"William W Johnstone - Ashes 32 - Destiny in the Ashes (txt)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Johnstone William W)

"Thomas Jefferson?" Herb asked.

"Yeah. When the Founding Fathers were discussing the Constitution, he
recommended that only landowners and the wealthy should have the vote.
He distrusted the masses, thinking they would be too easily led by their
emotions."

Herb laughed. "I wouldn't put that in your speech, Claire. It sounds an
awful lot like the drivel Ben Raines preaches

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about personal responsibility being a prerequisite for voting."

"Jesus, do I sound that bad?" she asked, a wry grin on her face. "The
last thing I want to do is sound like Ben Raines."

"Well, the good thing is all the arrangements have been made for the
dinner Friday night."

"You've got the caterers lined up and there'll be plenty of food?"

"Yeah, and that took some doing, let me tell you. I actually had to go
to the black market to get the stuff we needed."

She frowned. "Are things really that bad?"

"Claire," he said, "you need to get out more. There is practically no
food to be had anywhere in the country. Those that have it, the farmers
and growers, are hoarding it and selling it piecemeal on the black
market. The food stores' shelves are practically bare. If it wasn't for
the U.N. and SUSA and the food they're sending over, there wouldn't be
anything for the average citizen to eat."

"That's just it," Claire said, an angry look on her face. "I thought the
food they're sending was ample for our needs."

"It would be, Claire, except that the people in charge of distribution
are the very ones you'll be talking to Friday, and they, like the
farmers, are finding it much more profitable to sell the donated goods
on the black market instead of putting them in the stores to sell at the
regulated prices."

"So these bastards are getting rich by selling food given to us free by
the U.N. and SUSA?"

"That's about the size of it."

"Well, we'll see about that!" she said.