Have you ever asked someone to make you a sandwich?
What?? You have??!
You heartless monster! Do you have any idea how unbelievably difficult it is to make a sandwich? Do you have the slightest clue how much backbreaking labour goes into the construction of that bready concoction? Do you understand how incredibly expensive it is to assemble that portable meal?
No? Well, you’re about to! Sit back and marvel at the story of a man who actually made a sandwich!
And if making a sandwich sounds utterly mundane to you, then I feel sorry for you. You obviously fail to appreciate the absolute miracle of human community that is taking place around us each and every day—a miracle that makes everything of value in our lives possible.
Prepare yourself for the most important lesson you will ever learn: how to make a sandwich.
I, Sandwich
There’s a song, a higher wavelength, a thing of tremendous beauty with the concepts expressed here.
A faith in free people, the invisible hand.
…and some humor topping…
IMAGE
https://corbettreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/sandwichheaven.jpg
Related to this “I, Sandwich” article is…
James Corbett’s 5 minute VIDEO
Economics in One Image
https://corbettreport.com/economics-in-one-image/
Homie,
Again you have inspired a plethora of thoughts by pointing out some of James most conceptual art. That kinda stuff can burn down a whole town.
” ‘Thus, in describing or defining a work of art as conceptual it is important not to confuse what is referred to as “conceptual” with an artist’s “intention”.”‘
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conceptual_art
I’m breaking a sweat here. Thanks Tex.
All right, James, you finally made me read Read’s I, Pencil. I didn’t know many of the painstaking details of various processes pencil making involves. The matter of black nickel on the brass ferrule sounds like one of those rabbit holes one wakes up from on the early monday morning while being tossed around in the thoroughly spinned up hamster wheel.
Of course I could not complete this mighty feat without several side quests, like doing some vacuuming and constantly pulling back my eye, as it waders across feeds.
Regardless of what George said, I’m thoroughly convinced that sandwich tasted really, really good. I bet the cost of the whole shebang without his trip to Commifornia would be a lot friendlier. But, of course, many more things could be added to the subtotal.
Sunday morning coffee and a donut. Dianache matin Un cafe et un beignet.
Doncha just love the French.
Homie’s comment brought back memories of images from my past.
Rene Magritte. His famous painting ” The Treachery of Images”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Treachery_of_Images
Folding this French inspired idea into today’s newsletter is no easy feat.
You now must learn some French.
Ceci n’est pas un conte. This is not a story. So like economics of actual pencil/ chicken sandwich we see the world thru our sees and sometimes you must ask as James so cleverly does, can I believe my lying eyes? No-non-nada- neigh you can’t . What? Why?
Narrative, subtext, message.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narrative
This is not a chicken sandwich.
P.S.- Nice visual Brock West, who does it better than you?
Interesting.
Yes, that pencil post was great. I wrote an essay many years ago titled “Pineapples in Peoria” in the same vein. Also, I have a little poem writ last year or two about having an O-Pen, maybe I’ll publish it after all.
It’s beginning to feel , though,as if my journey is too visible, somehow. You keep coming up with one post after another that’s on topic of what my heavy head has been sorting through in the same period.
Such that, in this instance, I’m recently stuck having to eat sandwiches, or microwaved frozen stuff.
It doesn’t take long for sandwiches to lose their luster.
That’s where soup comes in. After days of sandwiches, even microwaved soup in a package is bliss. Campbell’s got it right, I see now why the “soup and sandwich” theme. Try it, you’ll understand.
And yet, James, rice is the most labor intensive grain crop that’s produced. Nothing else does for gut health what good brown rice does. It is considered “medicine for the intestines”, and just plainly is. And it’s so much simpler to produce one bowl of cooked rice than one sandwich, eh? How about raising that chicken from egg stage before killing and eating it? Putting all that good nourishment and care into producing a fine healthy creature to kill and eat. Don’t skip the “relationship” inherent with “all my relations”.
I recall the insane bliss experienced by those tourists in Thailand when they were finally able to secure themselves a sandwich. Watching them was nearly pornographic, their bliss was so orgasmic.
Now they’re too busy within their cell phone world to care what they’re eating.
I spent the day yesterday contemplating greed, deadly greed. Natalie Merchant was right…it is CAVERNOUS.
What? The man didn’t seed and grow and harvest and grind his own wheat? Hmmm.
I’m wondering, mid essay here, whether an anthropology lesson regarding cooperation vs. competition is included.
