Ok. About the egg thing. I'd like to clarify. I went to my local grocery store which nearly everyone I know says "is high" in regards to prices. Yes, you CAN find $7-8 eggs. BUT, these are the organic, free-range, brown eggs. Right below them are cartons of jumbo white eggs, advertised as WIC-eligible, for HALF that price. So yes, it is true that eggs are $8 a dozen. But it is also true that there are cheaper eggs to be found. Now I have not gone to any of the discount stores in my area, such as Aldi's, Save-A-Lot, or Walmart, to check on egg prices but I suspect very strongly that I would find eggs in the $4 range there as well. So I do not think the whole story is being told here. It all depends on what you are looking for and what you are willing to pay. I also live in an area where there are lots of local farmers and none of them I know are charging $8 for a dozen eggs. That doesn't mean that people should be concerned about food prices--they should. But is the situation really as bad as a lot of people paint it as being?
Oh, I used eggs because it is relatable. Most of us buy eggs. In Idaho we have friends with chickens who stopped laying. They switched from commercial chicken feed to goat feed and started getting eggs. I see the disparity in brown, organic eggs vs. white eggs at Wal Mart. Way cheaper. There was a time when lettuce was absent from the shelves, why I don't know. We went to Ft. Lauderdale and a man who lives there told us that there are NO farm animals allowed anywhere in Broward or Miami-Dade counties. He had 3 nice little backyard layers and the county came and took them after a neighbor looked over his 8 foot fence and "told" on him. Unbelievable....and off topic, but I had to throw that in there.
We don’t need to buy eggs because we have a flock of chickens, but our neighbors were complaining about the price increases a little prior to it becoming mainstream news, so I’ve been checking prices each time I go to the store.
Currently, in The Woodlands area (suburb about 40 min north of Houston) the price of high quality, free-range eggs is at around $6. The price of typical industrial farm eggs is about $3. This is per dozen. That’s quite a bit higher -- like two times higher than the price right when we began raising chickens -- approximately 2.5 years ago.
So, I think prices vary widely by region and state. Of course, the media will always stick to the most hyperbolic version of a story by choosing the very highest prices on which ti base their breathless reports.
It's not only the media. I'm just a simple low-income retiree who lives in a mobile home park, and I have noticed some things. Namely, the default assumption among people who are fairly comfortable in their lives, who have the luxury of being environmentally/socially conscious (meaning they are not struggling paycheck to paycheck at low-wage dead-end jobs), is that everyone lives that way. These are the people who complain about $8 organic free-range eggs while ignoring the cheaper, nonorganic alternative. Because they can. They don't even have to think about it. These are the people who advocate things like EV's and solar/wind farms (but not in their backyards!) but want to phase out fossil-fuel generated electricity (nuclear is pretty much dead); they want to phase out your gas stove and gas furnace and gas water heater because to them it is no big deal to replace them. Who think that providing taxpayer-supplied subsidies to low-income homeowners to do said retrofits is the solution, never mind that many people rent--and if you are in a mobile home park you really are at the mercy of the often absentee and unknown park owners who can and do raise rents to unreasonable rates because they know they've got people by the short hairs--parks that can close without any notice. These are the people who buy fancy new homes in fancy new subdivisions, thus reducing the amount of available farmland--it never crosses their mind because it doesn't have to that maybe they have other options, like living in an apartment complex or a trailer park. Who were able to work from home during the lockdown and didn't lose any income. I could go on but you get the picture.
Yes! Shopping at Winn-Dixie is ridiculous compared to Wal Mart. I haven't been to Aldi, but the suffering of everyone is real. What happened to clean burning natural gas? They are making it bad and changing their message. I see all the big subdivisions going in and it is so gross. People are out of touch with who the real people are and what we need to get by. Our dollars are becoming worth less and less, but we keep trying. Yes, taxpayer subsidies to help Americans! Not "Ukraine". And....I hate the thought of good people beholden to the whims of absent landlords who don't care. And now, those landlords are turning into corporate entities that have no soul as well. Best to you.♥
"They are making it (natural gas) bad and changing their message." Exactly. Just like with all the Covid nonsense.
