Mr. Big

Acá el único "Big" es Don Boudreaux, mi ídolo total. Acá su última carta al NY Times:

27 March 2009

Editor, The New York Times
620 Eighth Avenue
New York, NY 10018

To the Editor:

A headline about New York Senator Kirsten Gillibrand reads "As New Lawyer, Senator Defended Big Tobacco" (March 27). I ask: Are you capable of writing "tobacco" without prefacing it with the word "big"? Similarly, can you write "oil" without the same ominous preface?

These industries indeed are big, but each is a dwarf compared to Uncle Sam.

So why do you not routinely describe government as "big government"? The menacing overtones of such a description are especially appropriate for the state because, unlike "big tobacco" and "big oil," government uses violence against persons who refuse to fund its budget and otherwise do its bidding.

Sincerely,
Donald J. Boudreaux