But that will have to wait until that laundry is hung. Cheers.
Sandwiches. How does Nexrad, Dopplar, Haarp and 5G and all their buddies impact on Sandwiches, I wonder? It’s the little things that matter. Not the microwave oven we live in. It’s the sandwiches.
They’ll get you in the moral gut every time. Such extravagance.
Nothing compared to what I’m reading in “Grunt” though. The military spares not when it comes to trying to figure out how to make a human “war proof”.
Yeah. Sandwiches.
Y’all have a lovely Moon-Saturn conjunction, and a lovely total lunar eclipse. Keep you sandwiches all together, don’t let them fall apart.
And remember…every little humble human is also “indeed a much more complicated and intricate item “, made up of lifetimes of ingredients.
I thought mayonnaise was made with olive oil? That’s were I’m going wrong.
Expensive mayo can be made with olive oil, yes.
only if its rancid
just stay away from the canola
mayonnaise is a promiscuous condiment, and can boogie with all kinds of lubricators, (recently christened “Transonaises”):
sunflower, safflower, and avocado , are some; as long as it’s not a dominator-of-flavors, as sesame oil would be. Sesame is the only oil that does not go rancid.
If you can find Olive Pomice oil, either mixed with just the oil, or by itself, this has long, long shelf life and does not go rancid nearly as much as refined olive oil does. I’ve found that in years past in BC, Canada, and Laos.
Go figure.
Fridays can find mayonnaise cruising the spicier sides of town, incorporating curry and chili highlights into the night.
And then there’s those underground excursions with garlic, horseradish, and other shady characters. I guess we could call those Mollonaises.
Then again, after stepping out into the blaze of the sun, and considering…..
What a friggin’ internet hero he’s made of himself with only 1500$$ US!
Stunning.
I could have taught this man all of this in about three minutes, but would have gladly given him an hour of explanation for that 1500 dollahs.
How many actual sandwiches could he have made and passed out to the unmentionable (because “it can’t happen here”) hungry for 1500 smackers?
Now there’s a statistic to take into account.
But that’s not important. Now he has in internet presence. Almost GOD-ly I see, from the following paragraph title.
Well, that’s nothing new, is it?
Someday, someone will calculate how much a human being costs a female person to make.
A good start can be had reading Richard Grossinger’s outrageous “Embryogenesis”.
Be sure to have your samwiches already made. It’s truly engrossing.
The book costs far less than 1500$US, though. Maybe not worthy of your attention.
openlens,
Welcome to the cafe’. Can I buy you another cup. You are making more sense than usual , I find that refreshing and like it 😀 a lot.
Well, thank you, and get it while you can.
The Moon will move on, and deliver me to another clueless realm.
Or not.
Meanwhile, rice cakes with peanut butter, cashew cheese, olives, and mango habanero hot sauce aren’t all that bad after all.
Once again I find that the most creative and yummiest foods come from the last six ingredients in the cupboards.
Whoa, this is sorting into quite a bungee ride. From embryogenesis to solar systems genesis in fifteen minutes.
Soon as I mention Grossinger’s book, which I read many years ago, this comes into my mail:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SU090gKPrjc
from Micheal Clarage @Thunderbolts Project: “The Gestation of Solar Systems”
“Faith in free people allows the creator be know how and productive patterns to respond automatically to the needs of humanity.”
That was kind of interesting…. I recall reading that the French Revolutionaries got rid of the parasitic aristocrats but then found that there were so many unemployed people that they decided to to kill the 1/3rd of the population who made their living as service folks.
I guess population reduction is one way to ‘simplify the planning’……eh…lol???
On the other hand the order that allows all those folks to trade is not exactly spontaneous- when the Romans kept order most people used mass produced pottery and after it became unsafe and difficult to travel as far they tended to use POS home made pottery from whatever local clay there was. You can trade luxury goods long distances but no one is going to risk shipping mayo if the sea is un-policed and swarms with saucy pirates.