I had a conversation recently with a sincere, well-intentioned but uninformed person on this issue. At first she denied that there is a movement to deny people the use of gas stoves. I believe the word she used was "bovine excrement" (to keep it clean). Then she said well they are not going to take your stove, no, you just won't be able to replace it. I mentioned the many places that have outlawed such stoves. And how the climate change/anti-fossil fuel movement hurts the very people she claims to care about. I said, 300 years ago the world ran purely on renewables--how did people live then? Badly, she admitted. Ok, now, the ugly little secret behind all this is that we simply cannot run 21st century America purely on renewably-generated electricity without a massive reduction in lifestyle and population. It will not work. We cannot turn back the clock energy-wise and expect to live the way we do now. Then I mentioned all the housing developments springing up (and by the way, she lives in one). I said if you are really concerned about the environment, then why not advocate for laws outlawing single-family housing? It is far more energy efficient to put 100 families in a giant apartment building than to plow up farmland to house each of those families individually. So just ban new single-family housing developments. She said, "But that's what Soviet Russia did!" I said, now you are getting the picture here. To many people all these things you propose are much like that, moreover it smacks a lot of "let them eat cake." Can't afford your gas vehicle? Just buy an EV! I think that I gave her a lot of things to think about, because I could tell from her reactions she was pondering what I was saying and lightbulbs were going off in her head.
I definitely get the picture TAM and understand that ANY price hike can be devastating for people. When all this mess (the rampant inflation) had only just begun, it took awhile for it to get to our area. But I began to text my husband from the store noting that distilled water went up 5 cents a gallon. The store brand butter we buy went up 10 cents, etc. People blow this off as if it’s nothing, but it truly ALL adds up.
That same off-brand butter? It’s now about $1.25 over what we used to pay a short time ago. The distilled water (store brand) was 88 cents at the beginning. Now it’s $1.38. And that’s not even mentioning the other things we buy. Our monthly bill has tripled and I do NOT get all that I need, often. We’re not talking “all that I want,” I’m talking all that I need.
I know I’m extremely fortunate in that I can usually get many of my “wants” at least part of the time. But it makes me very concerned about those who can’t get their basic needs met.
Yes, we don't hear much about those who can't get their basic needs met. They aren't the ones who take part in leisure time activities. They are too busy and too worn out trying to make ends meet. They are invisible and voiceless. And they are often viewed with contempt by those who have more.
I have had the experience of hearing the residents of a mobile home park that was much like the one I moved out of described as trailer trash. This was in a large, progressive church which prided itself on social justice issues. The speaker assumed that no one in his audience was a mobile home park resident and so felt free to use the term without fear of anyone protesting. And he was right, no one said anything even though there were people there who knew I lived in a mobile home park. You see, that's ok. Misgendering someone, using the wrong pronouns, using the wrong group name, that's not. We don't do that here. When I pointed this out, it was "But he didn't mean YOU." Well if he didn't, who did he mean? See, he didn't interact with the residents of the park he was disparaging, and neither did anyone else there. They only treated me politely and as more or less an equal because I was right there in front of them. I didn't fit the stereotype. But had I not gone to that church not one of them would have ever gotten to know me.
This is another reason why you don't often see people crossing class and income lines. They don't feel welcome. They feel awkward and excluded. If people are talking about going to the latest restaurant, and your only hot meal of the week is the free luncheon at the senior center, it can be rather embarrassing. "I/We can't afford it" is not something others want to hear or accept. I've actually had people argue with me, like they don't believe me, that I am just being cheap or stingy, that I could really do certain things if I tried. And I am better off than a lot of people, I am the first to admit it. I don't have to rely on the food pantry--at least not yet. But I have friends who do.
