Gore Vidal And Buckley

How does Buckley account his failure to complain to the train conductor? What reasons does he give for not taking action when he notices that the movie he is watching is out of focus?

Buckley mentions that when he called over the conductor he didn't want to tell him to turn the heat down because the passengers would look at him as if he were interruptive. The author felt more comfortable waiting for someone else to complain about the heat then seem 'rude' or fussy because of the average Americans mindset. Although the task of turning down the heat is simple, the author explains the average persons mindset complicates the task by the judgmental stares from other passengers.

Buckley explains that in America, 'we all increasingly anxious in America to be unobtrusive, we are reluctant to make are voices heard...' , and that everywhere Americans are shying and submitting away from authority and we are all looking elsewhere for someone to speak out. This happens because of fears of communicating with strangers in public places and upon making a complaint in such as small environment you call attention upon yourself and causing many strangers to start to judge you as a nagger or a pest. Being around strangers and figures of authority can be a center of awkward and self-consciousness if the attention is on you as one of those nagging train passengers. The blame is directed towards average-Americans and the inability for them to get up and make the effort to stand-up with what should be fixed without judging those who try to resolve the problem.

Vidal's purpose for writing this essay is to propose a different vision and possibly suggest a new radical solution for the drug war that exists in America today. His reasoning is that some people will naturally become alcoholics no matter what the law is and he suggests that forbidding people from things they like or think they might like makes them want those