cal elections, and gain influence at the state and national levels politically. Their intent was to ensure that they were able to operate effectively without gaining widespread attention for their activities which might create public outcry or condemnation.
Despite the fact that the titles used by Klan members sound extraordinarily silly more like a child's secret society than one formed by adults the organizational structure was extremely effective in developing a tight knit, unified, and militaristic organization. MacLean made the interesting point that militaristic organizations tend to be comprised of individuals who are disenchanted with the valueless nature of politics and business, but who do not support the values of liberalism or the Left.
What they counterpose to the Left, and to the bourgeois center, is a radical, idealistic, nationalistic fascism that relies on fantastical visions of race purity, commitment to Christ, and the purity of womanhood. In the U.S., they added an intense focus on the constitution and the traditional values of the common man.
It would be interesting to speculate on why this militaristic movement, typified by the Klan, failed so completely in the U.S. during the late 1920s and early 1930s, while it rose to domination in Italy and Germany during the decade of the 1930s. Although Toy indicated that the Klan subsided in Oregon during the late 1920s because of the improvement in the economy, it did not experience a revival dur
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