Sometimes an iPad is just an iPad …

Is Capitalism A Huge Fraud? Virginia Postrel on how consumerism is based on a “delusion.” We fantasize about how great a new product is going to be and enjoy the fantasy maybe more than the product. So we are dissatisfied and fantasize again. That’s the theory, anyway. … Interesting tack for a leading libertarian to take. … It made me wonder, not whether we can’t avoid these desires, but whether we can’t have a less illusory type of consumerism where we actually enjoy the product itself for itself in real time. Mindfulness! Or at least mindful consumerism. And why are we convinced this second type of materialism–material materialism, if you will–isn’t at least part of what drives the economy? …