What makes this year any different?
Well, we made it (some of us anyway). It’s another new year. We saw lots of ups, down, and sideways events this last year. But, What makes this year any different? Every year, we say we’re going to do things to improve ourselves and the world at large. But, there are people and forces beyond our control. So, will anything actually change? People flock to religion to seek solace through thoughts and prayers. They pray for peace, love, and understanding Just kidding: they pray for better abs, a better job, more money, and more stuff. Think about it. What are the most common “resolutions”?
- Exercise more
- Lose weight
- Get organized
- Learn a new skill or hobby
- Live life to the fullest
- Save more money / spend less money
- Quit smoking
- Spend more time with family and friends
- Travel more
- Read more
These are all personal resolutions: ways to better oneself. But, they don’t take the greater good into account. And, we all know that the politicians running (frankly) the world are all just as self interested. And, anyone who speaks of bridging divides or unifying people for the greater good is ostracized and ridiculed. Since the inception of society, this has always been the case. People break themselves into classes and castes. And, those with the most stuff set the rules. They may help their own. But, none, including people lower down on the ladder, help people outside their clique. Of course, there are unscrupulous people through all stratum. And, you can’t trust the people you help, given scammers and con artists. So, the problem seems to be human beings. maybe replacing us isn’t a bad idea after all. In the meantime, let’s do the best we can.
Table of Contents
Every year you need to ask: What makes this year any different?
In Jesus Christ Superstar, Judas complains about wasting resources on vanity, proclaiming we should give money to the poor. Jesus responds with: There will be poor always, pathetically struggling. Let that sink in. Even though the words were written in the 1970’s, the history that backs it up is indisputable. There have been poor always. And, their lot doesn’t change over millennia. Even with the endless resources we have today, there are more people struggling than ever. As long as we have ultra rich people making the rules, the wealth gap will continue to expand. And, given recent political events, that’s the plan.
Still, people fall for the same tricks over and over again. Every politician says “We’re fighting for you”. But, who are they fighting and what are they fighting for? It’s definitely not for the people. Why are we always fighting? And, why do we believe them when they say they are? The job of a politician is to recognize issues, examine all facets of a situation, develop solutions, and implement them to provide the most relief for the most people. What they really do is make up things to scare people and keep them divided. There is no effort toward consensus. In fact, the overarching theme is to sabotage the other side’s perspective instead of acknowledging facts and working them into a comprehensive overview to seek working resolutions. Yes, these are the resolutions we should seek: resolutions to problems.
Isn’t it time to end the party?
As mentioned above, self interest is the goal of most resolutions. And, self interest is what drives our politics. Saying America first is tantamount to “we get our piece of the pie, and screw the rest of you”. The world population keeps growing. And, that leads to more hands in the pie. The urge to breed is unhealthy for the planet. And, it creates more issues for governments to not address. The governments of most of the “civilized” world work on a 2 party system with Liberals or conservatives in charge at any given time. But, liberal vs conservative isn’t how they operate. It’s a constant battle to demonize the other side’s ideas and take up a contrary position instead of reaching consensus. Either side will tell you that they have the solution, and anything the other side tries to do will destroy the entire country.
Political parties set the agenda for what their candidates stand for. And, sometimes it’s a complete reversal of their stated position. People think that the former and future president of the USA is pressing the immigration issue that has always been dear to the republican party. Actually, that’s a reversal. The Democrats used to be the anti-immigration party because it drives down wages. But, the pro-business republicans wanted to maintain the loopholes and lax enforcement to keep costs low by underpaying employees. You can pay an illegal immigrant far less than an American citizen. In fact, the 45th and 47th president actually uses undocumented and low wage foreign workers to keep his payrolls down in his businesses.
