The role of social and economic factors in molding working-class "authoritarianism", and then avoiding its wrath, is of great importance to us here. It is necessary to ascertain what makes Communism such a "highly visible" target for hate-filled attacks; some outside stimulus must be present that those low in SES should focus to such a great extent their "confusion and outrage" on Communism.

THAT STIMULUS must come from those sectors which support interventionist policies--namely, as the Modigliani study confirms, the upper socio-economic strata. Members of these classes, who generally have an economic, ideological, or psychological stake in American expansion, know fully well that this expansion cannot be sustained without mass support or at least mass acquiescence. It serves their manifold interests to paint for the benefit of the public a picture of Communism which is as menacing as possible, in order to defend and justify all kinds of American overseas forays.

The "irony" of this state of affairs is that those who gain the most from foreign interventions are precisely those who perpetuate a system which, as Coles observes, creates plenty of hatred that can be channeled into anti-Communism and thus used to justify those interventions. The vicious circle is a convenient one.

We know, however, through studies such as Modigliani's that these manipulative efforts--which work through the media, schools, and churches--are only partially successful. Anti-Communism is deeply etched, but support for military engagement is not. The psychology of the lower socio-economic strata can be bent toward an irrational abhorrence of Communism in all its forms, but not toward a systematic, purposeful policy to combat it.

MY EXPERIENCE in the factory has shown me that it is not exceptional to find a man who is traumatized by the very mention of Red China in the U.N., yet who heartily believes we have no right to be in Southeast Asia.

More important, there is an abiding though cautious sense of fairness in blue-collar workers which emerges if one can just clear away the ideological rubric. Unlike many of the people holding positions of power, who feel they must view others at a distance which they think befits their stature, most workers prefer to deal strictly on a man-to-man basis. A demanding but even handed code of friendship prevails. A mainland Chinese appearing in their midst would be treated no differently than any other man if they could only see he was a man, and not just a "Communist."

The fact that phony ideology is successfully interposed to prevent such human relationships from taking place--this fact, and not the false issue of "working class authoritarianism" or even hawks versus doves-should be the reference point for future evaluations of political virtues and vices in the American socio-economic spectrum