I am not saying that those who are better off should sell all they have and give to those who do not although I recall a certain religious leader who many believe is God Himself saying just that. But I think we, especially those who are in a position to make policy, need to look at the whole picture and come up with solutions that help everyone not just those in their own little bubble. Because that is where revolutions start, and they don't look pretty. I once heard another speaker at this liberal church talk about the 1%. I went up to him afterwards and said, "It is not the 1% that you need to be concerned about. The 1% can take care of themselves. No, it is people like YOU who need to worry, and the people you need to worry about are people like myself. If it comes down to torches and pitchforks, it will be YOUR neighborhood that people from my neighborhood will be marching on." He said, what do you mean, and I explained it to him. That from my perspective people like him are the privileged ones--they have cushy careers, live in homes others admire and drive cars that are widely acknowledged to be luxury models. And they take this all for granted and assume everyone else--at least everyone else that matters--lives like they do. That is what drives the resentment of the poor towards those who are better off. And there is no shortage of folks with an agenda of their own who delight in stirring up that resentment.
Sadie, this is beautiful and I’m SO glad you posted it! I love those times where an essay takes you to its own end, giving you no say in the matter. That’s the Holy Ghost!
Also, this made me laugh: “Most, if not all politicians are eunuchs and people wonder why they never produce results? Um…check their pants. Or under their skirts (size XL Man size).”
Commenting here as the true buzz kill that I am, I think we ain't seen nuthin' yet. The conditions that could very well happen here will be Biblical. And most people will have no idea what or how...
IMO, the worst of our circumstances have been brought to us by government -- our local and state subsidiaries of the world's largest and deadliest crime syndicate -- the feds. Yet people, for some reason, keep praying at that altar.
It is what it is...and really, that is why we need to pray and get right with God and stop being such pussies. I have no hope for Him healing this land, but I think when God talks of healing our land, it means people, not the government and the actual infrastructure. I too, believe we are doomed. But we also know how to have peace while there is chaos all around. What is going to happen is going to be of Biblical proportions, absolutely! And...people are inconvenienced by prices. That is my point. Stop seeing what they want you to focus on and see the greater picture. Sigh.♥
Good post. The only good thing about these politicians is their impotence. They will go down in whatever history we have left as eunuchs.
You are correct and it’s a shame.
Ok. About the egg thing. I'd like to clarify. I went to my local grocery store which nearly everyone I know says "is high" in regards to prices. Yes, you CAN find $7-8 eggs. BUT, these are the organic, free-range, brown eggs. Right below them are cartons of jumbo white eggs, advertised as WIC-eligible, for HALF that price. So yes, it is true that eggs are $8 a dozen. But it is also true that there are cheaper eggs to be found. Now I have not gone to any of the discount stores in my area, such as Aldi's, Save-A-Lot, or Walmart, to check on egg prices but I suspect very strongly that I would find eggs in the $4 range there as well. So I do not think the whole story is being told here. It all depends on what you are looking for and what you are willing to pay. I also live in an area where there are lots of local farmers and none of them I know are charging $8 for a dozen eggs. That doesn't mean that people should be concerned about food prices--they should. But is the situation really as bad as a lot of people paint it as being?
Oh, I used eggs because it is relatable. Most of us buy eggs. In Idaho we have friends with chickens who stopped laying. They switched from commercial chicken feed to goat feed and started getting eggs. I see the disparity in brown, organic eggs vs. white eggs at Wal Mart. Way cheaper. There was a time when lettuce was absent from the shelves, why I don't know. We went to Ft. Lauderdale and a man who lives there told us that there are NO farm animals allowed anywhere in Broward or Miami-Dade counties. He had 3 nice little backyard layers and the county came and took them after a neighbor looked over his 8 foot fence and "told" on him. Unbelievable....and off topic, but I had to throw that in there.
We don’t need to buy eggs because we have a flock of chickens, but our neighbors were complaining about the price increases a little prior to it becoming mainstream news, so I’ve been checking prices each time I go to the store.
Currently, in The Woodlands area (suburb about 40 min north of Houston) the price of high quality, free-range eggs is at around $6. The price of typical industrial farm eggs is about $3. This is per dozen. That’s quite a bit higher -- like two times higher than the price right when we began raising chickens -- approximately 2.5 years ago.