Stop the madness
And, who wins? The rich people. The amount of money flowing through politics is obscene. It’s all about buying influence instead of spending money and time on addressing what ails the people. There are, literally, billions of dollars flowing through the political election machine every year. The last two presidential elections spent over $5 billion dollars. Congressional elections have come in around 10 Billion. On top of that is another 3 or 4 Billion going into lobbying efforts. And, that’s just the money that’s reported, and only on the federal level. Some of that comes from working class people who can’t afford or shouldn’t be spending their hard earned money on attempting to influence politicians. The bulk of the money comes from corporations and individuals with deep pockets and specific self interests they want to make priorities.
Elon Musk is under scrutiny and facing regulation from the federal government. And, “surprisingly”, he dumped millions of dollars into his candidate’s campaign. Now he is in position to regulate and de-fund the people regulating him. And, investigations into his companies are now being halted. This is a blatant, publicly viewable, case of influence peddling. But, most government manipulation goes on under the radar. We are supposed to live in a small d democratic society with government of the people, by the people, and for the people. But, the reality is that it’s still a caste system of haves vs have nots. Who was it who said the golden rule is: Those who have the gold make the rules?
It doesn’t add up
How do any of these numbers make sense? 10 billion dollars for about 500 jobs that pay around $200,000 a year? That’s about $100 million in income. Would you spend a million dollars to get a job that pays $50k to $100k per year, only to have to do it again 2 to 6 years later?
So, What makes this year any different?
Apparently, because the price of eggs and gas have been up, it’s okay for the oligarchs to come out in public with displays of wanton disregard for appearances. All they need to do is cut the price of groceries, which is easy if you fire employees or pay a substandard wage. And, by blaming immigrants for taking jobs, and a “deep state” for whatever else bothers you, you have all the scapegoats you need to avoid responsibility, and funnel billions toward those who already have billions. Because, obviously, people with limited resources wouldn’t know what to do with a comfortable nest egg.
But, maybe we can make a difference anyway. Maybe we, the people, can demand our government divest from corporate influence, and that politicians be held to account, not by elections based on fear, but, by an accounting of productivity. People say government should be run like a business. Well, in a business, when people don’t do their job, they get fired. So, we need to ask what actual work was done. For most politicians the answer is: I called senator so and so a fraud, took in millions from lobbyists, and stopped a solution from going through by claiming only my party’s solution is valid.
It requires a total shift in focus
Unfortunately, none of this is going to happen. Once people take power, they don’t give it up. And, they set up obstacles to prevent losing that power. The only way to change things on a macro level is a total change in mindset. Throughout history, people have embarked on Utopian experiments to create a better way of life. The United States was supposed to be just that. Heck, it’s in the constitution: “We the people, in order to form a more perfect union”…
Long before the founding fathers wrote those words, multiple groups of people, like the Pilgrims at Plymouth rock, came here for that specific purpose. And, in the years between the revolutionary and civil wars, multiple groups of philosophers, theologians, and well meaning people attempted to create Utopian communities based on concepts of communal living: not to be confused with what we think of as communism (which is really just despotism, oligarchy, and authoritarianism). They sought to do away with self interest and create a civilization where all contribute to the greater good, not just self interest.
What is self interest?
The Oneida Experiment in Upstate New York (1848 to 1881) recognized a Fatal flaw of society at large as the family unit. Just like our new Year’s resolutions are self interested, the family multiplies that. Everyone does what they can to provide for their own family before sharing with others. having children and spouses provides an incentive to protect and provide only for your own interests. You would do anything for your family. But, what if the family were an entire community?
To this end, they created a concept known as complex marriage. A traditional marriage between 2 people was disallowed, as this creates a self interest. Instead, people could share responsibility with the entire community, requiring planning for having children, and raising the children as a village, not a single family unit. This would allow for people and society to blossom in spiritual and practical ways without the encumbrances of individual needs.
Granted, there were many flaws to this and other experiments. But, the concept of actually doing things for the greater good instead of creating need, want, and infrastructure for millions of individual self interests makes sense when dealing with growing populations.
Could Utopianism be What makes this year any different?
