Important concept

I really liked the part I just read - it shows just how selfish most people are:  "Everywhere I've turned, somebody has wanted to sacrifice me for my good--only they were the ones who benefited."  How many of us have felt like that scapegoat, certain that we are just pawns in the big chess game of life, put forth as sacrifices for "the greater good," and finding out that that good is meant for others than ourselves.  Such was the promise of Communism, which is of course what the majority of this novel is about, and who benefited from that?  Certainly not the ones who were making the real sacrifices.  Guess that's why it's pretty much dead as of now.  Even China, which is supposedly still a Communist country, spends most of its time trying to profit through the channels of capitalism.  Guess they're not completely stupid at least.