Anyhow, let’s use this thread to remind us of our Christian and fraternal duty: if you know someone who will be without opportunity to join a Christmas Day gathering, see if you can coax them into joining you and yours, at least for a bit. Call them now to see if they have plans, and at least deliver or send them a good DVD or some token of affection if they are die-hard resolved to ride it out alone. A late Christmas card is better than none, right?

A buddy of mine and I got so desperate that we flagged down one of the few taxis still on the streets, which otherwise were absolutely deserted, and asked him to take us somewhere, anywhere, to eat. There were two choices: Howard Johnson’s or Mondo’s cafe, which was the hangout of all the cabbies. We chose the former and were at least well fed in each other’s company.

I know you’re a big Beatles fan, Carl, so maybe the whole issue can be settled by putting on Eleanor Rigby and listening to it carefully. It’s as good an answer as any other.

Marx is dead and what he may or may not have endorsed, i.e. lent his name to for the sake of commodity fetishism…is a rather hillarious question. Of course the modern Marx is either the property of the University of Chicago Press or else an accusatory relic of McCarthyism.

Still selling McDonalds as opposed to Catholicism as if it was some sort of zero sum game for “goodwill” gets economics all sorts of wrong. It is of course primarily intellectual property or intangible property that can be shared and make us all better off. Now real property sort of is a zero sum game…only good copyright, good trademark, and good patent really expand the pie and put us on a higher indifference curve.

A debate between the merits of Waffle House and McDonalds certainly reminds us how far we have come in beating Malthus down, not that he isn’t out there telling us that all our charities will just cause a population explosion and eventual painful starvation (In the Long RUN!…Muah, ha! ha!)

So progress had to happen before Lochner was ever a political question, and as Anglicans, Catholics, Aitheist or Libertarians I think we can all see that and be grateful. Some Libertarians dislike the Santa Claus theory of the universe, but Santa Claus himself is good trademark, or good will, hypothetically Scrooge is bad will. But a true Unitarian might say they are both good in a broad enough view of the political economy, after all Mandeville is not totally disproved.

Speaking of the fact that Mandeville is not totally disproved, and recongizing that Christmas isn’t exactly the time to sue, or hang people, or fight over a fiscal cliff (bah humbug!) one might think it is the fault of the lawyers and political scientists if a manager at McDonalds can’t pursue his selfishness or duties of loyalty to his corporate over-lords without in some way bringing about something “Good”!

The hell, if I am not sure that such a manager is not “higher”, than all the lawyers, lobbyist, congressmen, economists and political scientists in america. You also seem to be suggesting an out for yourself. Your system can only be as “high” as the “bad” tastes of your consumers!

An interesting delima, supposedly it is better to be exploited to the max producing a high quality product, than to be eager to work producing the imitation gruel. I am not sure it ends up working that way. McDonalds has improved its menu. Working at McDonalds can’t be good, unless eating at McDonalds is also good. That is you can’t fully get satisfaction from working at McDonalds on Christmas day unless your customers also feel the bounty and goodwill of the produce of your labor.

I mean what is really lower, eating at McDonalds on Christmas day or reading(eating/dwelling) about how John Boehner and Obama saved us from the fiscal cliff on Christmas day?

Of course, JC, the real irony is that the only law that’s likely to be passed would be the other way around: to keep McDonald’s and Waffle House closed on “the holiday known as Christmas” for which it will also be illegal to publicly celebrate in Christian ways.

While I would like McDonald’s getting hit with such a law, Peter reminds us that the few mom-and-pop places that have Christmas hours that would also get hit are needed by some folks, and interestingly, that Waffle House is somehow enough between being mom-and-pop and McDonald’s that it should stay open.

I’m against any all regulations on this, but still, Waffle House on Christmas Day seems wrong, if not as horrible as McDonald’s. I would not do it as a franchise owner had I the choice.

Christmas Eve…kind of a distinct issue.

And ditto CJ on the earlier Bernstein cover! Was one of my favorite things about the book.