The short answer is: no! But, special interests and self interests are basically the same thing. And, perhaps, we may learn from the Utopian experiments of the past. Some still call our country an experiment in democracy. And, the Utopian experiments of the transcendentalists of the 1800’s and more modern communal experiments are all part of the larger experiment. They, too, are groups with self interests. But, they each have concepts that make sense. Unfortunately, applying some of the ideas on a larger scale is impractical. And, some of the ideas are just downright wacky, like Fruitlands with a strict vegan diet eschewing “base” vegetables. Their “Diet was usually fruit and water; many vegetables—including carrots, beets, and potatoes—were forbidden because they showed a lower nature by growing downward”.
Far out concepts like that create an image of these groups as nutjobs and delusional menaces to society. And, this demonizing of people as “weird” renders the whole concept a joke. This is the problem with our modern world. If something doesn’t fit in with your world view or the doctrine your diaspora subscribes to, it’s time to throw the baby out with the bathwater. Which brings us back to the problem of why politics is ineffective. It’s the same concept, instead of recognizing the good parts of an experiment, and trying to incorporate them into a solution, anything “the other side” comes up with is just batsh– crazy, and completely wrong.
Combining efforts
And, the two party system excludes anything that approaches compromise, which is, by definition, the actual job of politicians. So, because the guy who said Monogamy is a sin came up with an actual solution, we can’t even consider it because we don’t agree with the other thing he said.
A modern example: Illegal immigration to the United States is an issue for economic and safety reasons. At the same time, the treatment of people coming here through the wrong channels is a humanitarian concern. So, the republicans took the “we’re protecting our country” stance, forcing the democrats to take a contrary stance on we can’t be cruel to migrants. The reality is that these aren’t opposing issues. We do have to be compassionate. But, we also have a right to proper screening and due process. But, both sides entrench themselves in opposing the other sides solutions as all bad. Unfortunately, the result is a confused public trying to make a choice of who is right and capable of “fixing” the problem, when neither side wants to or will “fix it” as it’s a concept that keeps people polarized and likely to give power to one party over the other.
The same thing goes for poverty, welfare, and social issues. There is no incentive to fix these issues, since it requires educating people. And, an educated and properly informed populace is not in the interest of those seeking votes and power.
Get out of the bubble
What makes this year any different? The type, quality, and availability of information available to the masses is a crap shoot. When the world wars raged, when Kennedy died, and when the Berlin Wall came down, the news came from what is now termed “legacy media”. While there was a certain amount of omission in information, what journalists presented were facts backed up by evidence. Fact checking and journalistic integrity were prerequisites. When Walter Kronkite said: “That’s the way it is”, we believed him. So, we all had a set of facts we could agree on. In today’s multi-media environment, there are few to no checks and balances on information. And, most people get their information from questionable or biased sources. If you listen to Pacifica radio and watch MSNBC only, you have a liberal bias. If you watch Fox news and listen to Breitbart, you have a MAGA Bias.
These are information bubbles.And, it gets more complicated. A lot of people just go on social media for “news”. What they get is someone interpreting things from these bubbles. If you click on enough Liberal posts, you get a liberal feed and vice versa. And, the problem with these bubbles is that they re-enforce the us VS them mentality that perpetuates the stalemate of government incompetence. And, this is where the “fighting for you” crap explodes into an existential crisis.
The alternative is to remain uninformed. And, that’s not a good place either. There are a lot of people who know more about Patrick Mahome’s Career stats or Beyonce’s discography than what’s going on with flooding in Ashville, NC. The week of the last election, one of the top google searches was “Did Biden drop out?”
How about a little attention?
There has to be a middle ground that doesn’t involve ignorance. But, it involves doing a little digging. When you hear, see, or read that so and so did this or that, do a quick search to verify it. This doesn’t mean fact check fox news with a story from Newsmax. Seek multiple verification from more neutral sources like AP, Reuters, or the Legacy media. It’s ironic that people will question some things when they see the source, but fall fully for an unreliable, completely biased source. But, because it aligns with the world view of your group, you accept it? The incoming president, reportedly, told over 30,000 lies, publicly, during his first term. Yet, people believe him over the Washington Post?
