A great day in the 'Ville
Today was an all around wonderful day. It started out with a trip to the city market where we bought fresh produce, sheep's cheese, strawberries, tofu, and a bouquet of Sweet William. It was wonderful. I love buying from local growers. It's the way we were meant to exchange goods. It is the most real world application (at least for me) of what Marx saw as fleeting with the growth of capitalism - more on that later, perhaps. After the market, we ran some other errands then had a wonderful lunch of a salad made with strawberries, pecans, and the aforementioned cheese (which I have to say is just about the best cheese ever). I headed over to watch Eli for a few hours during which I discovered anew the joys of playing with a child outside. Eli was intrigued as I sat on the blanket in the shade and blew him bubbles with my bubble gum. The look on his little face as he tried to figure out how in the world those things were coming out of my mouth was priceless. Even better was when he wanted me to do it again later - after I had threw away the gum - and reached for my mouth as he mimicked the motions I made with my mouth when I blew. So great.
I came home from babysitting to find out that my wonderful husband had surprised me by making chocolate covered strawberries with some of the strawberries we bought this morning! :o) The best part was, since we do not have a double-boiler, he invented one by resting a stainless steel bowl over the mouth of a pot of boiling water. This may not seem so amazing to some of you, but I am not the most innovative person in the world, so I thought it was ground breaking!
We had a nice dinner, rested some, and then got a call from some friends who invited us out to a microbrewery to play trivial pursuit and hang out for awhile. It was a great time! This brings us to the present, which finds me tired and content from my lovely day. In other news, summer has arrived in C-ville, as today it was in the 80's, tomorrow's high is 88, and the rest of the week doesn't look to be much cooler. Josh is happy about this - I will be happy in three weeks, when we move to our new apartment which has AC.
Keep watching for the post on prison I mentioned. It's still brewing in my head.
Now it's time for bed after a wonderful day.
5 comments:
Sounds like a smashing way to spend a day! I can't believe Josh likes it that hot outside! After walking the campus for four years straight in shorts and sandals ALL YEAR LONG, I would have pegged him for the cold-weather type. Two cliches for you: "To each his own," and "Better you than me." Also, Eli? OBSCENELY ADORABLE. Enjoy hanging out with him. :-D
Sweet William! Not to get all philosophical on you, but...well...okay, I am about to get philosophical. First of all, I think it's great to support local growers, organic produce growers, small farmers, etc. I just wonder how to reform the system as a whole in order to encourage more exchanges like these without hurting the economy. Let me explain what I mean. For every dollar you spend on local produce, that's one less dollar you're not spending in chain grocery stores. It's still a dollar going into the economy in some way. What I think we need to do is get the chain grocery stores to be more like the small farmers, and to buy from small farmers, and not just take our money out of their hands. I'll abstract from this specific example with a broader scenario. People on the left advocate "cutting the defense budget," and while that's a good idea, it's a good idea because it's immoral to build and use weapons of mass destruction, not because the defense budget is a waste of money. The defense budget pays the salaries of upwards of 2 million Americans, who then spend it right back into the system. Cutting the defense budget outright just hurts the economy, and I'm worried that if we don't fundamentally change the system, our desultory solutions either A) won't encourage reform at all, or B) will straight up hurt the economy.
Thoughts?
I am just not sure that Charles’s underlying assumption that buying from local growers hurts the economy is very well founded. Agribusinesses are among the most costly corporations to taxpayers, as they devour huge subsidies and take advantage of the most permissive tax breaks, both of which were originally intended for family farmers on very small scales. To eliminate them by not patronizing them (as well as by lobbying to remove their subsidies and loopholes, prevent overseas excess production dumping, and enact stricter environmental and sustainability legislation) may cause short-term economic losses, but would, I think, ultimately foster the right sort of model for American food production. Meanwhile, supporting local and family growers encourages the development of that model as well as fostering reinvestment and raising the level of local capital circulation. And, to show my cards, my underlying assumption is that a profitable equilibrium that promotes fruitful labor is best achieved by a bottom-up focus (local to global).
Good points, j. morgan. I almost completely agree with you. My one question is empirical, I suppose--can we eliminate these grotesquely-subsidized freak corporations by buying our tomatoes from local growers in the summer, but our shampoo from the GSFC's year-round? I agree that our focus needs to be bottom-up, but unless it's holistic, it's ineffective. Then again, you already know that.
charlespeirce: "That stick is 3 feet long!"
j. morgan caler: "No it's not, it's 36 inches!"
Thanks to J.morgan and charles for their input. My thoughts (rather unsociological, i must confess):
1) I like buying from local growers and would rather do that than support an immoral economy anyway. Not well-articulated, but honest, and
2) You cannot by tofu from a commune dweller with a braided goatee at Harris Teeter. That experience alone is worth hurting the economy. :o)
Post a Comment