quite different; it is an ironclad system,rnnot only with bureaucracies reminiscentrnof socialism, but also with myriad agents,rnadmen, with publicity tormenting yournday and night, with bank employees callingrnyou at all hours (preferably whenrnyou dine or nap) to sell you, in theirrnsyrupy voice, investments, higher rates,rnpiano legs or Caribbean cruises. There isrnalso the cultural dimension. The culturernof “democratic capitalism” is nothingrnshort of repulsive, a kind of threat andrncoercion: since everybody does it orrnwants it, why would you strive to be different?rnAren’t we all one big consumerrnfamily?rnIf the democapitalist propagatorsrnlearned some tact, it might be easier tornswallow their line—^but then they wouldrnnot be disciplined servants of the Systemrnand would not be democrats who, whenrnthey call me, use my first name and askrnthe stupid question “How are you?” I acceptrnthat familiarity in the human atmospherernof the souk, sitting and sippingrnTurkish coffee—I do not accept it fromrnthat sugary but horribly impersonal voicernon the other end of the line. Yes, if therndemocapitalist agents learned some tact,rnthey might be better received, for examplernin Eastern Europe. They would alsornlearn—but perhaps it would be an unwarrantedrnexpenditure on balance—thatrnpeople over there had propaganda, includingrntelephone calls from party officials,rnshoved down their throats at allrnhours for decades and that they hate itrnwhen democapitalists emulate thesernsame tactics.rnEverybody, but everybody is aware overrnthere that the democapitalists have nornhigher objectives than selling and sellingrnagain on that providentially opened newrnmarket. “International proletariat”rnmeant Moscow’s interest in keeping itsrnarmed forces on occupied territory;rn”democratic capitalism” means salesrntechniques aimed at the same territories.rnThis is an open secret; we in America arernkept in the dark because we do not readrnforeign newspapers and since “true reports”rnfrom over there are appropriatelyrnsweetened by New York Times editing orrnby cameramen.rnJust another type of propaganda, peoplernsay of democratic capitalism, comparingrnit to Communist Party techniques.rnBoth corrupt the language withrnironclad formulas, both lie, exaggerate,rnand use pictures, slogans, and veiledrnthreats. Both are ubiquitous and pushy,rnboth display the fist that empires havernused since the beginning of time.rnThomas Molnar’s latest book isrnThe Emerging Atlantic Culturern(Transaction).rnSeven Sinsrnby Paul RamseyrnAvaricernIn the counting housernhe counts his boastsrnof counting.rnEnvyrnEnvy refuses to listenrnOr compete. If it did.rnIt might lose.rnGluttonyrnGluttony buys diet booksrnBy the hundreds.rnLecheryrnLechery’s Playmate of the YearrnIs herself.rnPridern”I shall not write a poem,” insists Pride.rn”I refuse to be part of such company.”rnSlothrnSloth plans to start a poem.rnPerhaps soon.rnWrathrnRage declares rage.rnAnd locks its cage.rn48/CHRONICLESrnrnrn