Eat at Joe's

An invitation in bad taste

Capitalism, it is claimed by many, is ugly. The clutter of billboard jungles, the drabness of housing tracts, the half-truths of advertising, all are said to be the logical outcome of a market freed of political controls. Even those businessmen who defend what they call "free enterprise" implicitly agree, saying, in effect, that a "rising standard of living" demands a little crassness.

This magazine rejects this view of the free market as simple misconception. Unfettered human exchange, far from creating visual/verbal chaos, is the best possible instrumentality for achieving maximum aesthetic satisfaction. Or so we wish to prove in a series of articles beginning this month. Conservatives, anarchists, and other defenders of free trade long ago perfected their case for the efficiency of the market, thereby dispelling claims concerning poverty under capitalism. Less, however, has been said about the aesthetics of freedom. Reason invites readers who have considered the matter to submit manuscripts. Direct your correspondence to the editor.