Of course, the response is that all politicians lie. This is true. And, Some horrific things happened. But, the frequency and blatantly provable lies of this guy changed the political landscape to one accepting of “alternative facts”. So, because someone’s Aunt’s neighbor’s friend said Haitians were eating dogs in Ohio, it’s okay to spread an unverified, easily dis-proven story? This disregard for verifiable “facts” is part of What makes this year (and recent ones) any different. It’s the Antithesis of Walter Kronkite. And, you can’t have a good faith conversation if you can’t agree on the facts.
Just the facts:
Unfortunately, there won’t be a major change in the information bubbles any time soon. And, a total re-examining of self-centered-ness isn’t likely to occur overnight. It takes a true grass roots approach, where each individual comes to a resolution that they want to do something for the whole of the planet as opposed to the improvement of abs and your working situation. It reminds me of the starfish story where thousands of starfish are stranded on a beach, and a kid puts them back in the water one at a time. When asked what difference does it make, you can’t save all of them? The response is: it matters to this one. And, that’s how we make a difference: One starfish at a time. If one person changes their perspective, it’s minor. But, like Arlo Guthrie said in Alice’s restaurant:
“if one person, just one person does it they may think he’s really sick, and they won’t take him. And if two people, two people do it—in harmony—they may think they’re both faggots and they won’t take either of ’em. And three people do it—three, can you imagine?—three people walking in, singing a bar of Alice’s Restaurant and walking out?—they may think it’s an organization. And can you—can you imagine fifty people a day—I said fifty people a day!—walkin’ in, singin’ a bar of Alice’s Restaurant and walking out. And friends, they may think it’s a movement! And that’s what it is, the Alice’s Restaurant Anti-Massacree Movement.“
So, Why not start a movement?
Start with Breaking bread
All of this talk about politics and saving the world is exhausting and depressing. It works up a hunger, because we need strength to face the task of trying to show What makes this year any different. And, breaking bread with people is just what we need to help change the world for the better. When you share a meal, you share a bit of yourself. Plus, this is a good time to re-instate the rules of the dinner table that some of us grew up with: no discussing politics or religion at the dinner table. Instead, we seek commonality and share what makes us alike, not different. Politics should not be an identity. We should seek truths in humanity and learn from each other instead of discounting people for an errant belief, like the Utopian transcendentalists mentioned above. Sharing a meal is a great place to start.
So, here are a few recipes to start your new year off right. Try Breaking bread, sharing a beer, and eating sustainable and healthy food so you can keep those self interested resolutions and work on the bigger issues at the same time.
To Auld Lang Syne!
Olive Ladder Bread
Ingredients
- 7 cups bread flour
- 3 cups warm water
- 1 Tbsp Dry yeast
- 1 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp salt kosher
- 2 Tbsp Olive oil
- 2 cups chopped olives without pits kalamata or a mix of olives
- 1 tsp cracked black peppercorns
- Extra oil for coating and baking the bread
Instructions
- Mix sugar, yeast and water in the bowl of a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment. Allow to bloom until it becomes a little foamy.
- Add 1/3 of the flour and beat for about a minute until it is smooth. Cover with plastic and let sit for about 30 minutes to an hour.
- When the starter is a bit spongy, add the rest of the ingredients, and mix well with the machine. Then pop out onto a floured surface and knead by hand until the dough (with the exception of the olives) is smooth.
- coat the dough with oil and return to a mixing bowl. Allow to rise for 2 to 3 hours. It should double in volume
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees
- Oil a couple sheet pans.
- Cut the dough into 4 portions. Knead each into a ball. Then flatten them to about 3/4 inch thick rectangles or ovals. Place them onto oiled sheet pans, cover with a damp cloth or plastic and let rise about 20 to 30 minutes.
- Before putting into the oven, slit the bread loaves multiple times to mimic a ladder. Cut through the dough, about an inch or 2 between each slit. Pull the slits to widen the gaps if desired. Brush the tops of the bread with oil. Then pop in the oven.
