There was a magic in words greater than the conjurer's art.

So befuddled and chaotic were their minds that the utterance of a single word could negative the generalizations of a lifetime of serious research and thought.

Such a word was the adjective UTOPIAN.

The mere utterance of it could damn any scheme, no matter how sanely conceived, of economic amelioration or regeneration.

Vast populations grew frenzied over such phrases as "an honest dollar" and "a full dinner pail." The coinage of such phrases was considered strokes of genius.
Ernest went on to his rise in society, till at last he came in touch with members of the upper classes, and rubbed shoulders with the men who sat in the high places.