How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #4
It's young Studley, the teenaged boy, who like every other boy in this Burbclave has been taking intravenous shots of horse testosterone in the high school locker room since he was fourteen years old. Now he's bulky, stupid, thoroughly predictable. (4.15)
If you think America's got a drug problem now, just wait until you see future America. The drugs of the future will be more pervasive and scarier than anything we can dream up now. Start 'em young and you'll have 'em hooked for life.
Quote #5
Getting into Fedland is a drag…She has to sign a ten-page document—and they actually make her read it…Basically, it just certifies that Y.T. is not a terrorist, Communist (whatever that is), homosexual, national-symbol desecrator, pornography merchant, welfare parasite, racially insensitive, carrier of any infectious disease, or advocate of any ideology tending to impugn traditional family values. (41.26-30)
Good job, America—you're on your way to bureaucratizing yourself out of existence. Plus, if you don't deal with undesirables like racially insensitive folks, guess what? They're going to start their own enclaves and continue to be racially insensitive. Sometimes you have to take the bad with the good if you're going to be realistic about your interactions with the world.
Quote #6
"No surprises" is the motto of the franchise ghetto […]
The people of America, who live in the world's most surprising and terrible country, take comfort in that motto. Follow the loglo outward, to where the growth is enfolded into valleys and canyons, and you find the land of the refugees. They have fled from the true America, the America of atomic bombs, scalpings, hip-hop, chaos theory, cement overshoes, snake handlers, spree killers, space walks, buffalo jumps, drive-bys, cruise missiles, Sherman's March, gridlock, motorcycle gangs, and bungee jumping. (24.73-74)
So basically, most Americans checked out from reality and enclosed themselves in reliably mediocre franchises in order to escape from the horrible weirdness that America has become. The suburbs have become a refuge from both the past (because America's history is checkered with atrocities that no one really wants to think about) and the present (same deal).