Pardon my precision, but fourteen of my letters to the editor of your mighty newspaper have appeared in print since 1999. The first two came from Britain, and the last twelve from Croatia, where I moved in 2003. In all these years, I do not remember seeing a single other letter from this country in your Letters Section. On a personal note, I find this quite surprising. And perhaps even astonishing. Am I mistaken in this regard? Have you actually published a letter from anyone else in Croatia in this period? Or is it really true that not a single letter from a country with more than four-million people was worth publishing from 1999 to 2008? It would mean a great deal to me if you would enlighten me on this matter.

Addendum (October 28, 2008)

The answer from the Letters Department of The Economist came quickly enough: “We do not get too many letters from Croatia at all. Most of our letter writers hail from America, followed by several European Union countries.” Even though I would prefer a bit more precision on this matter, the answer is good enough for my purposes. As I suspected, I am now surrounded by more than four-million mutes. Ideal political subjects, my fellow Croatians.