A bleak picture, to be sure. And to some it's a puzzle too; this is a world that predominantly believes that the best is yet to come after life ends. If what we have to look forward to after we die is so amazing, why seek to artificially extend the inevitable?
To that end, our culture in the United States is a morass of conflicting ideals. Please, enjoy your fast food value meal. It tastes good, there's nothing wrong with admitting that. But you can also feel better about eating it because it's now made with more wholesome ingredients and fewer additives than last year's recipes, and served in packaging that uses 5% more post-consumer recycled materials than last year's packaging. What progress! Never mind that it's still not good for you. We want guilty pleasures while placating our consciences with the jingle of FDA approved catchphrases.
A tangent: I remember watching the Jetsons as a child and thinking about how great it would be to take a pill instead of having to eat a whole meal. Perhaps something as small as a pill is out of the question, but no doubt we could get into the neighborhood as far as sustenance is concerned. After all, we already consume multivitamins. What about a bar or tube packed with the other necessary proteins and calories? Just eat one a day, lead a healthy life.
But don't most people live to feel pleasure? To at least some degree anyhow. Those most miserable generally end up departing this world by their own hands. So eating a plain nutrition bar or toothpaste tube of protein gunk day in and day out probably doesn't factor into a fun existence. Indeed, gastronomy is a significant part of any culture. Regions of the world become renowned for food, sometimes for just a single product. What's travel without food? Take a trip, be adventurous, not just seeing the scenery but also tasting the local cuisine. Things you just can't get at home.
So what does all this food have to do with a picture of a miserable end to life? Clearly we live our lives bent on enjoying what we can. Food is just one facet to our lives. But there's no sense in feeling guilty about the choices that we make so long as we are honest about accepting the consequences for our actions. For if we are honest about shirking an extended future for the here and now, then no one else should feel the need to convince us otherwise. And certainly not feel the urge to try to compel us to feel better about a choice we've made.
Nevertheless, people hop onto their soapbox and rant and preach to all the world about this or that great and wonderful new cure-all to that which ails you. And while not inculpable, the media can't really be blamed because it is our natures that permits incomplete information to foment, propagate through the airwaves and fester. Subjects as complex as religion, politics, and nutrition have to be boiled down into thirty second sound bites. Again, all to placate ourselves. To make us feel comfortable and not leave any dirty question marks hanging over head. As if the metaphorical curl of punctuation becomes a coil of literal serpent waiting to strike us down.
Through our various networks of information, new diets, new fads, and new science percolate up through the masses. Remember the Atkins diet? Every major eatery struggled to create some product or line that catered to a fad which crashed as quickly as it lit the country on fire. Gluten-free products might be next. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with trying to pursue a more desirable weight or better overall health. But the message being sent seems to always be one of taking a high road with no consequences. There are no choices in life without consequences, a tough but valuable lesson that is not oft enough taught to adults, much less youth.
So to anyone still attempting to reconcile the grim image of life coming to a slow end with the epicurean shrugging off of better decisions; the dots are connected. It's not just food. It's anything. Your body, your choice. Live with it.
0 comments:
Post a Comment