William James had tried to reconcile idealism with utilitarianism, the philosophy of the past with that of to-day, but he failed in his attempt. Realism in the novel is contemporaneous with the advent of a new philosophical school hostile to idealism, and it too called itself “realism.”[56] This school is in direct contradiction to the theories of William James. Yet his pragmatism was responsible for exasperating the practical sense of the younger generation. Their suspicion of ideology dates from the time when they noticed, upon applying James’ criterion, that it did not “pay.” What was the use of accumulating so many transcendental vapors if our best energies were to be fed with thin air? Doubtless, for those who can see, as Emerson said, the whole world is contained in a drop of water, and our merest acts are rich in heroic potentialities. But that is a personal point of view. The gift of discovering the universe in an atom is not a general privilege. One must needs be a Pascal, an Emerson or a Pasteur. What, in effect, was developing in America under the cloak of transcendental idealism (particularly in the second half of the nineteenth century) was the most unrestrained sort of materialism and utilitarianism the world had ever seen. It would seem that this transcendental idealism was but a subterfuge actually favoring mercantilism. Other deceptions were to follow. The pragmatic imperialism of Roosevelt and the mystic imperialism of Woodrow Wilson also failed. What then was this idealism which constantly appealed to Force and which applied the Scriptures in terms of colonial annexations and commercial enterprises? So the younger writers cast their lot, not with the tender, but with what James called the tough-minded. The Great War came to the élite of American youth as the supreme disillusion. It was much discussed before America went in, and it was still more discussed after it had been waged and won, when America came out of it. No sooner was the armistice signed than a change occurred. Polemics, regrets, retractations, revisions, the story is too well known to bear repetition. The practical difficulties which arose between America and her former allies or associates are the tangible result of the upsetting of values, and responsibilities perpetrated by the intellectuals or, as they are called to-day, the “revisionists.” The result was a great moral confusion among the young. Yet the social structure had not changed. Ever indulgent towards revolutions, even to the point of fostering them philosophically in her bosom, provided bombs were thrown in foreign lands, America itself had not moved. The Government, the Church, the University, and the general state of ideas and customs remained the same.