I put to you that the United States is, without doubt, the greatest show on the road. Brutal, indifferent, scornful and ruthless, it may be, but it's also very clever. As a salesman, it is out on its own, and its most saleable commodity is self-love. It's a winner. Listen to all American presidents on television say the words, 'the American people,' as in the sentence, 'I say to the American people it is time to pray and to defend the rights of the American people, and I ask the American people to trust their president in the action he is about to take on behalf of the American people.' It's a scintillating stratagem. Language is actually employed to keep thought at bay. The words 'American people' provide a truly voluptuous cushion of reassurance. You don't need to think. Just lie back on the cushion. The cushion may be suffocating your intelligence and your critical faculties, but it's very comfortable. This does not apply, of course, to the 40 million people living below the poverty line.