Wednesday, November 11, 2009

Humbug   [Mark Steyn]

Jim Treacher asks, "Guess who hates capitalism now?"

The first guy to make $20 million for saying words & making faces in front of a camera.

True. Jim Carrey, currently starring as Scrooge in the not-quite-as-boffo-as-it-should-be new version of A Christmas Carol, opines:

“I was thinking about it this morning, how this story ties into everything we’re going through,” says Carrey, who, thanks to the technology, plays Scrooge as well as the three ghosts haunting him. “Every construct we’ve built in American life is falling apart. Why? Because of personal greed and ambition. Capitalism without regulation can’t protect us against personal greed."

Interesting. As Mr. Treacher notes, Jim Carrey is the beneficiary of one of the most unregulated capitalist endeavors on the planet. Yet he grew up in Ontario. Had he wanted to be "protected against personal greed," he could have remained up north where his own particular industry is one of the most regulated in a highly regulated land. He could have made publicly funded movies subsidized by Cinedole Canada and Telewelfare Quebec and all the other government agencies for a nice four- or (if he's lucky) five-figure sum.

And yet he chose to reject this bulwark against "personal greed" and scram south. Poor wretch. Oh! captive, bound, and double-ironed — and by Ace Ventura, Pet Detective 2.

11/11 11:21 AMShare