Tag Archives: social struggle

Individualism, Freedom, and Food

A surprisingly superficial podcast episode on what could have been a very deep subject.

Open Source » Blog Archive » The End of Free Will?

start a conversation about manipulation, persuasion and freedom from choice

To summarize the main issue of that episode: is marketing and "upselling" by restaurant chains undermining the individual freedom to choose quality food? Apparently simple a question, but billed as much more than that.

Maybe they refrained from delving deeper into any of those issues because philosophical discussions, perhaps aesthetic ones especially, are off limits in "polite company" in U.S. media. Too bad.

Actually, I’m genuinely disappointed. Not necessarily because restaurant chains are very important an issue for me (in Montreal, they don’t seem to have the exact same type of impact and I love to cook). But because the show’s participants all came very close to saying very important things about individualism, food, and freedom. The first two are too rarely discussed, IMHO, and the third could have been the "hook" to discuss the other two.

Ah, well…

If you want to know more about my thoughts on this podcast episode, check out some of the tags below.

Music, Food, Industries, Piracy

000ady6y (PNG Image, 200×125 pixels)

Noticed it in Steal This Film. A very appropriate message. Process over product. Music is not a commodity. Food does not grow on profits.

Blogged with Flock

Two Radio Pieces on Beer

Chicago Public Radio – Audio Library: Eight Forty-Eight
One is partly a repeat from Steve Dolinsky’s TV report mentioned earlier but with more contextual information. The other one was originally broadcast in 2000 and features Bob Skilnik (who put up an elaborate excerpt from his book right here).
What’s interesting about all of this, apart from the situation of Chicago in the world of beer, is that beer seems to connect to several social phenomena. I’ll need to read Skilnik’s books at one point, especially as he emphasizes the class struggle in the Prohibition movement, but I also think there’s a lot to say about what’s happening now.
For instance, Dolinsky’s extended piece here has a more elaborate comment Hopleaf’s Michael Roper about “artisan” beer in Belgium. Yes, all beer geeks know about this, but it’s interesting to see that these ideas are being brought to a larger audience. As opposed to wine, which tends to be known for its origins, beer is more rarely associated to specific regions or traditions. Well, then again, people probably think of Mexico as a beer producer because of Corona and Sol… 😉

At any rate, two interesting radio pieces about beer, now available online.