For the record, the historical accuracy of this comic varies wildly from panel to panel, but suffice it to say the third diverges from eyewitness accounts solely in the dress of the characters. At the gala, I spent a fair percentage of my mental resources reflecting on the simultaneous truths of having a beer in hand, being thirsty, and being unable to resolve the latter condition by way of the former. It was Forrest’s sworn duty to relieve me of this temptation, and he was faithful in the execution of his task.
Another point on which I strove for accuracy was the quote from the second panel. Perhaps some context is in order: Forrest and I attended a small, privately organized TED conference the other night. For those of you unfamiliar, the skinny is that really insightful people go to a TED conference to distribute the fruits of their intellectual labor for the betterment of mankind. If you haven’t already, do yourself a favor and set aside an hour to visit the aforelinked website and take in a few of the lectures. You will learn something, and unlike the education you receive from most forms of popular media, that something will be important.
The talk referenced in the second panel was about many things, but what stuck was the speaker’s summary of the Slow Food Movement. The idea that a consumer’s most powerful mode of communication with the people who produce and distribute the goods they consume lies in their spending habits is not a new concept to me. I’ve always advocated against software piracy on this point, suggesting that if you like something enough to have it in your home, you really should encourage the creator(s) to make more by using your money as an incentive. But never had this concept been so concisely expressed as in the proposition of buying food constituting a democratic vote.
I have little to add to that brilliant clause. But for those of you who are wondering about the second tenant the speaker was alluding to, it was that eating is enjoyable. The experiential gulf between a freshly barbecued burger purchased from your local butcher and a Big Mac will widen immensely should you take a moment, close your eyes, and revel in that first, juicy bite. So much so, methinks, that the formerly steep economic differential between the two choices will become insignificant by comparison.
Ja.