John Stossel’s short take (below) on the late TV pitchman and Pittsburgh native Billy Mays is spot on.
On its opinion page, The Christian Science Monitor ran a column that sneers at the success of TV pitchman Billy Mays, who died this week at age 50.
?He promised that acquiring superfluous junk could be a ticket to a better life, even at a time when that life seems to be slipping further and further out of reach,? writes an elitist young author.
Smug journalists just cannot accept capitalism. Mays sold ?as seen on TV? products like OxiClean detergent and Mighty Putty; products that he believed in and backed with a money-back guarantee. And people apparently loved the products, since Mays sold an estimated billion dollars worth of goods. He enriched himself by persuading people to voluntarily give him money. His customers got goods they hadn?t known they’d wanted. In practicing capitalism, Mays was more of a ?public servant? than the regulators who claim to serve us by restricting it.
H/T: Cafe Hayek
