The Sinclair Paradox

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” – Upton Sinclair

How should we relate to institutions like the American Beverage Institute and the Democratic National Committee?  My going answer right now is to be critical.  Always critique.  The groups from the ABA to the DNC are aligned with the tide: of course while reinforcing the tide and serving as the creators of the tide themselves.  You can consciously accept this tide – the force of history or whatever you want to call it – which invites all the contradictions and schizophrenia that I described in my last post.  Acceptance gets you 1) a fatter pay check, 2) a split psyche, and 3) a certificate honoring your contribution to the advancement of a shitty state of affairs.  (Could this simply be any college diploma? lol.)

The other reactions are passive acceptance and the critical approach (yeah!).  Boo for passive acceptance which equals ignorance.  No thanks.  The critical approach is the way to go.  There is some nuance to my so-called critical approach.  Just as there is active and passive acceptance of the “official” state of affairs, so too is there active and passive critical approaches to dealing with this state of affairs.

See where I’m going with this?  And this invites discernment.  If there are narratives offered that critique the state of affairs and provide a plan of action – how do you decide if you should follow whichever plan of action?

If you feel the need to combat the actions of the ABA, do you go and picket their board meetings, infiltrate bottling plants in order to set alight the sinister wells that tap into hell, the toxic high fructose slurries meeting their conflagratory ending outside of the human body?  No you don’t.  The correct thing to do is be aware of agendas, be aware of the relationship between the human body and the profit-motive, be aware of alternative – perhaps more traditional – pathways to a healthy diet.  This may mean simply having knowledge of nutrition yourself.  Or it may mean writing about it, sharing what you know (and thing: me, me, me!), even making documentaries.

How you deal with these issues involves sane and healthy choices just as dealing with the substances manufactured by such corporations requires making sane and healthy choices.  And goddamit, if everyone made sane and healthy choices then these corporations and committees would be smaller and wield less power.  This is not our world though.  Not our human nature.  Alas and onward.