As usual you are brilliant James! Except!! With your delusions of the pseudo Utopia of Anarchy! By the way thank you for this article. It is mostly brilliant. I love the videos and podcasts and articles and so on that you give to the world! They are so great! But unfortunately you still have some of that early adolescent rebelliousness in you against all authority. For one thing not all authority is bad like you anarchists seem to think it is. That is just, as I said, adolescent rebelliousness. But you are half right, obviously they should not be tyrannical! You always leave out good side of government and good things they do and only talk about the negative side and the tyrannies. And most of the time p e r i o d you’re talking about when you’re judging government was actually the Dark Age and shortly before and shortly after, so still having much of the Dark Age characteristics. So in the Dark Age most government is corrupt in tyrannical. But in the higher ages government is the opposite. It is wise compassionate protective and helpful! So yes, of course we don’t want tyrannical and corrupt government! What we need is what I just said above, wise compassionate protective and helpful government! Also people shouldn’t be blaming government for everything. A lot of problems and suffering are caused by Society, individuals and groups, and a lot of the negative things that governments do are simply reactions to the negativity and corruption of society and it’s individuals and groups! So scapegoating government and getting rid of government is not going to work because there will still be corruption and negativity in society. There will still be all kinds of problems and suffering caused by individuals and groups in society. A lot of the time governments decrease corruption and suffering in society, they don’t always make it worse. But if all you look at is the Dark Age you might think government is just inherently evil and do nothing but terrible and corrupt things and behave tyrannically. And that word statist has to go it’s a stupid label. I’m not a statist, I’m just somebody with the common sense to know that what I said above is completely true! But thank you for everything else James! Like I said at first, you give a lot to the world and I appreciate it.
First off, I wanna say for someone who disagrees with James on such a fundamental point you do so in an extremely respectful and courteous way so kudos for that.
I do disagree however with your analysis of government. Maybe thats how the founding fathers intended our gov here in the states to function however I would argue that most governments and specifically the US government has very very rarely acted in a “wise, compassionate, protective or helpful” manner as you state. We don’t need to analyze the government of the middle ages, we can simply look at the last 100 years to see this in action.
We know for instance that practically every war has been started under false pretenses utilizing flase flag events and propaganda and have not once been in the best interest of the actual people the government is supposed to represent (as demonstrated in this website many times). So consider the death and suffering resulting from all of these unnecessary wars.
We know that the government has undermined the health system forcing more and more unnecessary and unsafe ‘vaccines’ on healthy children while at the same time punishing doctors who question this practice or use alternative approaches.
The government has undermined the food system threw subsidizing conventional destructive farming practices, and increased regulations that make small decentralized companies unable to compete and favors the large centralized vertically integrated agribusiness conglomerates. This leads to cheap processing aka cheap junk food and also makes the entire system more fragile as theres less and less alternatives to the fewer and fewer monopolized mega companies/processors/farms ext.
We can talk about what a mess the public education system has become due to government intervention… The government has made it illegal for me to butcher a pig or milk a cow and sell that meat or milk to my neighbor regardless of how much healthier it is than anything from the store.
The examples go on and on but the overall picture is government is not good, never has been good and never will be good. Everything the government touches gets worse (except for the wealthy who it benifits) and I would argue thats actually by design.
Of course, you’re correct to point out, if we get rid of government we will still have corruption and negativity. I think what most volunteerist would argue is at least this corruption won’t be sponsored and funded using our own taxes and be forced on us with the threat of violence and incarceration.
All that being said, I do appreciate you supporting James C even while you disagree on this subject. It does show to me you are an upstanding person and i hope my disagreement to your comment does not come across as condescending/rude or otherwise. I do think its incredibly important that people are able to respectfully disagree and debate with each other and it seems less and less to work that way these days.
Take care
Among the kingdoms of men there has always been evil, as men are born into sin, therefore men must be subject to just laws and just enforcement of those laws to punish evil and to reward good. Men will always join together, beit to stave off evil or to deprive others of their life, liberty or property (or all of the above). When men unite, there is power in numbers and that power will always have a recognizable order. That order is the power that governs. Even in the freeest of societies there has always been government. Anarchy is a utopian fantasy which could never work, practically. But with power comes an allure to wield that power and power does corrupt and absolute power corrupts, absolutely. Kingdoms have risen and fallen over the past 5000-6000 years and there has always been a lust for total power over the earth, We are living in the days which were foretold and as we approach the time of great tribulation, there is an ever increasing anti-government sentiment as many are realizing that the powers that be are absolutely corrupted. We must look to outsiders,, such as Donald Trump to be our savior and our lord…lol jk. 😂
The only real hope that anyone can have, which will be realized is a hope in the Lord Jesus Christ, as he spoke of these days, which are the beginnings of sorrows, but this world shall arrive at the pinnacle of evil, in order for the evil to finally, once and for all, be judged. When he returns, he shall rule the nations with a rod of iron and the righteous shall flourish while the wicked shall wither and then the earth shall be at rest until it is no more. The end.
