the names of cabinet ministers, but not the names of 
commodities preferred by Italian celebrities. Furthermore, he 
said, the wall space of Italian cities was given over to political, 
rather than commercial, slogans. He predicted that there was 
small hope that Italians would ever achieve any sort of 
domestic prosperity or calm until they began to worry about 
the rival claims of cornflakes and cigarettes, rather than the 
capacities of public men. In fact, he went so far as to say that 
democratic freedom very largely consists in ignoring politics 
and worrying, instead, about the threat of scaly scalp, hairy 
legs, sluggish bowels, saggy breasts, receding gums, excess 
weight, and tired blood.

     The army officer was probably right. Any community that 
wants to expedite and maximize the exchange of goods and 
services has simply got to homogenize its social life. The