Does Familiarity Breed Contentment?

The English novelist Evelyn Waugh once wrote that the only human relationships he could abide were intimacy, formality and servility. "What is horrible . . . in America is familiarity." Americans will be seeing a lot more familiarity, horrible or not, because that is the religion of the Clinton Administration.

Every President has a religion, in the sense of a creed that gets him and his supporters through the day. Ronald Reagan had two religions -- low taxes and traditional values -- plus a demonology, or at least a demon -- the evil empire. George Bush disestablished the Reagan religions and...

Want the full story?

Subscribe Now

Subscribe
Subscribe

Learn more about the benefits of being a TIME subscriber

If you are already a subscriber sign up — registration is free!