-

fied as any since the Third Reich,

which he fled: You're both wrong,

sums it up, pretty nicely for a

Monday. One doesn't read Felix Gil-

bert without gathering the under-

standing of the fatality of fixed

ideas, and of the absurdity of

choosing between hostile illusions.

One could read this insouciant,

not to say nonchalant, paragraph

of his with a nicely poured taste

of morning coffee, and appreciate

the possibilities for serenity.

Felix Gilbert

The Beginnings of American

  Foreign Policy

  To the Farewell Address

Princeton University Press

1961©