Yea, here’s a ringing endorsement of western European socialism. Seems former east Germans aren’t able to find enough essential differences between their current and past standing to realize that they’re “better off” now than they were under communism. There’s a spiritual lesson here, folks. Human beings are born to be free. A cage with a lot of nice trappings is still a cage. America is becoming more productive and individuals are attaining a “higher standard of living,” but are individuals more free in the important ways that count? And if not, are they truly better off? It reminds me of what I said to a taxi driver last evening during the drive from my hotel to the airport in Las Vegas: “I love Vegas because it’s the last bastion of freedom in America—it’s an illusion, of course, but I’ll take it for now.” (link via Bruce McQuain, with a different take)