👍🙏
Well said.
Setatliberty,
I read an article some time back suggested by someone in the comment section or it may have been one of James’s links. The article’s claim was we can’t exist without Anarchy.
It was a bit of an eye opener.
Let’s break down the claim of the article with what you said here of Anarchy. Just for fun cause I agree with the rest of your statements fairly well.
1. “When men unite, there is power in numbers and that power will always have a recognizable order.”
Yes the PTSB exercise complete anarchy and maintain that power through mutual agreements. But not with the masses. As we will see in ..
2.”That order is the power that governs. Even in the freeest of societies there has always been government. ”
Yes , but it is yoked on the masses by the anarchists for power, profit and control. They,the PTSB have no laws,governments or rules outside their limited mutual agreements, that expire.
3.”Anarchy is a utopian fantasy which could never work, practically. But with power comes an allure to wield that power and power does corrupt and absolute power corrupts, absolutely. ”
Yes, in their demarcated Territories overlap and conflicts occur but the general peons who clash with other peon representatives are all equally yoked . From the most well off in the controlled governments to the GRUNT who has not a clue but to kill for his side will never know anarchy like the PTSB who control the governed.
There, see the place where anarchy exists and thrives perfectly well , but it’s not about to be shared . You said it about power corrupting however anarchy exists and is serving they, thems, those well.
Interesting. So the PTSB get to live the life we dream of (no government) by being corrupt ,violent criminals? I think I’ll stick with submitting to the authority of God. In the end I will have eternal freedom in paradise but they won’t .
pkadams,
True that, we are all in a category of some making. The ol’ saying from Animal Farm applies to anarchy and religion too. We are all equal but some are more equal than others.
So you could think we are all a religion of one
GBW, TPTB are bound by a much heavier yoke than you might think. All of those societies of secrecy are organizations that are in covenant with Satan and his angels and when the individuals enter into those eternal covenants, they become the possession of devils which force them to do things that they would not and the only expiration that takes place is of the carcass that they sold for eternal torments. The men and women that become the possession of those devils are tormented from the ceremonial invitation that they participate in, all throughout their earthly lives and beyond. This is why they do things that are just unfathomable to most people. Men are not in control. Devils are driving this beast. All things shall happen exactly as it is written. King James Version Bible (for English speaking folks)
Hopefully he got the eggs he needed for the mayonnaise before wringing the chicken’s neck.
🙂
As Marcel Duchamp is rumoured to have once said:”don’t try to improve the world; you’ll only make it worse”
I love love love this! God bless the farmers and the engineers and inventors and the traders and the teachers and the sailors and all the people who make it happens. When we moved to the country we learned just how hard it was to grow food, raise chickens, and DIY everything. Chicken raising is expensive ! True story. We’ve had many different chickens, but the current ones are the first ones we’ve had that 1) roost in trees and 2) don’t lay eggs! Stupid useless birds, only good for looking at. All the rest have died or got eaten by predators . We don’t have any layers left . But it’s just so hard to keep them alive that I don’t know if we’re going to get more. As for gardening, also expensive. It got better when we started saving rainwater but even that cost money to build the catchment system . As for sandwiches, I’ll gladly make you a sandwich James if you come visit . I’ll go to Walmart and get all the ingredients. 😁
PKadams
I am sorry your chickens are giving you grief- we have been very lucky with them which I put down to three things
1) I went to a lot of effort to make the coup safe- i bought a small hipster 2 chicken coup with nest box and built a (rather low rise…..) extension as a run for them. I laid pavers all around the thing (not much will dig so far to get in) and laid bricks atop that on which I put the wood frame.
Had I not done that the wood would have rotted out from touching soil and litter (even though I painted it) I lock them up every night when they come home, but most days they are out doing chicken stuff.
I also shingled the rubbish wood roof, which would have rotted out had I not done that.
2)We keep bantams, because they are meaner and smarter then most chickens. We kept them IN the coup when they were small so that they learned to put themselves away at night and now that we let them wander they always come home. We got an accidental rooster (the Rex) and bantams go broody quite often. The addition of a stray feral bantam did wonders for our flocks paranoia and sneakiness genes, and the moms pass on wise behaviors to their babies.
