"Surely the use of metaphor is not so uncommon in writing, or here on the literary wastes of mudcat, that it requires explanation even to a couple of latent conservatives."

I understood the metaphor. I had misunderstood what Piers' had said about the electoral method. You misunderstood my motives and, I suspect, will continue to do so.

I am not a conservative (latent or otherwise)- but I can concede that sometimes an apparently conservative view may have some truth. I wish I could believe that Piers' vision of a non-capitalist world could be true because it is similar to my own dream. I'm just a little skeptical about it's coming to pass because I believe that mankind has too many vested interests and because there is always a Stalin or a Thatcher around the corner ready to subvert such a movement.

Frank