OPEN FORUM: Of gas stoves, eggs and the Presidency

By DELMAR LEATHAM

The most powerful political office in the world is The President of the United States. The President controls armies, navies and the air force. He has the power to maintain or destroy world peace. The economies of hundreds of countries hang on every decision he makes.

No one man is equal to the task. He must rely on a herd of councilors and advisors to give him his opinion. The voice of the people is too hard to listen to.

The decision to eliminate gas stoves is an example of the use of presidential power. I feel safe already, although a bit distracted from the real problems facing our nation.

The federal government will pay a dear price if such a law were to be enacted. For example, what would they do with all the gas that is generated in Washington D.C.? Will they store it on site or bottle the toxic gas and ship it to Yucca Mountain? What if it were shipped by rail and the train crashed in a civilized area of the country? The politicians can tolerate the loss of educated voters living in the heartland of America. After all, those people didn’t vote for them anyway.

Perhaps there is a market for their flatulence in third world countries. In some countries manure is shoveled into plastic bags and sold to the poor people. The manure is allowed to ferment and produce natural gas. The bags are distributed to the citizens and are kept near their stoves. The gas is used to cook dinner. Maybe those countries bagging their manure are ahead of us and we are the third world country. The globalization of the worlds economy titters on the brink of disaster. There is an adequate supply of resources to meet the demands of people.

Let’s all have a healthy morning smoothie made with bananas. The bananas grow thousands of miles away and travel by handcart, rail, ship and truck to reach our local grocery store. We haul that fruit home in our car that was built using parts shipped from Mexico. The computer chips that make the car run come from China. The cotton for the seat covers comes from Egypt. It is made into thread in India and dyed with dyes that come from Africa. The multi-colored thread is shipped to England to be woven into cloth. The cloth is delivered to car seat manufacturers all over the world.

Should I be more concerned with the banana supply or the loss of my gas stove? I can learn to live without a banana, I really don’t like them very much. I can do without my stove and learn to live on raw vegetables.

It would be much easier to learn to go without the help of big government. Victory gardens and window box gardens seem to loom in our future. The best tomatoes are the ones grown in your own backyard. It is true that they are much cheaper to buy at the grocery store. Think of all the people who make a living selling you tomatoes. The four dollars you spent on those tomatoes gets divided up and goes into the pockets of workers all over the world.

Consider the egg. Does yours come from a chicken or the store? A break down in the supply chain and suddenly I’m having oatmeal for breakfast.

A wise homemaker taught me that I could store eggs in my freezer. You crack the egg into an ice cube tray and stick a pin into the yoke. If you need an egg, you can pop a frozen one out of the tray. She added, as a side note, that you could also get a chicken and store your eggs in the chicken.

We have become dependent on one another for the comforts of life that we all enjoy. Let’s be a little kinder to one another. You never know when you might need to borrow an egg from a neighbor or invite one of his chickens over for breakfast.