The malling of populism

Our Resident Philistine, having taken a licking from Strumpette, ratchets his petulant populism up another notch: “Forget consumerism,” he tritely trills, Smith & Hawken pitchfork in hand. “We are customers with our money in our fists, spending it wisely and joining together to spend it more wisely.” That’s Marxism not as tragedy but as farce. “And we are producers who can compete with the companies that thought of us as mere consumers.” Hey, Mr. Producer, can you build me a computer for $399 and ship it over to my house? Throw in a self-fabricated printer for $49, too. And make it snappy.