Lynn Rambles On

I was talking with my helper at the Market and she mentioned that in her country of origin, people of her religion were not allowed to work.  Not allowed to work.  My mind keeps coming to a full stop when I get to that phrase.  It’s tough to comprehend what that would be like.  Someone, some government, deciding not just what work would be available to me, but denying me the right to work altogether.

I’ve read of the holocaust and on an intellectual level realized the oppression the Nazis inflicted on the Jews.  I didn’t give thought to the idea that that type of oppression still exists.  I think somehow I thought those injustices ended with the second world war.

It’s not that I don’t know about the horrible regimes that exist in ‘foreign countries’, I just guess I assumed peaceful (not at war) countries were more enlightened. It disturbs me that I take for granted so much of the important freedoms I actually do enjoy and exercise every day.

Where did food regulation come from?  I was pondering that this morning, seeded by thinking about the ‘unlawfulness’ of raw milk in our neighbor state, Oregon.  Some of our current food laws, in the U.S., will probably coincide with industrial revolution and scientific breakthroughs.  What I was thinking is that as our culture moved away from its agricultural setting and we industrialized food production, and created more unsafe foods, then the rules started.  I’m thinking the influence of the rise of socialist philosophies in the 1920s and 1930s would also contribute to our creation of food laws.

Then it struck me that the Jewish cultural has had food rules as long as they’ve had a culture (probably).  I suppose many of the ancient societies have rules I don’t know about.  That would be interesting to learn more about.  It may be true food rules have a long history but are they currently in the consumer’s best interest or in the big, faceless corporation’s best interest?

I might explore that some more, but right now I’m reading about water issues.  Water management is a big deal that isn’t getting enough top-of-mind-awareness in our society.  But, that’s another post.