I dunno, Brad, you seem as obtuse in your book review as Lapham was on the scene at Davos.
In that review, you say: "In previous eras the meetings that were of genuine interest were those between princes to decide between war and peace, or between churchmen to decide which of their number were heretics to be burned at the stake and which districts would suffer the fire and sword of the crusade. But in this era people meet to talk about monetary policy, productivity, business organization. To me at least that is a very hopeful sign--commerce and productivity being much more pleasant things to experience than war or excommunication."
However, discussions about "monetary policy, productivity, business organization" and the like are anything but innocuous and can well have war-or-peace implications. Some time ago, I noted here that the comment "There are few ways in which a man can be more innocently employed than in getting money" was the silliest remark Samuel Johnson ever made. Your thinking and Dr. Johnson's seem to me quite similar in their complacency.
Carl ______________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free Email at http://www.hotmail.com