Book Reviews: S. O. S.: The Meaning of Our Crisis. By PITIRIM A. SOROKIN. (Boston: The Beacon Press. 1951. Pp. xi, 177. $2.50.)

• Author: Quincy Wright
• Published date: 01 December 1952
• Date: 01 December 1952
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/106591295200500422
• Subject Matter: Articles

677

S.

O.

S.:

The

Meaning

of

Our

Crisis.

By

PITIRIM

A.

SOROKIN.

(Boston:

The

Beacon

Press.

1951.

Pp.

xi,

177.

$2.50.)

Although

Sorokin

has

written

voluminously,

expressing

suggestive

ideas

and

assembling

interesting

data,

in

the

present

book

he

has

con~

tributed

little

of

inspiration,

insight,

or,method.

The

book

begins

with

a

sardonic

diatribe

against

&dquo;the

Great

Killers&dquo;

who

have

mutilated

humanity

during

the

past

generation

while

claiming

its

devoted

loyalty.

In

continues

with

an

exposition

of

the

&dquo;liberation

and

new

life&dquo;

which

could

be

achieved

by

&dquo;elimination

of

the

’man

eat

man’

doctrine

of

the

Great

Killer&dquo;

and

acceptance

of

&dquo;the

seers’

method

of

’love

your

enemy,

bless

them

that

curse

you.’ &dquo;

There

are

four

possible

effects

of

frustration-not

only

aggression,

but

also

apathy,

creative

activity,

or

conversion

to

a

new

life.

The

author

suggests

that

the

latter

effect

is

not

too

common.

&dquo;Eleven

per

cent

of

3,090

Christian

Saints,

about

two

per

cent

of

some

700

American

Good

Neighbors,

and

about

15

per

cent

of

a

studied

group

of

Harvard

and

Radcliffe

students

were

made

more

religious

or/and

more

altruistic

by

some

sort

of

catastrophe.&dquo;

The

statisti-

cally

inclined

reader

would

be

glad

to

know

just

how

&dquo;some

sort

of

catastrophe&dquo;

and

&dquo;more

religious

or/and

more

altruistic&dquo;

were

defined.

Almost

everyone

in

life

suffers

some

sort

of

catastrophe

and

perhaps

a

large

number

have

at

some

time

in

their

lives

been

more

religious

or

more

altruistic

than

at

others.

The

central

idea

of

the

book

is

the

&dquo;law

of

polarization

in

frustration

and

crises&dquo;

which

in

its

generalized

form

states

that

&dquo;a

crisis,

calamity,

or

frustration

tends

to

make

explicit

and

open

the

implicit

and

hidden

contradictions,

whether

in

one’s

mind

and

conduct,

or

in

a

social

group

and

institution,

or

in

a

given

culture.&dquo;

However,

&dquo;crisis,&dquo;

&dquo;calamity,&dquo;

and

&dquo;frustration&dquo;

are

not

defined:

the

consequences

which

the

author

says

may

follow

from

these

events

are

so

varied

and

numerous,

with

no

statement

of

conditions

under

which

one

follows

rather

than

another,

that

the

use

of

the

term

&dquo;law&dquo;

seems

hardly

appropriate.

There

is

some

illustration

of

this

&dquo;law&dquo;

by

citation

of

historical

incidents,

but

no

con-

vincing

demonstration

either

of

its

meaning

or

of

its

validity.

The

final

chapter

of

the

book

illustrates

another

&dquo;law,&dquo;

namely,

that

&dquo;as

soon

as

any

important

emergency

or

calamity

occurs

in

a

given

society,

the

control

and

regimentation

of

its

government

begins

to

expand

and

grow;

as

soon

as

the

emergency

subsides,

the

government

control

declines.&dquo;

This

proves

to

be

but

an

expanded

statement

of

the

familiar

proposition

that

&dquo;war

always

tends

to

breed

totalitarianism.&dquo;

The

author

concludes

with

a

word

of

advice

drawn

from

these

&dquo;laws&dquo;

with

which

most

people

would

probably

agree.

&dquo;Let

the

partisans