Throw It Out The Window !

I absolutely love this post at Polipundit: "Maserati Capitalism" from yesterday; about some of the joys of capitalism. The post concludes with a great quote from a Jonah Goldberg column:

Well, let’s examine how poor people are doing in America:

The typical “poor” American, according to census data, has a car, air conditioning, a refrigerator, a stove, a VCR and a color TV. It should go without saying -but usually doesn’t -that in, say, 1960, someone who had a color TV, a refrigerator, air conditioning and a car would not be considered poor....

Here’s how relative our understanding of poverty is: The average poor person in America is richer than many entire villages in Africa or Asia, where they still have no phones, refrigerators, and very little food.

Many on the left -particularly those still in a Marxist haze -reject the idea that poverty should be viewed in absolute terms. But when you think about it, they have to. If we all agreed that many of the poorest people in America live with the material prosperity -cars, phones, air conditioning, the caloric intake of a Roman emperor -we associated with millionaires just a few generations ago, most of the liberal agenda would have to go out the window.

In the spirit of H.L. Mencken--who defined Puritanism as "the haunting fear that someone somewhere may be happy"--see previous post--one could define the "liberal agenda" (which has a strong Puritan-streak, since all those do-gooders know what is best for everyone) as the "haunting fear that someone, somewhere may be making the wrong choices in their life!"

I say throw the liberal agenda out the window, and as Miss Frizzle (of the Magic School Bus)series says, "Take chances,... make mistakes, and get messy!" In other words, enjoy life!