If I wrote a political column worth its salt, I’d use this week’s theme — nightmares — to talk about the upcoming electoral season. After all, the word night-mares could be tweaked to mean “dark horses,” and I’d use that play on words as a jumping off point for a post about the candidates who might do surprisingly well at the polls. If that interests you, may I suggest fivethirtyeight.com? But on to the column that I wrote … Someone who I presume is much smarter than I am wrote that “the purpose of government from an economic perspective is to provide a legal framework that allows individuals to transact through markets.” Being the narcissist that I am, I interpret that to mean that “the purpose of government is to encourage me to buy a flat-screen high-definition television set.” And, in that sense, my recent foray into consumer culture was a– shit, what do you call it? It’s the opposite of a double-rainbow … That’s right, a double-nightmare. Let’s make short work of the first part of the nightmare, shall we? That is, having a television in the first place, which is upsetting in its own right. I hate having to
