In the postwar period the former fellow travelers in large numbers stumbled over one another in their rapid movement to the right, discovering or rediscovering the virtues of capitalist democracy. In addressing these complex questions, North begins by pointing to the privileged position of American imperialism and the environment of postwar prosperity. He quickly notes, however, that these material factors cannot alone explain the phenomenon and that certain political and ideological facts of life have to be taken into account. One of these factors undoubtedly was the pernicious character of American Stalinism and the justifiable hatred it had earned for its duplicity and cynicism. North bluntly states that the source of the paralysis of contemporary social thought is to be found in the persistence of this untenable position.
Society is racked by immense crisis, and yet no progressive mass movement of opposition has emerged.
Almost no one is enamored of the existing order, but few as yet see an alternative. This is the price humanity is paying for the crimes of Stalinism and the confusion it has created about the nature of socialism. One of the greatest values of the pamphlet is the variety of avenues of historical exploration it opens up. The considerable strength of this new work is that it attempts to trace concretely the existing social atmosphere to definite political events and relationships. It is often the things right in front of our faces that are the most difficult to see.