Meanwhile, there's so much talk in Britain about our apparent need for public intellectuals, but what exactly is meant by that? I'm always reminded that the engagé intellectual came via Russia and France from the world of Marx and Lenin. Because those ideologies said disinterest was impossible, every view expressed was politically committed.

My ideal public intellectual would be first and last a critic of language. Communist obfuscation was famous, but it's astonishing how in the free world terms like "security", "science" and "the people", go unquestioned. Deconstruction would be a great improvement on commitment.

I pray the Crunch won't hit too hard here. There's no sign of it on the ground yet, with a proliferation of independent small businesses continuing to defy even globalism, let alone its near-collapse. On our corner, a new pet shop has just opened. There are several within walking distance. There are whole shops in every suburb just for spices, others for tea, for stamps, for musical instruments, for riding clothes, and none of them are chains. Prague in all its ten districts is also full of bars and restaurants. Sometimes, it seems the whole city of one and a quarter million people could eat out and there would still be empty tables. I'd hate any of this to change.