Cute, but even at her most vapid and useless and airheaded, Paris Hilton does more for the economy and the creation of jobs (by spending tons of money every day) that all the poor people combined.

But let’s make a thought exercise. Imagine that you qualify how much an individual actually contributes economically to society. Imagine that we total the amount of money that the person gives to the government via direct and indirect taxes and all that, and divide it by how much they get in benefits from the government (both direct and indirect, like road maintenance and the DMV). Do you seriously believe that the average poor person would have a better ratio than the average rich person? Just by counting the sale taxes from what Paris Hilton spends on shoes every month, she contributes more to society that half the poor on the country combined.

The fallacy Mailer is promoting, which is a fallacy all liberals believe, is that proportions are relevant. They aren’t. If a man pays ten million dollars in taxes, he contributes much more to society than a man who pays ten dollars. Period. There’s no two ways about it. It doesn’t matter if the first man makes ten billion a month and the latter makes 200. It’s not about how much you COULD contribute, but about how much you ACTUALLY contribute that makes the difference. Government bills aren’t paid in proportions. They’re paid with actual money. And most of that money comes out the pockets of the rich people you despise so much.