A Civil Society

The 2008 presidential election is history now, and Barack Obama is President-Elect. I still don’t quite believe it. I voted for him, but perhaps only because last week I heard a comment from some guy in Pennsylvania who said he wouldn’t vote the Obama-Biden ticket for racist reasons. How stupid is that? Think about it: most people are such schmucks that there are dozens of reasons to dislike them — why pick color??

So why did Obama win? One would hope because he’s intelligent and articulate, but some might say he had the better marketing team.  I can be quite the cynic when it comes to politics, but I did start thinking about something I learned earlier this year as I listened to some of the UC Berkeley history lectures. I heard the nation-state described as an entity with a “monopoly on legitimate violence.” Living in society necessarily involves coercion: you give up doing exactly as you please, and in return, you expect some benefits with respect to stability and order, maybe even panem et circenses.

Perhaps the majority of American citizens really did feel that their government had reneged on its obligations, and Obama convinced us that he was the person who would ratify the social contract we’ve all implicitly signed. All our presidents swear to defend the Constitution, which itself states that the people intend to “establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty.”

October Was Vegan Mofo

According to the North American Vegetarian Society, World Vegetarian Day is celebrated each year on October 1st; this year October was also declared Vegan Mofo, short for Vegan Month of Food. It’s not that I wasn’t mindful of these dates, but I don’t usually blog about food so you didn’t read about it here. Perhaps the Boston Vegetarian Society was a bit late to the table as well, insofar as yesterday, November 1st, was their Thirteenth Annual Vegetarian Food Festival, held at the Reggie Lewis Center at Roxbury Community College. I was in town for the show at the MFA, so I decided to drop by the Festival in the afternoon.

I took MBTA Commuter Rail from Union Station in Worcester to Back Bay. Traveling by train was easy and cheap, as the ride is about an hour and a half, door-to-door. In Worcester, I parked at the Station for $1.00, and my round-trip ticket cost $15.50. Once I arrived in Boston, I walked to my destinations. It seemed that they urban-renewed the South End with a vengeance some years ago (after I no longer lived nearby in the Fenway); I was so impressed by the changes that I took some photos of the skyline.

South End Skyline

Of course, some things never change: pigeons still roost on the traffic lights near Symphony Hall.

Symphony Hall

The day was windless and mild, and it took me only a few minutes to walk from Huntington Avenue over to 1350 Tremont Street. I knew I was in the right place when I saw the banner and then the crowds surging into the building.

Food Festival 1Food Festival 2

The more than 100 exhibitors were packed into one room on the first floor, and there were so many visitors that it was difficult to move. I managed to buy a chocolate cupcake and a bottle of water; I also sampled cookies from Whole Foods, a crispy rice bar from Trader Joe’s, and Fair Trade chocolate from Theo’s. The only other freebies I snagged were the latest issue of the magazine VegNews, a Nature’s Path granola bar, and a packet of cruelty-free hair conditioner from Aubrey Organics. The Society’s website provides extensive coverage of the Festival, and I can add my voice to the many positive reviews.

The one sour note to the day turned out to be my vegan shoes. I bought them a while ago but hadn’t worn them in months because I switched to my Propet walkers. These went into the wash on Friday, so I wore the Saucony sneakers yesterday. Well, my left heel blistered so badly that when I arrived home, I discovered that blood had soaked through my sock and stained the inside of the shoe. Before my train left, I had bought a box of band-aids at the CVS on Boylston Street, and that took care of the open wound, but how do I wash the blood out of the shoe? If you have any suggestions, please leave me a comment. Thanks!