[Superman]

It's not about people. It's about economics. To those caught up in the current wave of conservatism (AKA Capitalism), "freedom" has a specific and twisted meaning. It does not mean freedom from personal barriers, like poverty for instance. It does not mean freedom to express your opinions (as the above story, and a thousand posts here at Pelican have shown us). It does not mean freedom to live your life as you choose.

It means freedom from the responsibility of paying taxes, and it means the freedom to make as much money as you like without the incovenience of government regulations.

It used to be about people. Remember "of the people, by the people and for the people?" Now it's about economics. And we pretend that making money is a moral imperative. The more money we make, the more people you should assume we're helping.

See, the NYSE is a good measure of the "goodness" of our country. The higher stock prices rise, the greater good that's being bestowed on the people. See?

Well, I know it's hard to see, but really smart people wearing really smart business suits have been telling us this for quite some time now, and everyone is coming to believe it these days.




















....except me, I guess.