ndrosen

I should give thanks to whatever gods there may be that I am well-fed and comfortable, and that the power plants which provide my electricity have not been damaged by missiles fired by the orcs. In an attempt to improve the situation of others, or at least keep it from worsening, I made a donation to the defense of Ukraine a few hours ago. I will also give thanks that whatever is to come, Dishonest Donald and his MAGAts have not yet ended constitutional government in America.

My main course tonight will be reheated Moroccan chickpea tagine. I have made a batch of chocolate pudding, and plan to make cranberry relish, as well as a salad.

Since I don’t have to work today, I have started reading Perilous Bounty, by Tom Philpott, which the No Strings Attached Book Club will discuss in about three more weeks. I haven’t gotten very far, but what I’ve read so far is interesting. The author talks about California producing a large share of the country’s vegetables, and the Midwest producing corn and soybeans, largely used to feed meat animals; the peril associated with this bounty is environmental degradation, with the former prairie gradually losing its rich topsoil, and the farms of the Central Valley draining the acquifer, and using up most of the snowmelt from the Sierra Nevada. Philpott writes about California’s “first in use, first in right” water rights law, which has encouraged people to start using streams or underground water sources at once, and then keep using the water themselves, even if there are better uses for it, e.g., better than growing cotton and alfalfa in a desert.

My late friend Professor Mason Gaffney, who was a Georgist and a professional economist, had things to say about this. My long-time readers will be unsurprised that there is a Georgist angle to this, and also not surprised that Georgists regard naturally available water as a form of land, and therefore something to which all people have an equal right.

As a vegetarian, I am not going to eat a traditional Thanksgiving feast, which is not what the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag ate, anyway, but I do plan on some cranberry-orange relish with my split pea and sweet potato curry.

Beyond that, if there is a God, I thank Him for what is good, though I still have questions about all the suffering and evil in the world; I hope that He will forgive my many sins, and consider me on His side. I echo Abraham Lincoln, who, asked whether he thought that God was on his side, answered, “No, but I dare to hope that I am on His.” If there is no God, then I will still, in my very imperfect way, try to do what is right.

I slept in this morning, and so I will soon feast upon a late Thanksgiving dinner of black bean chili with guacamole, salad, a few last ginger snaps left in the bag, and a pair of cashew butter cups (left over from Halloween, when not very many trick-or-treaters came). Perhaps the beans, and definitely the tomatoes, acorn squash, peppers, and maize in the entree are from the New World, as are avocados and chocolate.

In a nod to tradition, I made cranberry-orange relish a couple of evenings ago, and ate some of it for lunch, in lieu of another fruit. I’m planning on making pumpkin pie soon, maybe next week.

And speaking of giving thanks, I thank whatever gods there may be that, flawed as our judiciary may be, it is at least functioning, independent, and endeavoring to provide equal justice under law whether the federal judges in question are Republican or Democratic appointees.