You may have noticed that I rant on the current state of humanity quite often. It’s easy for me to jump up on my soapbox about the decrepit state of our species. Today, though, I wont do that. Instead, I want to express a little personal gratitude for the advantages of Human Privilege.

As a human being, at the beginning of the 21st century, I experience an awful lot of that. Compared to my predecessors, even just a hundred years ago, my life is amazingly easy. There are mobile phones, electric ovens and refrigerators, indoor toilets ( ! ), and a million other conveniences. Most of my time, though, is spent in the White River National Forest, where there is no electricity, cable, wireless signal of any kind, and no toilet facilities.

On the surface, that sounds like a recipe for 19th century mountain man style living. I should be trapping animals for food, and saving their pelts to keep warm. I should be foraging for nuts and berries, like the local bears, but I’m not. I have Maggie, the Stew Wagon, a 1999 Ford Explorer (Eddie Bauer Edition, which does include leather seats, so there’s that). She’s equipped with two batteries, one of which provides power for a few rechargeable devices, along with an electric warmer for my luxurious memory foam mattress. What would those hardy pioneers of the 1800s have given to have things like these? One may only imagine.

Right now, I am specifically grateful for my globally sourced diet. Because of our unadulterated self-aggrandizement, we have built a network of trade, which can move food to and from locations all around the world.  As an example, my lunch today was tuna from Thailand, carrots from Texas, cabbage from California, in a salad topped with dressing from Hidden Valley Ranch. A bamboo bowl on my desk holds Mexican avocados, Guatemalan bananas, along with unlabeled apples and turnips. How many of those sojourners do you suppose ever tasted tuna, a banana, or an avocado? Yes I am exceptionally blessed.

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