good saturday + rant

made this for brunch from the recipe mav posted.

bought some thread for some earrings i'm finally making for my roommate as a trade for a lovely hat she made me long ago.

doing some sewing and relaxing. may also rent the swedish film tillsammans (together). i've seen it like 3 times, but for some reason i'm really in the mood for it today.

rant: i watched bill moyers journal last night. i always get so riled up when i watch that show. it's scary good. last night it was about american imperialism and the wars we're in right now. it was also about how presidents (democratic and republican) and many americans want to believe america will be able to continue to prosper if we can fix the problems out there in other countries. when really we need to change america and how we are living/consuming. we're too dependent on other countries for our imports and oil, and this dependence makes us totally vulnerable. and we go along with it all because we want to consume cheaply. but there are so many horrible costs to the way we consume. basically the guest, andrew bacevich, said we need to change our energy policy and stop being imperialists. but the way he explains it all so articulately is great. you can watch it online.

it's interesting how much of what andrew bacevich talked about, even though he spoke largely about war, relates to these books i've been reading about the industrial food system. seems to me it all comes down to the fact that americans value money and cheap goods more than we value the quality of the food we put in our bodies, more than we value the earth and each other and community. of course no one believes this about themselves, but take a look at how we consume. we turn our backs on the negative impacts (including war, the destruction of soil and water, the destruction of small farms, the proliferation of sweat shops/child labor, the destruction and endangerment of plant and animal species) of the way we consume.

personally i think if we were taxed more and the government actually helped the people of the country by providing universal health care, education, energy infrastructure, public transportation infrastructure, support of small, diverse farms, support of the arts/humanities, etc., then people wouldn't need to consume cheaply because we would not have to worry about paying for all these other necessities. then we could buy (ideally a lot fewer) quality goods and foods produced/grown locally, while supporting our friends and families and living healthier lives. well i could go on and on, and obviously these topics are all very complex, and each topic has numerous books written about them. my point is, the show is good and worth watching/thinking/arguing about.