MOST of the time they lay eggs in the nest box they grew up in but we have had hens sneak off to hatch babies or lay in a bad area…. i generally make sure to hose such areas down so they are not nice to lay in while the clean hay in the box lures them back into compliance. 🙂
3)We have dogs, small weird dogs that look cute but like to kill possums and chase other predators away. One looks like a corgi skin covering a mini alsation skeleton. One day I will get his genes done to see what he is made of. Another looks like a fluffy puff ball toy dog but was a savage killer of rodents before she went blind…..their baby looks like a little coyote or something.
I had to give one dog a good beating while showing him the chicken that he killed and locked him up all day with the chicken outside his crate (waving it at him and berating him whenever I passed)and he was smart enough to stay away from them after that- though 3rd gen roosters onwards actually attack him if he gets near.
Actually we started with Buff Orpingtons, which are mostly actually sweet and affectionate but one hen was flat out evil and our dogs became nocturnal so as to keep their eyes. lol
One thing I have noticed is that chickens tend to homogenize their color patterns over generations, I have sometimes added a few chicks to a moms brood at night but bantams are racist and the color must be ROUGHLY right or they wont get adopted.
I will say that our chickens can almost feed themselves on a fenced in acre, though i do feed them they eat way less when out (I suspect they just eat more thru boredom when locked up)
Wishing you better luck with your flock! (I suck at gardening too so I’m just going to keep planting trees, but not fig trees because the damn dogs eat them
Thanks Duck! We’ve had some good years with chickens . We might get more . Here’s a video of my husband giving a tour of the chicken coop. It wasn’t as safe as we thought . Weasels got in ! https://youtu.be/rl9oFn4vxqQ?si=KVi-4O_lRfQ794QO
He’s a little chatty . 😁 there are some shorts on my channel too .
Happy chicken raising !
Paula
Nice looking set up…..you have more chickens then me.
I have my coup top covered so the hawks cant get them, but I wish I’d made it higher. I also use deep litter because it stops them stinking.
I cant imagine spending that much on food…. I guess big chickens just eat more. My Opringtons were sweet but I used to call them feather pigs because they were greedy. I probably spend LESS then 10 bucks a week, but right now I only have 9 bantams (will be less soon…. I’m the Bill Gates of the Chicken world)
Blue Skies and Green Pastures -PK Adams
Duck and PK Adams,
I thoroughly enjoyed ya’ll’s conversation (and the video).
There’s a lot of learnin’ here… …and in a way, it supplements “SolutionsWatch”.
I’m too chicken to chicken, but I am fascinated with the topic.
ECONOMICS
I really grasp what ya’ll are saying about the economics of endeavors.
Besides material costs, there are the hidden ledger costs of time, labor and energy investments.
I’ve scrapped many a garden endeavor, but on some, regardless of how underwater I am on investment, I still do it.
On those, I assign the labor portion of the ledger to the “entertainment cost” category or perhaps the “gym workout fee” column.
Just to comment on the surface level of the analogy (I sandwich, I pencil), the bottom line of that is that we live in an industrialised society, and as such, the vast majority of goods we interact with, with the exception of whole foods, are things that could not otherwise exist. The idea that we couldnt make the simplest thing without going to a whole lot of trouble goes without saying.
I’d like to know where you get a chicken sandwich for only $5 bucks.
Maxx, you can get one for three bucks if you go to the right shops in England 😋
“If you wish to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first Invent The Universe.”
Source:
“Carl Sagan – ‘A Glorious Dawn’ ft Stephen Hawking (Symphony of Science)”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSgiXGELjbc
“I, Pencil” and “I, Sandwich” describe the complexity of the modern real world that the technocrats *want* to destroy (“structured disintegration”). But after this Great Taking, then what? With corporate banksters owning 100% of everything – including licensable “rights” to fresh air – who has what financial incentive to participate in risky and complex supply chains of anything (pencils, sandwiches, hospitality, transport, etc)?
To paraphase the WEF, “They would own everything, except the means of production, and they reckon they’ll be happy.”
Smells like an own goal to me.
When I was a teenager I thought that if I only had the power I’d be able to set a whole lot of the worlds problems right, I still think together, we can set the world aright. As I grew older, and saw what was needed to make spaghetti, just the pasta never mind the sauce, all of which needed the input from thousands of people with varying talents and expertise. When I realised what it took to keep a city going, so there’s not sewerage running in the streets, so’s there’s lights where needed, all requiring the cooperation of thousands of people, I realised how amazing we are, these expressions that we are of the Energy that is All, how we can chose to create just about anything…on our heads be it, pencils and all.