Thursday, April 16, 1998

Intellectuals' soiree on world affairs

By Molly Ivins

BOULDER, Colo. -- The 50th anniversary of the Conference on World Affairs, which movie critic Roger Ebert once dubbed "the leisure of the theory class," was chugging along last week with an impressive display of pyrotechnically brilliant verbiage (and a few snorers) on the usual amazing assortment of topics.

Howard Higman, a since-deceased professor of sociology at the University of Colorado and a man whose ambition was to "know everything," discovered a half-century ago that intellectuals, experts, activists, world leaders, kooks and journalists can be persuaded to fly to Colorado at their own expense and perform on panel discussions for an entire week, for no money, for the sheer fun of it.

This improbable annual frolic of thinkers and talkers is now an institution. The great jazz musicians who also come for the fun of it help make the late-night parties truly fabulous.

Keeping track of what's "hot" at the World Affairs Conference is a good way of spotting future trends. Because of my morbid calling, I had to do a lot of Monica Lewinsky. I am pleased to report the only audience for these panels was middle-aged and older; not a single student evinced the slightest interest. On the other hand, panels on Chiapas and Mexican maquiladoras were packed with young people.

They also crammed into an excellent panel on "Whatever Happened to the Asian Century" (Michael Elliott of Newsweek, Don Morrison of Time, Marcus Brauchli of the Wall Street Journal). Much gentle fun was made of American xenophobia toward Asians; the days of the book (and later film) Rising Sun now appear as ludicrous as they actually were. The only trouble with the disappearance of morbid American fears about an Asian "takeover" is that it leaves us more vulnerable than ever to smugness and arrogance.

Sex, that hardy perennial, appeared in a variety of guises. I was struck, however, by the absence of feminist passion. The panels that used to provoke wildly emotional testimony and denunciations from the audience are now reduced to "Women at the Well: Water as a Feminist Issue," a thoughtful anthropological contrast of differing views toward water.

Back in the '70s at a conference party, Ebert was mildly flirting with an attractive young thing and finally inquired, "And what is it you do, Mimsy?"

"I'm an admiral," she replied.

This struck us as uproarious at the time; no one would even blink at finding a female admiral at the conference now. Concern about political correctness is also off the radar screen.

A more moving example of how political times change is a new book about Higman himself (Higman: A Collection, Thomas Berryhill Press), which contains a chapter on his FBI files. It would be hilarious if it weren't also Stalinist, in a clumsy way. One is finally left wondering why our tax money was ever wasted keeping track of an utterly harmless sociology professor. (The answer, of course, is that Higman had spoken publicly with less than perfect respect for the FBI.)

There are the usual complaints about lack of balance between right and left at the conference, although I must say the presence of some fine folks from Focus on the Family, James Dobson's outfit, and a former CIA assassin lent a certain piquancy to panels. Higman did not believe in balance; he believed in going after Evil with a vengeance.

The professional peace seekers and NOGers (non-governmental organizations) who deal with the consequences of conflict around the globe seemed to me rather tired and subdued this year. Their general feeling seems to be that they can't get the United States, which has all the clout now, to pay attention to what needs to be done. Getting this administration to focus on the various peace efforts, especially in the Middle East, is apparently like pulling teeth.

Problems with the environment do raise the passion level among students, obviously because they're going to live with the consequences longer than we wrinklies. However, hopes that "market forces" will solve the problems seem to me absurdly misplaced. The panel "Can Business Save the Environment?" was like a discussion of "Can the Foxes Save the Bunnies?"

One of the less-articulated issues here (nothing goes unarticulated at a World Affairs Conference) was a division between those who accept the globalization of the economy and the increasing power of TNCs (transnational corporations, for those of you who are not up on the latest jargon) and those who think that merry Cain needs to be raised about it.

All in all, a festive 50th for "Howard Higman's house party." Let it never be said that intellectuals don't know how to have fun.

Creators Syndicate, Inc.