Deep into Hayek's "The Road to Serfdom." It causes me to stop and think that many authors from the first half of the twentieth century felt the need to clearly define the terms they used in non-fiction works. Working through Chapter 3 and he is still clarifying what the terms used to mean, what some other people have used them to mean, and what he means when he uses them for the rest of the book. Extreme hot button words like "liberal" "socialism" and "planning" become sharp and clear when viewed from these three points of view. Lewis and Huxley share this trait. If you read these authors carefully, you must form an opinion on what they say. But I am afraid that some people cannot "learn" a new definition of a word. To imagine that someone else means something different when they pronounce that set of sounds is impossible for them. I have seen it on the faces of students who were not mentally ready for the challenge of the work in front of them. I believe they could learn it if they could be roused from the mental slumber that their environment has lulled them to.

Roman Bread and Circuses.