- After 10 to 12 minutes, check the bread. Turn the loaves and switch pans from lower racks if necessary so they all cook evenly. Put back in for another 10 to 12 minutes until they achieve a nice golden brown.
Oatmeal Stout Brown Bread
Ingredients
- 1 Cup Oats, not instant, plus extra for topping the bread
- 2 Cups Wheat Flour
- 1/2 Cup Bread or AP Flour
- 1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
- 1/3 Cup Molasses
- 1 Tbsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Kosher salt
- 12 oz Stout beer, Oatmeal stout works best, but others will do.
- 1 Cup Sour Cream
- 1 Stick Unsalted Butter, Melted
- 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
- 1 Stick European style butter for brushing the pan and top of bread.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400
- Whisk together all wet ingredients: Stout, vanilla, melted butter, sour cream, and molasses.
- Mix all dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Add in the wet ingredients in the middle, then knead them together. The final dough will resemble cake batter.
- Brush a 9×5 bread pan or a 9 inch cake pan with some melted butter. Pour in the batter. Brush the top with more butter, and sprinkle oats on top.
- bake at 400 for about 45 minutes. test that it is done by sticking a toothpick in. If it comes out dry, it's done.
Missing Ballot Munich Malt Ale
Equipment
- Visit a homebrew supplier for basic equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups carapils malt grains
- 2 cups chocolate malt grains
- 9 Lb Munich Malt extract
- 2 oz Amarillo hops whole leaf
- 2 oz American Cascades hops pellets
- 2 ounce Hallertau Hops pellets
- 1 ounce Whitbred Golding Hop pellets
- 2 oz German Cascade hop pellets
- 1 Tbsp Irish moss or clarifying tablet optional
- 11.5 grams lalleland yeast or similar
- 3/4 cup priming (corn) sugar
- 1 cup water
Instructions
- Bring 2.5 gallons of water to a boil. Put grain malts into a cheesecloth bag. Put in the boiling water. Turn down the heat to a simmer. Allow to simmer for 40 minutes.
- Remove the bag of grains and whisk in the malt extract. Turn heat up to a boil. Whisk occasionally to keep from scorching.
- Add in the Amarillo hops. Continue boiling for 40 minutes.
- Add the American cascades and Hallertau. Boil for 10 minutes.
- Add the remaining hops and continue boiling for 10 minutes. You can also add in Irish moss or other fining ingredients at this point to help clarify the beer.
- Remove from heat and strain the liquid into a sanitized large tub/racking bucket.
- Transfer the strained liquid to a sanitized carboy. Then add cold water to fill to 5 gallons. Test the specific gravity, sugar and potential alcohol at this point.
- When the "wort" has cooled down to room temperature, Pitch the yeast. Then put a sanitized rubber cork with a blow off tube in the top of the bottle. Put the carboy in a dark room or closet where it won't be disturbed. Put a large container with a little water in the bottom next to the car boy. Put the end of the blow off tube in the container submerged in the water.
- During the primary fermentation, the first 3 days will be extremely active. Check the beer daily to make sure it isn't overflowing. Don't let the cork get dislodged.
- After 3 days the activity should be minimal. Switch the cork with blow off tube for a cork with an air lock with water in it. Make sure to sanitize this too. Allow to sit for another 11 days.
- After 2 weeks, it's time to bottle. Sanitize your equipment, bottles, and bottle caps.
- Boil priming sugar and water together. Allow to cool.
- Transfer beer from carboy to racking bucket. Strain if necessary. There will be a lot of sediment (about an inch) at the bottom of the carboy. Avoid as much of that as possible.
- Take measurements at this point.
- Whisk in the priming sugar. Then transfer the beer to sanitized bottles and cap with sanitized caps.
- Put the bottles in a dark room or closet where they won't be disturbed for 2 weeks.
- After 2 weeks in the bottle, they are ready to drink. Refrigerate and serve. Drink responsibly.
