It really is most annoying.
Agreed. Check this out from the Guardian's Polly Toynbee, granddaughter of the famous historian and one of the most well known leftists in Britain. It was mentioned in Aussie Tim Blair's excellent and definitely worth reading Best Quotes of 2003:
Only the state can buy the things that make people happiest.
How could anyone possibly believe such a hilarious absurdity?
How could anyone possibly believe such a hilarious absurdity? I dunno, beckett -- you got me! (Anyone who does believe it must be suffering from "the European Disease.")
When did it become the state's business to "make people happy," let alone "happiest," in the first place?