Today, I met a woman whose husband, here in Central Europe, is a successful businessman. Employs 1,500 people. And endures tremendous envy and malice. I said to her, “How many of us will do such good in life as to employ 1,500 people? Do his critics ever think of how much in taxes he pays? Where do they think tax money comes from — trees? Would they rather those 1,500 people be on the dole? What about their families? Your husband ought to be thanked and encouraged, not attacked.” The woman said, “You think like an American.”

But does America still think like that?

Maybe three years ago, I was talking to someone from my hometown. A professional Democrat (Hill staffer, White House staffer, etc.). He was pouring hate on David Koch, who I think was at the peak of his hatedness. I said, “Think of how many people Koch employs. Will you and I ever do that?” Dismissively, he said, “There’s more to life than employing people.” I said, “Okay — think about the zillions in tax money he pays. Isn’t that good, to fund social programs of the kind you like?” That stopped him for about two seconds. But he dismissed that too.

I thought, “Why bother?” He and I were both raised in an environment that scorned business — very Obama-esque (long before we had the word). (You may prefer “Obamesque.”) But some of us outgrew it. Is that too self-congratulatory? It is, yes, but still true . . .