The author needs to COME ON DOWN to D. C. & suburbs. Talk flush! The food isn’t cheap, but I’ve got AT LEAST 8 high-end supermarkets to choose from, and that doesn’t include the international markets and single-nationality markets. Car-dealers, restaurants, department stores, gyms, country clubs are everywhere. The government and its press corps have no reason whatsoever to believe that anything’s different elsewhere. It’s Hollywood in the depression 30s.
All tribute flows to the new Rome.