Word: bargainer
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Dates: during 1980-1989
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Once the critical faculties of the children are sharpened by schooling and broader cultural exposure, however, the gap between them and their parents usually widens. That separation is the natural consequence of what Norman Podhoretz, editor of Commentary, calls "the brutal bargain." As Podhoretz, the son of Jews from Galicia, explains, "The more you succeed in the wider world, the more estranged you become from your parents' mores and values. The paradox is you betray your parents by obeying them...
...sense, America long ago made a shrewd instinctive bargain with the world. It offered a prize -- its wealth, its freedom and promise -- and then, Darwinian, dared those strong enough and bold enough to make the leap. It was, and is, a hard journey. And, of course, the newcomers were too literal- minded about the prize. The sidewalks were not paved with gold...
Unwilling to bargain, unable to use force, the U.S. turned to indirect diplomacy. Late in the first day of the crisis Reagan secretly cabled Syrian President Hafez Assad and asked him to use his influence to free the hostages or at least keep them alive. Though the Damascus regime has harbored Shi'ite extremists in terrorist camps in Baalbek, a city in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley, Assad is known to want to contain Shi'ite terror, as he takes his turn at trying to pacify Lebanon. His response to the U.S. request, according to Administration aides, was "positive." Assad...
...when efforts to negotiate with moderate leaders made the radicals inside the embassy more intransigent. As it turned out, the Iranian "students" used the hostages as pawns to consolidate Khomeini's power and to drive from government moderates like Sadegh Ghotbzadeh, the Foreign Minister who had the temerity to bargain with "the Great Satan." Trying to avoid a similar fate, Berri threatened to "wash his hands" of the whole affair and turn the hostages over to their original hijackers unless the U.S. arranged a "swap" with the Israelis...
None of this, however, can destroy the city's legendary mercantile spirit; even in the war-torn western sector, stores are still open, selling quality goods at bargain prices ($40 for a pair of stylish Italian-made shoes, $4 for a bottle of Scotch). Main reason: the government has been unable to collect customs duties for many months. Even some liquor stores are operating, though they keep their stocks hidden for fear of attracting the attention of fanatic Shi'ite militiamen who roam about looking for violations of the Islamic stricture against alcohol. Shortages of staples are rare; only severe...