Whither Mr. Penzey?

Bill Penzey strikes again.

In a recent version of his newsletter, he either describes - or endorses a description offered by some one else (standard punctuation doesn't seem to be among his interests) - of conservatives. He says - directly or by agreement - that conservatives - or at least the ones on talk radio - offer "poison to everything that's good in our lives as a roadblock to the path of Kindness that leads to cooking."

Now, I hadn't thought that cooking was a political act. I am aware that fevered imaginations can make it so just as some on both sides of our political divide convinced themselves that watching (or not watching) the World Cup was an ideological act. Let's put that silliness aside.

Would I ever say that the American left is a "poison to everything that's good in our lives ?"

Now, if anyone would be inclined to do so, it would be someone in a position like mine.  I believe that liberty is preferable to command and the direction of  life through politics - as opposed to markets or voluntary communities - should be avoided as much as can it be.

Although I enjoy what I do, I am sufficiently persuaded that this perspective is most conducive to a better life for everyone, that I spend about 60 hours per week advancing it. (I don't do it for money. Although I am very well paid, I made a lot more - over two to three times as much -  as a business lawyer.)

But I understand that intelligent and well-intentioned people can disagree with me. They offer a perspective  that ought to be respected - even as it may be robustly criticized. I'm too old to think that I have a monopoly on truth or morality.

But I guess Mr. Penzey is not. While I am sure that he doesn't see himself in this way, his newsletters suggest that he is simplistic and close-minded; one who fears and refuses to understand "the other."

Of course, there's another possibility - one that I suspect is just as likely as not. It could well be that Penzy's all-in lefty posturing is a marketing ploy. He sells what I suspect are commodity products - one that are really not much different from those of his competitors. To differentiate his spices, he wants to convey a message to the earth mothers and aging hippies that, by buying Penzey's, they are still part of the revolution.

At heart, he's just another capitalist.

Cross posted at Shark and Shepherd home page.