Inspiration from the Food Network, of all places...

[TreasonousBastard]

I'm watching Alton Brown bike around the country looking for more good eats, and Guy Fieri hanging out in diners, wondering how many more travel shows about local grub they're gonna put on and it hits me.

This country isn't going down the tubes after all. It's still filled with people with dreams, like the young couple who bought the diner and had their "Oh, Shit!" moment when they realized they had no idea how to run one, but ended up running three. People who take pride in their pizza flipping or barbecue skills, people who do what they love to do and do it well. And, it's not just food, of course-- millions of Americans are just damn good at what they do.

And that, ultimately, is our power and our future no matter what games politicians play.

Accountants running the show and destroying value in the name of profit, Wal-Mart forcing manufacturing to China, massive consolidations... This is nothing new, but the Rail Trusts coulddn't stop the invention of the automobile. A bridge fell? A levee collapsed? Terrible, but as bad as the Johnstown Flood where no one ever was held accountable?

We're not in a Depression, we don't have blood running in our streets, and we will get through this just like we got through every rotten time in the past.

[lynnertic]

1. .

:hug:
insomniac hug

[Goat or Panic]

2. Amen friend

America is, was and will always be worth fighting for.

HGTV can inspire the same vibe sometimes..and it's a great example of the diversity of this great country.

[sandnsea]

3. In the turbulent sixties

There was also the space program, auto age, birth of computer age, music explosion, lots more. Yes people are engaged in their favorite idulgences all across the country and hopefully the mortgage crash won't hurt too many of them. All most people want is a clear path to make some money. That's all America has ever meant to lots of immigrants, freedom and means to earn a fair living. The Bill of Rights is an after-though for most folks, and I don't think a lot of politically active people understand that.

At the same time, I think we're in very dangerous territory as far as preserving this country as we've known it. We are moving towards a world dominated by a small handful of corporations and their CEO's. They will have to operate above governments in order to control the economic regulations needed to maintain their control of the markets. We are currently giving up our Constitutional rights, in twenty years this will be the 'new normal'. No personal rights because international situations don't warrant them and domestically we've been lulled into a false security with the cameras and the thumb prints and the DNA databases. Since this is a merging of money and power, I don't see how the people can win. Especially since most don't even see it coming.

[spoony]

4. k and r for a needed shred of optimism

Thanks for this post. I think all of DU needs a healthy dose of hope, from the Food Network or wherever!

I love Alton Brown's shows btw. Coolest TV science geek since Bill Nye.

(Edit: You have a very thoughtful blog, you should update more :) )

[meegbear]

5. You made my day!

Thank you for reminding me that *WE* are America! :patriot:

[youthere]

6. This happy thought deserves a fifth!

[wicket]

9. And a sixth!

:D

[Mabus]

12. Number Nine

K&R that is.

[proud2BlibKansan]

7. Glad you are so confident

I'm not.

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[TalkingDog]

8. I read a book, years ago, that did the same for me.

It was a book on the history of presidential scandals, starting with Washington. Unfortunately all I remember about the author is her first name: Barbara.

I'm not a big fan of history books (science is my thing), but I couldn't put this book down. Every presidency has had it's share of dirt. Some worse than others.

What it made me realize is: Through it all, through every "crisis" that seemed so dire, we made it. The ideals of this country pulled us through. It gave me immense hope then, as it does now, that we, as a nation, can survive just about any trial. We may not live to see the effects of this administration wiped away. But our children will. And that's what turly matters.

[On the Road]

11. This is What Gets Me About the Defeatism Here

It masquerades as wisdom, but it really quite naive and has no sense of history.

[Stinky The Clown]

10. Optimism ......

..... its a good thing.

Another R from the clown.

[supernova]

14. Make it 10 Recs

And I love Alton Brown too.

I think it's another good example of travel being uplifting. Even if you are traveling around your own country and don't need a passport.

Inspiration has been short for me too of late. Thanks TB. :hug:

[tomreedtoon]

15. Odd source for optimism.

A bunch of rich yuppies, followed by a two-camera crew and editing system, finding those "cute" little restaurants in the backwaters of America. I guess you must be a member of the elite to be able to enjoy such stuff.

In fact, I've tried to watch the Food Network. My Tivo managed to capture a couple of barbecue shows by accident. This bozo goes from place to place, with a $2000 grill bigger than most kitchens, making exotic food in pretty outdoor settings. What a pile of crap.

More to my liking was the sort of thing the Food Network would never cover, which I read about in Salon. An American barbecue chef was invited to Japan to cook against one of their native barbecue things. The host of the death-match barbecue showdown was astonished that the American made delicious food out of common ingredients - not rare fish or exotic creatures, but ordinary beef, chicken and pork.

Food Network exactly fits the kind of rich Republican lifestyle that nobody but a rich Republican can follow - a beautiful lifestyle based on expensive purchases to benefit corporate sponsors, a life based on consumerism. As I said, an odd path to hope for this nation.

[alcibiades_mystery]

16. Absolutely goddamn right

At the end of the day, The People develop techniques of escaping "Politics" with that Big P, the subject of so much useless yapping on these boards. The apathetic - the supposedly apathetic - come in for many beatings here among the political junkies, and the political junkies moralize in their political way. But it often strikes me that the apathetic are far more politically savvy than the so-called political junkies: they know that the spectacle of politics that we're given - Dems and GOPers, liberals and conservatives - is just that, spectacle, and a fairly stupid and uninteresting spectacle at that. Maybe the junkies are really the ones who are most hooked into a negative version of LIVING, while the politically apathetic are LIVING in the best way, or developing always a much more silent and politically productive sociality than the yammering "political" debates (and debaters) ever could. Fuck Politics, big P. We need more little p politics.

We'll face this new England, like we always have, in a fury of denial, we'll go out dancing on the tiles...

Political junkies think that is a bad thing: denial, dancing, endurance. It's not. It may be a better thing than so-called "rational debate," which really never existed in the first fucking place (with apologies to Habermas and Al Gore). The key point in the lyric is "like we always have...."

[DarkTirade]

17. The job that supported me through most of college

was a small, family owned business. Just a simple pizza place, I made a living tossing dough into the air and turning it into pizzas. (surprisingly enough, a skill that many people find to be very nifty.) Unfortunately the boss sold it to someone who didn't know what the hell he was doing, and he ran the business into the ground, forcing me to drop out of college for lack fo funds. :(
But up until then it was great.
Although on the bright side, since I was forced to take the first job I could find, I ended up working in a warehouse, losing 15 pounds, and getting free health insurance. Both of which I needed at the time. :)
Now that I don't need the insurance and I DO need more money, I'm looking for something else though.