THE GREEN HILLS OF EARTH

«How far did I get when I tried to explain them to you – before you had seen the results? And you are a smart hombre. No, Hump, these things are too difficult to explain to people and too abstract to interest them. You spoke before a women's club the other day, didn't you?»

«Yes.»

«How did you make out?»

«Well ... the chairwoman called me up beforehand and asked me to hold my talk down to ten minutes, as their national president was to be there and they would be crowded for time.»

«Hmm ... you see where your great social message rates in competition. But never mind. Ten minutes is long enough to explain the issue to a person if they have the capacity to understand it. Did you sell anybody?»

«Well ... I'm not sure.»

«You're darn tootin' you're not sure. Maybe they clapped for you but how many of them came up afterwards and wanted to sign checks? No, Hump, sweet reasonableness won't get you anywhere in this racket. To make yourself heard you have to be a demagogue, or a rabble-rousing political preacher like this fellow Nehemiah Scudder. We're going merrily to hell and it won't stop until it winds up in a crash.»

«But – Oh, the devil! What can we do about it?»

«Nothing. Things are bound to get a whole lot worse before they can get any better. Let's have a drink.»