You mention the changes after the fall of communism. It makes me think about how even with our crony-capitalism and all its faults. It is miles ahead of socialism. If you look at quality of life the more free a society is, the more prosperous it is. One of the biggest faults of people like Doctorow is the failure to see the tradeoffs. People like him will continue to feed the beast, granting it more authority.

Realizing that part of the game of democracy is to create wedge issues that don't matter (mostly social issues) to divide the population is part of a strategy opened my eyes.