Notes
Vegan Black Cumin And Red Lentil Ragout
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Red Lentils
- 1 Cup Diced Sweet Onion
- 1 Tbsp Chopped Fresh Garlic
- 1 tsp Chopped Fresh Ginger
- 1 Cup Fresh Grape Tomatoes, Cut in 1/2
- 2 Tbsp Black Cumin Seeds
- 1 Tbsp Brown Cumin Seeds
- 1 tsp Ground Turmeric
- 4 Cups vegetable Broth (may substitute water)
- 1/4 Cup Olive Oil
- Salt and Pepper to taste
Instructions
- Saute the onion, Both types of cumin seed, garlic, and ginger in olive oil over medium high heat until translucent. Then add in the lentils. Stir and cook until well coated with the olive oil.
- Heat the stock over high heat. Fill the pan of lentils with stock so that they are completely covered. You may not need all of it, as red lentils cook quickly. Reduce by 1/2 the volume, stirring as needed. Be careful not to overcook the lentils. Add in the tomatoes and Turmeric. Continue cooking . Add more stock if needed. You want the lentils to be soft, but not breaking apart. Fold in salt, pepper, and Cashews. Serve hot. For today's recipe, we want most of the liquid absorbed, so it can stand on a plate. But, you can leave it wetter if you want more of a stew that you can serve in a bowl.
Truffled Wild Mushroom Risotto
Ingredients
- 1.5 cups Arborrio or carnaroli rice
- 3 cups vegetable stock, make with mushroom stems, mirepoix vegetables, herbs, bay leaves, and peppercorns If available bolster flavor with mushroom powder available at specialty stores.
- 1/2 cup diced shallot
- 1 T chopped garlic
- 2 cups sliced or diced assorted wild mushrooms Try to get a variety of mushrooms. Shiitake, oyster, chantrelles, whatever is in season
- 1 T chopped black truffle If available. If not, use truffle oil for flavor.
- 1 cup Sherry or madeira wine
- 1 t chopped fresh thyme
- 2 T Vegan butter substitute
- 1/4 cup shaved vegan parmesan
- 1 T Truffle Oil
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- For the Roast asparagus
- 1 Bunch Fresh Asparagus
- 2 T Olive oil Extra virgin
- Salt and pepper to taste
- For carrots
- 6 to 8 each Baby carrots, cut in 1/2 if too thick
- 2 T Olive oil
- 1 T sugar in the raw
- 1/4 cup orange juice
- Salt and Pepper to taste
- Garnish with Baby cress
Instructions
- Heat 1/4 cup olive oil in a heavy gauge wide pot, add in shallots and garlic. Stir over medium heat until translucent
- In a separate pot bring the vegetable stock to a simmer
- Add in the mushrooms and stir.
- Add the rice. Stir to coat evenly with oil.
- Add in the wine, stir and let simmer. Stir occassionally to kep rice from sticking.
- When the wine has been 1/2 absorbed, begin adding the stock. Add enough to cover, then let that get mostly absorbed and begin adding more stock one ladel at a time, stirring frequently. The riec will bein to soften. watch this closely. You don't want it hard, but, you don't want it to turn to mush. Test a grain to make sure it is done.
- When the rice is al dente, stop adding stock and let what is left absorb. Add in the truffles, butter, cheese, truffle oil, and seasonings.
- Prepare the vegetables to accompany the dish ahead of time: Coat the asparagus with oil, salt, and pepper, and place in a 350 degree oven for about 6 to 10 minutes depending on the thickness. They should come out still green, but al dente.
- Make the carrots. Heat oil in a saute pan, add the carrots over high heat to get some color in them. Add the sugar and reduce the heat to medium. Add Juice and reduce, stirring occassionally. Add more liquid if necessary. The carrots should also be al dente. Allow the liquid to partially evaporate until it becomes a glaze.Add a touch of salt and pepper and stir it in.
- Plate the risotto. Lay the carrots and asparagus against the rice. garnish with a bouquet of cress. Drizzle with a fine olive oil or truffle oil. Serve immediately.