ABSTRACT
World War II, the abandonment of Finland, and the sellout of the rest of Eastern Europe at Yalta all inspired the beginnings of Ideas Have Consequences. Chivalry was a key element of the Southern tradition. It was an ideal that also inspired the writing of Ideas Have Consequences. The portrait of modern man in Ideas Have Consequences, then, is of man in megalopolis. Ideas Have Consequences quickly became famous for its wide-ranging broadsides against popular culture: tabloid newspapers, radio, movies, jazz music; not to mention attacks on such modern-day sacred cows as economic democracy, “undefined equality,” and mass education. Critics noted shortcomings in Ideas Have Consequences. There was, for example, little discussion of religion. Private property also provides training in virtue. Such responsibilities force a man to “express his true personal nature,” leading to an ideal condition when a man is now “only as good as his work.”
