Any reviewer who expresses rage and loathing for a novel is preposterous. He or she is like a person who has put on full armor and attacked a hot fudge sundae. The power of accurate observation is commonly called cynicism by those who have not got it. He who can, does. He who cannot, teaches.
Democracy substitutes election by the incompetent many for appointment by the corrupt few.
Patriotism is your conviction that this country is superior to all other countries because you were born in it. If I were granted omnipotence, and millions of years to experiment in, I should not think Man much to boast of as the final result of all my efforts. Patriotism is the willingness to kill and be killed for trivial reasons. It has been said that man is a rational animal. All my life I have been searching for evidence which could support this.