So, I think prices vary widely by region and state. Of course, the media will always stick to the most hyperbolic version of a story by choosing the very highest prices on which ti base their breathless reports.
It's not only the media. I'm just a simple low-income retiree who lives in a mobile home park, and I have noticed some things. Namely, the default assumption among people who are fairly comfortable in their lives, who have the luxury of being environmentally/socially conscious (meaning they are not struggling paycheck to paycheck at low-wage dead-end jobs), is that everyone lives that way. These are the people who complain about $8 organic free-range eggs while ignoring the cheaper, nonorganic alternative. Because they can. They don't even have to think about it. These are the people who advocate things like EV's and solar/wind farms (but not in their backyards!) but want to phase out fossil-fuel generated electricity (nuclear is pretty much dead); they want to phase out your gas stove and gas furnace and gas water heater because to them it is no big deal to replace them. Who think that providing taxpayer-supplied subsidies to low-income homeowners to do said retrofits is the solution, never mind that many people rent--and if you are in a mobile home park you really are at the mercy of the often absentee and unknown park owners who can and do raise rents to unreasonable rates because they know they've got people by the short hairs--parks that can close without any notice. These are the people who buy fancy new homes in fancy new subdivisions, thus reducing the amount of available farmland--it never crosses their mind because it doesn't have to that maybe they have other options, like living in an apartment complex or a trailer park. Who were able to work from home during the lockdown and didn't lose any income. I could go on but you get the picture.
Yes! Shopping at Winn-Dixie is ridiculous compared to Wal Mart. I haven't been to Aldi, but the suffering of everyone is real. What happened to clean burning natural gas? They are making it bad and changing their message. I see all the big subdivisions going in and it is so gross. People are out of touch with who the real people are and what we need to get by. Our dollars are becoming worth less and less, but we keep trying. Yes, taxpayer subsidies to help Americans! Not "Ukraine". And....I hate the thought of good people beholden to the whims of absent landlords who don't care. And now, those landlords are turning into corporate entities that have no soul as well. Best to you.♥
"They are making it (natural gas) bad and changing their message." Exactly. Just like with all the Covid nonsense.
I had a conversation recently with a sincere, well-intentioned but uninformed person on this issue. At first she denied that there is a movement to deny people the use of gas stoves. I believe the word she used was "bovine excrement" (to keep it clean). Then she said well they are not going to take your stove, no, you just won't be able to replace it. I mentioned the many places that have outlawed such stoves. And how the climate change/anti-fossil fuel movement hurts the very people she claims to care about. I said, 300 years ago the world ran purely on renewables--how did people live then? Badly, she admitted. Ok, now, the ugly little secret behind all this is that we simply cannot run 21st century America purely on renewably-generated electricity without a massive reduction in lifestyle and population. It will not work. We cannot turn back the clock energy-wise and expect to live the way we do now. Then I mentioned all the housing developments springing up (and by the way, she lives in one). I said if you are really concerned about the environment, then why not advocate for laws outlawing single-family housing? It is far more energy efficient to put 100 families in a giant apartment building than to plow up farmland to house each of those families individually. So just ban new single-family housing developments. She said, "But that's what Soviet Russia did!" I said, now you are getting the picture here. To many people all these things you propose are much like that, moreover it smacks a lot of "let them eat cake." Can't afford your gas vehicle? Just buy an EV! I think that I gave her a lot of things to think about, because I could tell from her reactions she was pondering what I was saying and lightbulbs were going off in her head.
I hope that you are right!! I just do not understand how people don't see what is right in front of them. Cushy cushy life. Until it isn't.
I definitely get the picture TAM and understand that ANY price hike can be devastating for people. When all this mess (the rampant inflation) had only just begun, it took awhile for it to get to our area. But I began to text my husband from the store noting that distilled water went up 5 cents a gallon. The store brand butter we buy went up 10 cents, etc. People blow this off as if it’s nothing, but it truly ALL adds up.
