Only in America, Part 1.

Tomorrow, I’m flying to Vancouver to see some family, so you know what that means . . . I get to read the SkyMall magazine on my flight. I love this magazine, because it embodies everything that’s right with America, as well as everything that’s just plain wrong, depending on how you approach it.

On one hand, the products you find in SkyMall mag are a testament to the technical genius of Americans, while on the other, proof positive of how ridiculous, self-absorbed and frivolous people can get with their gadetry. Sure, people are dying of a lack of clean water, but who cares when you can allocate capital investment to such wonders as a solar-powered mole repeller, the American Idol shower radio, or my personal favorite, the telescoping dog ramp?

I could drone on about how amazing the Invisible Hand of The Market is in satisfying human wants, and then perhaps get into some philosophical jibberish about Aristotle’s rule of The Golden Mean in discerning human wants from needs, but I won’t. Yup, taking the high ground on this one. As a fairly realistic greenish libertarian kind of a guy, I try to focus on what “is” rather than what “should” be. So, I suppose it’s not a question of whether or not SkyMall mag should exist. It does, and I think it’s FN awesome.

Man, when I was a kid, I was pretty stoked at seeing something like a motorized tie rack in the Sears catalogue.

It just doesn’t compare to SkyMall.