When wingnuttery intersects childrearing

Comment by kommishoner on July 6, 2010 at 10:12pm

I'm confused how it would be okay for the girls to sell their parents' lemonade supplies, but not give them away. It sounds like this columnist is actually trying to make the argument for taxes: want the people around you to feel good? pay your taxes, so everybody can have benefits! But whatever. Logic =/= this guy.

Comment by Mamawho on July 7, 2010 at 5:35am

Kommish, I think the point he's making is that it's perfectly OK to sell things belonging to others. Why go to the trouble of getting your hands on other people's property if you're just going to give it away? Robin Hood had that covered, anyway.

Comment by mcglory13 on July 7, 2010 at 5:59am

If we wanted this to a true parallel, the kids should be guessing how much money the next door neighbor's kids are going to make on their lemonade stand and selling credit default swaps guessing they won't come out ahead.

What an asshole. Hectoring sweet kids who want to do something nice for people.

Comment by wookie on July 7, 2010 at 6:51am

I get what the author is driving at (you can't see what isn't yours), but it seems sort of ridiculous to heckle little kids about it.

Comment by kommishoner on July 7, 2010 at 6:56am

Yeah, Mamawho, that was how I read it too. But if you're lifting other people's property, even if it belongs to your parents, does it matter what you do with it? And how does he know their parents didn't give them the supplies? Or that they didn't buy the supplies, then make the intentional business decision to give the product away? And I thought conservatives were all about the invisible free hand of the market where people make their own decisions and capitalism takes care of everything else?

What an asshole, indeed. I bet you never saw Keynes running around yelling at kids about economics.

Comment by Mamawho on July 7, 2010 at 6:59am

All he needed to say was that giving things away degrades others' humanity, and he'd be squarely in the objectivist camp.

Normally, I don't advocate physical violence. But had I been that nanny, I'm afraid I might have punched him in the face.

Comment by Kiwi on July 7, 2010 at 8:45am

MW I'd have totally punched him in the face.

Comment by StitchyWench on July 7, 2010 at 10:16am

I think he was channeling F.Scott Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby. Fucking poser. I mean, oh how clever he tried to teach wealthy children a lesson about keeping the aristocracy firmly in control of all future wealth for eternity.

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