Food Stuffs

Kiss the earth and love it with an unceasing, consuming love.

Feodore Dostoyevsky
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He who owns the earth owns the world. That may seem like a redundancy. But think about food. Or rather think about cities and towns with buildings, schools, institutions, where business is conducted every day, stocks are bought and sold, deals are made, manufacturing takes place, technicians and scientists are at work designing and testing things, students are studying and leaning new skills and new ideas, committees are meeting and discussing issues, pilots are flying planes ad drivers are driving buses, artists are painting, singers are singing, street sweepers are cleaning the streets and lawnmowers are mowing the lawns, politicians are arguing and ball players are playing ball.

Think about all or some of those things and then think about food. None of those things could happen if there was no food. If we did not eat we would die. We take food for granted. It's our natural right to have lunch. We don't question it. Where does it come from? From the supermarket, the cafeteria, the kitchen, the fridge.

Everything in our lives that we use, the metal. wood and stone we build with, the paper that we use to sue people with, the water we drink and waste on our fancy cars, the asphalt we drive them on too fast, the potatoes, carrots, beef and eggs, apples and chestnuts and the garbage we make from them all come from the earth, the ground, the dirt.

Imagine what life would be like if there were no miners, fishers, farmers or ranchers. Imagine what it would be like if we had to forage and hunt in order to survive. How much of the other stuff listed above would get done?

Or imagine a cartel of excellent hunters and gatherers who have more than they need and are willing to let us have some of what they have pulled out of the forest and seas and hoarded. For a price, of course. And since they have a monopoly on fruit and meat it's going to be a steep one.

Imagine building more highways over more potential farm land until there isn't enough earth left to grow what we need. No problem. Another country will be glad to clear as much arable land as is necessary to feed the world's hungry and busy populations. And if they don't have enough within their own borders they will take the profits from selling us our food to buy up some of our land in order to keep producing. Of course, they may have to tear up a few highways and level a few buildings to keep fulfilling the needs of a growing world population. Those who can afford it, that is.
Then when they own all the crops and fuel the earth can produce what do they own?
They own the world.

DB - The Vagabond
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Weekend Contest
Below are the name of three fictitious law firms. Read them carefully and then come up with your own example. You may enter more than once but the decision of the irascible judge is final.

Chase & Sewer
Huchlein & Sincker
Locke, Stock & Beryl

Good luck
DB
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Tactical Text - 10/07/08

Don't write so that you can be understood, write so that you can't be misunderstood.

President William Howard Taft


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Trying not to be misunderstood is tricky business. I know what I said. You think you know what I said. But what you think I said is not what I think I said. And if what you think I said is not what I think I said it's therefore not what I said, And if what I said is not what I think I said then what you think I said is what I said. Furthermore, if what you think I said is what I think I said then it doesn't matter what I said because what you think I said is what I said. And if what I said is not what you think I said and not what I think I said then it's not what I said. I hope that clarifies everything.

Dostoyevsky once remarked that if he is misunderstood he needs to go on his knees and beg our forgiveness. Maybe that's why he wrote such long novels, so that he wouldn't leave anything out.

All of you who have read a Dostoyevsky novel all the way through please raise your hands.

Uh-huh. I thought so.

From the few comments I get on my daily musings I can tell that some people miss my points. That's my fault. I'm obviously not writing so as not ot be misunderstood. I'm on my knees. Please forgive me?

Ah! Thank you.


DB - Vagabond