One of the arguments among historians has been the role of change from the bottom up. The problem is that those who deny this happens argue that working class people are silent and deferential. Therefore, when people cease to be silent and deferential--when they become leaders--they're not working class any more but middle class.
A variant turned up at the close of the review of my YOUNG AMERICA in the new JOURNAL OF AMERICAN HISTORY. After a generally positive review, the writer reveals a deep belief that radical ideas don't enter the American mainstream because when they enter the mainstream they aren't radical anymore. Therefore radicalism fails to influence change, right? All of this convinces me that some people should not be put in front of refrigerator doors when they're opening and closing or they will become obsessed with the question of whether or not the light really goes off when the door closes.... ML
