I am afraid — he had said to a fellow train traveler — that we have shown ourselves to believe in the idea of short-term gains and long-term benefits, especially in our economics, but have managed to put into practice only the idea of short-term gains.  In practice, long-term feels to us too long a time, and so its benefits are never clear.  We know we can't see into the future, that we can only know of it when it hits us, so why not until then tell each other success and failure stories and maybe make a game of it?  His fellow traveler had already hunched over a little and was staring rigidly into short space.  He had immediately reached in, touched his arm.  I only meant to say that I — me — that I am afraid.