The Managerial Revolution: What is Happening in the World

by James Burnham

Perhaps the most striking proof of the falling off in mass appeal is provided by the complete failure of voluntary military recruiting in England (as well as the entire British Empire) and in the United States. This failure would in itself be remarkable enough. When we remember that voluntary recruiting was tried in England and in the United States at a time when millions were unemployed, and with the help of all the instruments of modern propaganda technique, the significance of the failure is immense. The recruiting was conducted under slogans drawn from the capitalist ideologies. The youth, though it had no jobs and no prospects, simply did not respond. The armies must be gathered by compulsion. No one can challenge the fact; and no one who is honest about it can doubt the significance of the fact.