That same off-brand butter? It’s now about $1.25 over what we used to pay a short time ago. The distilled water (store brand) was 88 cents at the beginning. Now it’s $1.38. And that’s not even mentioning the other things we buy. Our monthly bill has tripled and I do NOT get all that I need, often. We’re not talking “all that I want,” I’m talking all that I need.
I know I’m extremely fortunate in that I can usually get many of my “wants” at least part of the time. But it makes me very concerned about those who can’t get their basic needs met.
Yes, we don't hear much about those who can't get their basic needs met. They aren't the ones who take part in leisure time activities. They are too busy and too worn out trying to make ends meet. They are invisible and voiceless. And they are often viewed with contempt by those who have more.
I have had the experience of hearing the residents of a mobile home park that was much like the one I moved out of described as trailer trash. This was in a large, progressive church which prided itself on social justice issues. The speaker assumed that no one in his audience was a mobile home park resident and so felt free to use the term without fear of anyone protesting. And he was right, no one said anything even though there were people there who knew I lived in a mobile home park. You see, that's ok. Misgendering someone, using the wrong pronouns, using the wrong group name, that's not. We don't do that here. When I pointed this out, it was "But he didn't mean YOU." Well if he didn't, who did he mean? See, he didn't interact with the residents of the park he was disparaging, and neither did anyone else there. They only treated me politely and as more or less an equal because I was right there in front of them. I didn't fit the stereotype. But had I not gone to that church not one of them would have ever gotten to know me.
This is another reason why you don't often see people crossing class and income lines. They don't feel welcome. They feel awkward and excluded. If people are talking about going to the latest restaurant, and your only hot meal of the week is the free luncheon at the senior center, it can be rather embarrassing. "I/We can't afford it" is not something others want to hear or accept. I've actually had people argue with me, like they don't believe me, that I am just being cheap or stingy, that I could really do certain things if I tried. And I am better off than a lot of people, I am the first to admit it. I don't have to rely on the food pantry--at least not yet. But I have friends who do.
I am not saying that those who are better off should sell all they have and give to those who do not although I recall a certain religious leader who many believe is God Himself saying just that. But I think we, especially those who are in a position to make policy, need to look at the whole picture and come up with solutions that help everyone not just those in their own little bubble. Because that is where revolutions start, and they don't look pretty. I once heard another speaker at this liberal church talk about the 1%. I went up to him afterwards and said, "It is not the 1% that you need to be concerned about. The 1% can take care of themselves. No, it is people like YOU who need to worry, and the people you need to worry about are people like myself. If it comes down to torches and pitchforks, it will be YOUR neighborhood that people from my neighborhood will be marching on." He said, what do you mean, and I explained it to him. That from my perspective people like him are the privileged ones--they have cushy careers, live in homes others admire and drive cars that are widely acknowledged to be luxury models. And they take this all for granted and assume everyone else--at least everyone else that matters--lives like they do. That is what drives the resentment of the poor towards those who are better off. And there is no shortage of folks with an agenda of their own who delight in stirring up that resentment.
Sadie, this is beautiful and I’m SO glad you posted it! I love those times where an essay takes you to its own end, giving you no say in the matter. That’s the Holy Ghost!
Also, this made me laugh: “Most, if not all politicians are eunuchs and people wonder why they never produce results? Um…check their pants. Or under their skirts (size XL Man size).”
Thanks for the words! Appreciate that.♥
Commenting here as the true buzz kill that I am, I think we ain't seen nuthin' yet. The conditions that could very well happen here will be Biblical. And most people will have no idea what or how...
IMO, the worst of our circumstances have been brought to us by government -- our local and state subsidiaries of the world's largest and deadliest crime syndicate -- the feds. Yet people, for some reason, keep praying at that altar.
As if.
It is what it is...and really, that is why we need to pray and get right with God and stop being such pussies. I have no hope for Him healing this land, but I think when God talks of healing our land, it means people, not the government and the actual infrastructure. I too, believe we are doomed. But we also know how to have peace while there is chaos all around. What is going to happen is going to be of Biblical proportions, absolutely! And...people are inconvenienced by prices. That is my point. Stop seeing what they want you to focus on and see the greater picture. Sigh.♥