Live Simply – Die Young II

Back in April, this blog argued that the collectivist Left’s urging of a ‘simple’ life was more about social control than any environmentalist agenda (http://www.shoutbits.com/2009/04/live-simply-die-young.html). As if to make the same point, the New York Times has recently posted an op-ed arguing “The Joy of Less”

(http://happydays.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/07/the-joy-of-less/).

In addition to comparing giving up Manhattan to the spiritual challenge of living in a Nazi death camp, the author explicitly argues for stability over freedom, which is the European social model. Since the Times spends far more pages analyzing haught couture well beyond any honest person’s budget, the piece is the height of hypocrisy.

Now that a true socialist lives in the White House, the Times seems intent on preparing Americans for the unpleasant realities of European priorities – with a sour grapes argument. You really didn’t want that prosperity anyway, it was bad for your soul, would be the summary of the piece. Considering the rapid decline of the Times as both a business and a social institution, perhaps they should concentrate on preparing themselves for living with less.