The Rich, Like Well Brought Up Children,

We Are A People Captivated By The Power And Romance Of Metaphor, Forever Seeking The Invisible Through The Image Of The Visible.

Let The Rabbit Of Free Enterprise Out Of Its Velveteen Bag And Too Many People Would Have To Be Fired, Too Much Idiocy Exposed To The Light Of Judgment Or Ridicule, Too Much Vanity Sacrificed To The Fires Of Efficiency. Such A Catastrophe Obviously Would Threaten The American Way Of Life, To Say Nothing Of The Belief In Free Markets.

A Society That Presumes A Norm Of Violence And Celebrates Aggression, Whether In The Subway, On The Football Field, Or In The Conduct Of Its Business, Cannot Help Making Celebrities Of The People Who Would Destroy It.

About The Presence Of Death And Dying I Don't Remember The Society In The 1950s Being So Skittish As It Has Since Become. People Still Died At Home, Among Relatives And Friends, Often In The Care Of A Family Physician. Death Was Still To Be Seen Sitting In The Parlor, Hanging In A Butcher Shop, Sometimes Lying In The Street.

The State Of Perpetual Emptiness Is, Of Course, Very Good For Business.