As a nation we seem to need someone to beat us up regularly. In recent decades we've found people to criticize us for being fat, lazy, uneducated, aggressive, sinful, staid, provincial, liberal, greedy and a host of other descriptions usually preceded by the word "too." I spent much of the 80's and 90's avoiding televangelists who could spit out all our collective failings while crying and raising enormous piles of money. The dotcom era introduced us to people who were way smarter than the rest of us and way richer. Then, with Bush in office, we met people who were way dumber than the rest of us and damn proud of it.
I was beginning to think we'd entered a new era of self-confidence and positive influence, but now I'm starting to doubt that. We seem to have found a new dominatrix to flail us into submission: the economist.
Whether he's toting a Nobel prize or a popular blog, economists have become our newest critics endlessly pointing out that we spend too much, save too little, buy too little and hoard too much. Confusing? Contradictory? Doesn't matter. The point is we're still bad, worthless beings who need to reform.
If we must continue to beat ourselves up, couldn't we at least do it for something enjoyable like fashion or wine?
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