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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, MAY 31, 1985
ON THE WORLD SCENE
POLITICAL SHIFTS UNDER WAY; THE KENNEDY
FACTOR; THE PO PE IN HOLLAND
PAGE 7
In which direction are the large Western democracies headed in the next few
years? William Safire of the NEW YORK TIMES detects what he calls "a funda
mental ideological shift" in the short run and a relatively new phenomenon
of uncertain "ideological lurching back and forth." He wrote in his May 23
column:
Pundits search for patterns.... I thought I had detected the
three parallel trends that signaled the beginning of a fundamen
tal ideological shift.
1. In Britain, after six years of vigorous and much-needed
Thatcherism, the Conservatives are now on the run. Prosperity
has not conquered high unemployment, and now, with inflation re
turning, voters are telling pollsters that it's time for a
change. 2. In West Germany, after a couple of years of the con
servative leadership of Helmut Kohl, voters in state elections
are saying Genuch ist genuch, similar to the "Had enough?" theme
in America. 3. In"tne United States, midway in the Reagan years,
evidence of displeasure with the conservative tide is mount
ing....
Three Western powers, three specific shifts: the antennae of
trend-spotters quiver at this evidence that the swing to the
right is about to be arrested.•.• Then you come to Paris and the
hypothesis gets a frappe sur la tete, which is what the locals
call a kick in the head. Soc1.aTis'inTs a flop in France and nobody
knows that better than the Socialists. Four years ago they took
power and began to redistribute wealth and carry out all the
anti-capitalist promises. When that nearly bankrupted the coun
try, the practical Mr. Mitterrand reversed course and is now
pushing austerity. As a result, the right scorns him for being
of the left, and the left is ready to desert him for acting like
the right••••
France's grand disillusion with socialism seems to say that no
pattern exists, that a few countries are going center-left (the
U.S., Britain, West Germany) while a few are going the other way
(France, Italy, maybe Greece, certainly China) •••• So what ac
counts for all this ideological lurching back and forth? The an
swer is: The support span is shortening. Just as the explosion
of mass communication� cut down our attention span, the con
centrated exposure of political leaders, especially those with
identifiable ideologies, has cut down the time that voters lend
them their support.
Do you have the answer, Political Leader, to sustained prosperity
equitably shared, with no loss of freedom? O.K., we'll give you
a chance. You say you've achieved most of your goals, and need
more time? Sorry, you promised more and sooner, so out you go,
and it's the next ideology's turn.