What I'm Reading (Dec. 30)

One of the consequences of the confused and, at times, complicated messaging of our public health system and the 24-7-365 drumbeat of the media is that fear has been a primary driver during COVID times. It is difficult, as we are learning, unwinding fear. And then, of course, there is virtue signaling on either side of public health recommendations.

“When this major international crisis arose, they felt a lot of legitimate fears and worries, which just makes them human. But when it became clear that the public health response to Covid involved denying ourselves things we wanted and enjoyed, including non-negotiably important things like in-person schooling and face-to-face human contact, they (subconsciously) saw an opening: if denial of human pleasures is virtuous, I can be more virtuous than my peers. If caution is noble, overcaution must be even nobler.”

Covid Panic is a Site of Inter-Elite Competition

As we approach the New Year and those exercise and dietary recommendations, we might pause and consider the utter lack of value to food labels again – they are not a nutrition guide as much as marketing.

“In 2018 and 2019, Richman Law & Policy filed two separate lawsuits against Ben & Jerry’s over its claims that it sources milk and cream from “happy cows,” alleging that only a small amount of the company’s ingredients come from higher-welfare farms. Ben & Jerry’s argued that it never claimed to exclusively source ingredients from “happy cows,” though, in 2020, the company announced it had removed the claim due to a label redesign. Later, Richman withdrew from one case, and another was dismissed.

“While we haven’t done an official survey of our cows’ happiness, we’re proud of the work we’ve done with Vermont’s family farmers over the past 35 years,” a Ben & Jerry’s spokesperson told Today in 2020.”

From Vox, The “humanewashing” of America’s meat and dairy, explained

You remember Sisyphus don’t you – the guy rolling the stone. Here’s the update!

“Sisyphus is burned out. It’s not simply that the work is grueling. He just can’t see the point of it anymore. None of the old strategies are working—not rebellion, not resignation, not even a passive-aggressive slow-walk down the mountain. Shaking his fist at the gods feels like an empty gesture now. Naturally, his workplace wellness program has been no help. All they had to suggest was an online yoga class. Desperation has finally driven Sisyphus to a Zoom appointment with his “primary care provider,” who has called in a prescription for Zoloft and Ativan. Sisyphus is burned out. It’s not simply that the work is grueling. He just can’t see the point of it anymore. None of the old strategies are working—not rebellion, not resignation, not even a passive-aggressive slow-walk down the mountain. Shaking his fist at the gods feels like an empty gesture now. Naturally, his workplace wellness program has been no help. All they had to suggest was an online yoga class. Desperation has finally driven Sisyphus to a Zoom appointment with his “primary care provider,” who has called in a prescription for Zoloft and Ativan.”

From the Hedgehog Review, Sisyphus Gets a Prescription - Doomed to wellness.

Finally, here is an article that ties together, at least for me, two entirely different facts. First, antibiotics have protected us, but in another sense, they have made us more vulnerable by selectively driving the evolution of superbugs able to withstand their assault. Second, premium wine grapes are small, almost raisin in size, because they are deliberately not watered. Watering gives the plant a sense that all is well and it is time to settle in and open shop. Less water makes for a more inhospitable environment, and the plant decides to seed (those are the grapes) and hit the road. Here is the question that ties them both together as posed by Nautil.us, have we placed our crops on a fast-food diet – you remember what it did to Morgan Spurlock

From Nautil.us, Junk Food Is Bad For Plants, Too