The Common Good  It's Time For Us to Grow Up and Sacrifice  The
other day the mail brought an advertisement for something I
desperately need (or so the ad suggested). If I ordered it right
now, the ad said, I would save a hefty percentage off the usual
price. In vain I searched the flyer for the price. None was
listed -- not the total, not my monthly payment. I was
apparently supposed to place my faith in the kindly marketers
and order it anyway.  I guess I should be used to this sort of
marketing. After all, that's how our federal government does
business. Shall we a. fight a war in Iraq? b. add a war in
Afghanistan? c. subsidize medical care for seniors and the poor?
d. rescue failed financial institutions? e. subsidize growers of
corn and soybeans? or f. fund interstate highways?  We've said
yes to all options without ever bothering to consider the price
of our purchases. Sometimes that's because we've been given no
figures. Sometimes it's because the figures are completely off.
(Consider, for example, the