(2 of 2)
Rubenstein also takes pains to analyze why successful groups tend to resent the remaining unmeltable pieces in the mythical melting pot. Once they have become assimilated, they assume that " 'we have arrived; therefore America has arrived.' " This fallacy, Rubenstein goes on to say, "recapitulates a tragic error—the identification of the American dream with present reality. And this, of course, is precisely what the myth of peaceful progress is intended to accomplish. The characterization of America as a peacefully self-transforming system leaves no room for violent protest. Eden is not Eden unless he who rebels is an original sinner."
Fair Slice of the Pie. Rubenstein is assistant director of the Adlai Stevenson Institute and a consultant to the former National Commission on the Causes and Prevention of Violence. He is aware that the U.S. has been a self-changing society. His conclusion is that Americans will continue to suffer violence until those in power can grant to others what they have in the past violently demanded for themselves: a fully fair slice of the pie or an independent share of the territory. The book, moreover, offers a sensible corrective to the myopic and apocalyptic view adopted by many Americans who are unfamiliar with the past: because violence is in the air and on the streets, everything is going to hell. But Rubenstein also runs some risk of being misread. Sloppily read by others, he might seem to be saying: "Violence is good for you; relax and enjoy it."