The temptation is unrelated to the degree of material opportunity. Whether one is striving for a grass hut in a primitive village or a vacation penthouse in Florida, it is corrupting if done at the expense of family and other deeper responsibilities. Yet this concern is misplaced. Old values do not require old technology. The permanent things do not refer to par-ticular kinds of consumer goods or modes of production.
Societal virtue has nothing to do with whether goods are delivered in trucks or horse-drawn carts.
It is the social com-mitment to traditional social institutions and patterns of living that matter. It is unfortunate that the phrase democratic capitalism has become widely accepted. In previous eras, liberty and democracy were not thought to be synonymous or even necessarily related. The confusion that they are has led to a subtle assault on property and its resultant social hierarchy. It is thus unfortunate that the phrase democratic capitalism has achieved such status.