Runaway Consumerism as the Vindication of Western Civilization
Just stumbled across an article at "Cafe Hayek", where I find myself enthusiastically agreeing or saying, "are you kidding me, you really believe this?"
I had an example of the latter today. In a short post about whether or not bin Laden's murder vindicates American civilization, Don Boudreaux asserts:
"Our civilization is vindicated by our supermarkets full of food, by our shopping malls full of clothing, by our homes with solid floors and solid roofs and air-conditioning and automatic dishwashers, by iPads and smart phones and aspirin and antibiotics and Amazon.com ..."
A friend had posted it on his shared Google Reader articles and I began to comment, and then just stopped. I find this so profoundly and obviously wrong that I don't where to begin, it's as if someone pointed to youporn or Hustler magazine as evidence that modern Western society represented the apex of literature and cultural expression. I know, that's not a refutation, maybe I'll come back to in another day.
I had an example of the latter today. In a short post about whether or not bin Laden's murder vindicates American civilization, Don Boudreaux asserts:
"Our civilization is vindicated by our supermarkets full of food, by our shopping malls full of clothing, by our homes with solid floors and solid roofs and air-conditioning and automatic dishwashers, by iPads and smart phones and aspirin and antibiotics and Amazon.com ..."
A friend had posted it on his shared Google Reader articles and I began to comment, and then just stopped. I find this so profoundly and obviously wrong that I don't where to begin, it's as if someone pointed to youporn or Hustler magazine as evidence that modern Western society represented the apex of literature and cultural expression. I know, that's not a refutation, maybe I'll come back to in another day.