44 / CHRONICLESnchair, glad to tell us everything in annavalanche of soft foreign sounds; thenroomful of translators hasn’t a prayer.nOpen complaint is 90-proof luxury forntired L., and he savors it. I know whatnhe’s saying without a translator: thenstories are ahvays the same, with nevernan interesting twist. I feel silly fornasking — how naive he must thinknme!—but he’s safe now, surroundednby new friends, warm and eager to givenus something, to let us know hownwonderful we are, and he can’t benstopped. Perhaps every successful escapenis, after all, as unique as a firstnlove, and makes its narrator proud andnshivery with remembrance.nDoes it seem long ago and far awanto L., now that he has seen a supermarketnand two days of American television?n1 listen to the snow-soft cataractnof words, watch M. watching him andnnodding, and am moed to uneasy,nthroat-constricting tenderness. L. andnM. are smitten, wrapped in our laishnzmerican generosity, wildK’ in loenwith us all. What will happen vhennthey learn that we’re not as ignorant asnwe seem, that our failure to help themnin their homeland—and to protectnour own—is intentional? They are anmountain-sized boulder in the path ofnour disbelief in the inherent badness ofnCommunism (which we treat like ankinky, harmless religion); what willnhappen when the- learn that our willnto disbelieve is strong enough to let usnwalk around them?nIf we are lucky, they will loe usnstill. Like Tinkerbell, who dies if nonone is left who believes in fairies, wenwill become corrupt and paralyzednonce the world belie es we are. Oh, L.nmay grow tired, after a while, of tellingnhis story to people who have hadnineffable freedom from birth and arenstill unshocked, unworried, unmovednto action by the e’idence of his life (hencame here to save his children; whatnwill he see us doing for ours?). Or,nworse, he may grow bitter when henlearns English well enough to understandnour nighdy newscasters’ blandnimplications that he risked his family’sntorture, imprisonment, and death tonrun from an evil that doesn’t exist,nfrom civilized gentlemen who justnwant to be friends.nBut if Americans are kind, the multitudenwho risk it all to come heren(where thev’ve heard we’re bullish onnhuman worth) are the world’s mostnpatient souls. Adversity can have thatneffect. I think I’m compelled to questionnevery refugee and emigre I meetnbecause their predictable willingness,nthe innocent hope in their tales ofnhorror, comfort me: the tortured peoplenin the world still beliee in us, nonmatter how ill-founded that betiefnPerhaps we can still deserve it. I’ll stopnmy questions the first time a refugeenfrom Communism hisses at my querynand snaps, “Why should I tell younvhat it’s like? Are you deaf and blind?nCan’t ou read? Our suffering is not fornyour entertainment. You will do nothingnto help us, ever, or to save yourselves,nand you are as dead as we.”nBecause on that day, when the lastnbelievers hae fallen awa’, the wordsnhe speaks will be true.nJane Greer edits and publishes PlainsnPoetry Journal.nLetter From thenLower Rightnby John Shelton ReednThe Federal Government and FederalnExpressnWhy do agencies of the U.S. governmentnmake such heavy use of FederalnExpress?nNo, that’s not a riddle. Ifs a seriousnquestion. I have been dealing with annumber of Federal bureaucratsn— never mind why—and it seems thatnalmost invariably they communicatenby Federal Express. Next day service,ntoo, not the cheaper 48-hour rate.nHas anyone else noticed this? Handsnup—yes, I thought so.nI think I have it figured out, and it’snnot just that the U.S. Postal Service,nlike Savings Bonds, is for the rubes,nwho don’t know any better. It allncomes back to the strategic failure ofnthe. Reagan Administration.nRonald Reagan has surprised mentwice, so far. If anyone had told menwhile I watched him give The Speechnfor Barry Goldwater back in ’64 that henwould someday be’ President, I’d havensneered. But I’d have been wrong. Ifnanyone had told me, back in 1980,nthat after six years of his Presidency,nthere’d have been nothing much innnnthe way of structural change in ournbloated, officious, smothering government,nI’d have sneered again. Andnbeen wrong again.nLet’s face it: the Reagan Administrationnmay be a public relations success,nbut it has been a substantive flop.^nI should have seen the signs rightnafter the election of 1980. I was dealingnwith one of the many Federalnagencies that gives away money to thenundeserving and/or well-to-do (likenme: go ahead, say it). An acquaintancenon the staff confided to me that he andnhis co-workers were very worried.n”They’re talking about cutting ournbudget in half,” he told me. “They saynwe may have to take a 10 percent cutnin staff.” (We were on the telephone,nso he couldn’t see my expression.)nFifty percent budget cut = 10 percentnstaff reduction. There you have inna nutshell the argument for abolishingnprograms rather than simph’ cuttingnthem back. There was one brief shiningnmoment in the winter of 1980-81nvvhen inside-the-belt\ay tpes fearednthe worst from this Holhwood madman.nNothing he could have donenwould have surprised them. They sawnhim as a berserk right-wing loonie whonhad unaccountably been elected in anlandslide and who was certainly goingnto shake things up beyond recognition.nAnd he blew it.nNow, the agency I’ve been dealingnwith lately is one of the least necessarynof the hundreds of Federal bureaus,ncommissions, agencies. It doesn’t do angreat deal of harm only because itndoesn’t do a great deal of anything:ncertainly it’s one of the ones mostnReagan voters would miss least. If I’dnthought about it at all back in 1981, I’dnhae assumed it vas destined to disappearnin the Great Shake-Up.nBut of course that didn’t happen.nInstead, this agency is one of the manynthat the Reagan Administration hasnmore or less hobbled, without inflictingnany permanent or serious injury.nAt the top, Reaganites come and (ifnthey’re halfway competent) go. Theynput in their stretch in this bureaucraticnSiberia, try to keep it from getting innthe papers any more than necessary,nspend the budget that Congress insistsnthis enterprise deserves, and are eventuallynrewarded by better jobs in agenciesnthat the Administration obviouslyncares more about. While thev’re inn