tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6976762196962562777.post7621435093824753189..comments2023-05-27T03:54:11.343-07:00Comments on Refrigerator Soup and Other Ingenuities: Beyond Consumer ChoiceAddiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04036564997277081344noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6976762196962562777.post-84151200455993700842010-01-07T12:15:40.216-08:002010-01-07T12:15:40.216-08:00In a speech made shortly before his assassination,...In a speech made shortly before his assassination, Martin Luther King reminds his audience about human interconnectedness. Before you leave home for work in the morning he says, you may use a sponge that comes from the Pacific Islands, use soap from France, drink coffee from Colombia, put on clothes made in China, etc. The hyper individualism of consumption conceals the fact that we are dependent on people all over the globe.<br /><br />Now we can think of these interconnections in different ways. We can adopt the "buyer beware" principle, that everyone needs to take care of his or her own interests. That gets you people selling mortgages that the buyer cannot afford, which you then sell off to someone else before the deal unravels. You get yours--others see their homes foreclosed or their investments go bad. The current economic crisis is the effect of people thinking that any neighbors who are not looking out for themselves get what they deserve. That kind of selfishness makes a for a pretty cold world.<br /><br />The other alternative is to acknowledge that our interconnectedness is not only commercial but also moral and political. We owe each other respect, and that means that we do not take advantage of others. Only people who respect each other can live in a society that functions well.<br /><br />One may be careful about the food one buys and eats as a way of looking out for number one." Or it may be a way of taking care of our world for ourselves and others. Eating and buying right may be one more way of being self-centered or self-involved; but of course it can also be a way of trying to do our part in making this a good world for all.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6976762196962562777.post-62388337586651922632010-01-05T09:58:59.941-08:002010-01-05T09:58:59.941-08:00i like this analysis. every monday, i get togeth...i like this analysis. every monday, i get together with a group of friends for what we call "family dinner" where we all bring what we've got in our kitchen or ingredients that we're excited to experienct with and then we concoct a meal together. aside from loving the social company on a monday night and not having to cook a full meal by myself, i appreciate the political discussions that we have while we cook together. we often talk about food or where or why we have the ingredients that we do and what we can do with them.Chttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05039344236647745597noreply@blogger.com