you tell us one day america has never been more prosperous and more free, and you tell us the next day the situation is going to hell in a handbasket. The latter because we become more socialistic every day, the former because we are the most capitalistic nation in the world. you can't have it both ways, you know. you can't blame your enemies for one and take credit for the other.

you have told us repeatedly how much capitalism has improved our standard of living since the end of wwii and even earlier, and now you prove to us, with geometric logic, that the situation is deteriorating before our eyes. so which is it?

it is obvious the two are highly correlated! the more socialized we get, the better off we are. perhaps the reason our standard of living is so high relative to the 50s is because our taxes have been rising and government regulation increasing. in fact, as you go further and further into the laissez-faire past, the tougher things were for the common man and the more the wealth was concentrated into a tiny, grasping elite exploiting the toiling masses. sure, technological innovation has helped, but i'm speaking relatively, from one year to the next. things have clearly been getting better, in spite of the constant dire predictions of imminent doom from the ownership classes. it simply cannot be denied.

since the turn-of-the-century gilded age we have seen a simultaneous expansion of social welfare reform and an increase in standard of living and personal freedom. Teddy, Franklin, Lyndon, Bill, and hopefully now, Barack. and not only here, but in the western european world as well! the pattern is pretty clear to me. what we are seeing is socialist compassion and reason taming and guiding capitalist exuberance and innovation; or if it makes you feel any better, conservative discipline and incentive tempering liberal generosity and humanity: the best of both worlds.