They built a new Nob Hill grocery store a few years back near where I used to work. After it opened, I went to the deli there for lunch on my own. I loved the place. Sparkling clean. Shelves filled with things from all over the world, some items so obscure that I couldn't imagine more than one or two people in the city buying them, but there they were. Fruit from the other side of the world. Fresh meat and produce. Convenience foods of all kinds. And people from all walks of life buying food. There is nothing like a large grocery store to impress on one the prosperity of our nation. Ask any immigrant, especially from old Eastern Europe.

While I sat there eating at the little table, I heard thunder. Puzzled, I looked over to the source of the noise, which appeared to be the long cooling racks where the fresh vegetables were laid out. Tiny strobe lights flashed over the vegetable racks. The soft thunder rolled. As I watched, a fine spray of water emerged and wet down the vegetables on display. Shoppers, warned by the signs of the coming "rain," had stood back and not gotten wet. Delightful!

When I was young, the Marxists in Asia, Europe and elsewhere were promising prosperity to their victims. The good things in life. Homes, food, clothing, health care. Their posters featured clean factories, power lines, trains, and healthy, well-fed people. Their buttmonkeys in American universities, as always, echoed this.

When it became obvious that Marxism could only deliver poverty, oppression, misery and death--in every last nation ever ruled by this philosophy--the tune changed. The Marxists overseas promised nothing. They didn't have to any more, as they ruled with an iron fist. The university apologists suddenly switched their viewpoint 180 degrees to declare that prosperity, productivity and wealth were now evil, usually using the "environment" as an excuse, and that's pretty much where it stands today.

The Green movement was never about the environment. It was, and is, about a hatred of capitalism and freedom.

When a person looks with loathing and contempt on places like Disneyland, Las Vegas, a shopping mall, or a skyscraper, they are expressing a hatred for freedom, enjoyment, and the prosperity that allows the average citizen, not just the rich, to enjoy these luxuries. It is not about waste or the environment--were Las Vegas powered by a fusion reactor the size of a trash can, they would feel no differently. In fact, they would hate it more.

Despite the Left's attempt to muddy the waters with issues like "imperialism" and Israel, this is the basic motivation that powers Al Quaeda and others of their kind. It is not a coincidence that symbols of our prosperity and love of life are terror targets for those who hate our culture.