John Galt, Howard Beale & Me

In novelist/philosopher Ayn Rand’s 1957 magnum opus ‘Atlas Shrugged’, the theme of the epic describes a collapse of society from state intervention run amok. The story ends with the heroic character John Galt creating an alternative economic society out of the ashes, with reason & responsibility as cornerstones.

I was reminded of this great book when faced with the latest blurbs from the media outlets describing the cryptic quotes & faux-analysis from the FDA and, to a certain extent, the CDC.

It’s tomatoes…maybe. Or now it could be salsa, guacamole, cilantro or wash water. Here, or there. Or both places. Or neither. But tomatoes aren’t off the hook yet, according to David Acheson of the FDA. And, incredibly, he states that ”It would be irresponsible of us at this point to say where we are expanding the testing.”

Irresponsible?! For once, Acheson has made an accurate statement. That’s their expertise, you know---the FDA takes no responsibility for its actions, knowing full well that they can throw a morsel to the media blowhole, chiefly the broadcast media because nobody reads anymore, anyway. And the public takes the sanitized fodder on Good Morning America as gospel, steering clear of anything they seem to hear on TV that might make them sick. It’s the 1976 film ‘Network’ come to life.

‘It’s not our fault, we’re not to blame, we’re underfunded’, the FDA cries. Yet there were stories from last year of the FDA doling out more than $8 million in bonuses to workers so they won’t defect to pharmaceutical & other regulated industries. That’s bound to be under intense scrutiny now.

And Consumers Union isn’t helping the situation by saying “If FedEX can keep track of all its packages moving around the country, the produce industry should be able to do the same.” That’s a bad analogy at best, with a chaser of abject ignorance of the situation at hand.

It was Saturday night, June 7, when I received word that Subway was conducting an emergency meeting to pull tomatoes from their sandwiches. That’s when I knew the jig was up, and now it’s Day 25 of the tomato industry held hostage. This has completely crushed the South Carolina, Arkansas and California F.O.B. tomato markets to date, and has left really smart people in the tomato business at a loss for words. I didn’t think that was possible.

Later,

Jay