Ripples In A Teacup

 Today is Juneteenth. Juneteenth marks June 19, 1865, when Union Army Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger rode into Galveston, Texas, and issued General Order No. 3, proclaiming that the enslaved African Americans there were free. "The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free," the order read. "This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor." Two months before Maj. Gen. Gordon Granger issued General Order No. 3, Confederate General Robert E. Lee had surrendered to the Union Army at Appomattox Court House, Virginia which marked the end of the Civil War. Two-and-a-half years earlier, President Abraham Lincoln had issued the Emancipation Proclamation, which expectedly didn’t have the desired effect in areas under Confederate control...

Recently I started reading about food shortages across the world, caused in no small part, by the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Apparently, after a few decades of plenty, we are staring at an impending global food shortage . Ever since I can remember, I’ve been told that I should never waste food. There are so many hungry, starving people in the world and they’ll be so glad to have the food that you are wasting, I’ve been told time and again.   I’ve always been a fussy eater who hated almost everything I was expected to eat, with the exception of chocolate. Maybe my gullet is smaller than normal (I’ve never measured it, mind you) or maybe I lack some enzyme on my tongue which causes food to taste good. I’ve also had to contend with the fact that many of my classmates and friends have restrictions placed on the amount of food they can eat. Every time I heard my parents’ dialogue about there being so many hungry, starving people in the world who’ll be so glad to have the food that I...