Word: cynic
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...learning, the tyranny of the state, the stupidity of the military and the bigoted, sanctimonious zeal of the church. And ever and always, the eternal humbuggery of the English, used and overused by Shaw for comic relief and casual abuse. All of this might qualify him as a complete cynic or skeptic, except that he was a true child of the 19th century, with an ineradicable faith in the evolutionary process. Taking his text from Nietzsche - "Man is a rope stretched between the animal and the Superman" - Shaw found his equivalent for God in what he called the Life Force...
...nonessential matters. Moreover, he suggested that the degree of independence from Moscow is less important than the basic nature of Communism. Said Kissinger: "We are entitled to certain skepticism about the sincerity of declarations of independence which coincide so precisely with electoral self-interest. One need not be a cynic to wonder at the decision of the French Communists, traditionally perhaps the most Stalinist party in Europe, to renounce the Soviet concept of dictatorship of the proletariat without a single dissenting vote among 1,700 delegates, as they did at their party congress in February 1976, when all previous party...
...future. Mathieu, the Marxist, turns to teaching the children on the farm how to listen to whale songs in a greenhouse turned-schoolroom; Marguerite, the farmer, joins with the tantrist secretary Madeleine in putting out a newsletter detailing the chemical additives in commercially-grown vegetables. Even Max, the diehard cynic, finally joins the others in their vegetable farm retreat with warm enthusiasm and comraderie...
...characters don't breathe and move quite like real people, they're on their own. Glyn Vincent as Tyler often seems as confused as his character, but he has moments of real charm and passion, bringing his gawk to life. David Thomas's Lester makes it clear that his cynic had a past and is not simply sewn together of one-liners. Peter Fisher's Brad is mature, intelligent and, most difficult of all, a good Listener. Caroline Jones's Missy knows just how O'Donnell wanted his girl to talk, like a furry-slippered guest at a pajama party...
...clever perfidy was proven for all time by General Santa Anna's massacre of 179 Texans at the Alamo, which, as you may recall, has not been forgotten. Of course, more than historical antagonisms shape the views of Texans. Many of them would probably identify with the response one cynic gave to President McKinley's professions of affection for "our little brown-skinned brothers" in the Phillipines: "They may be related to President McKinley, but they're not related to me." Chicanos, who make up about a fifth of the population, probably look at it differently, but they...