After the post about Molly Ivins' piece on Camille Paglia, I ran across this post by Andrew Sullivan.
Sorry, but this old populist chestnut strikes me as lame. I don't even buy Cunning Realist's defense. Knowing the price of a supermarket item is not and will never be an important issue for a man or woman seeking to be president. If you're going to give them pop-quizzes, at least ask them about the differences between Shiites and Sunnis, the presidential candidates in France, or how they define torture. We're not asking them to be CEO of Safeway.
It seems to me that Sullivan, with his near-monomaniacal focus on Iraq, has missed one of the major points of the 2006 elections: our leaders had damned well better be aware of the price of groceries. The rising cost of living and stagnant wages are one of the most serious problems facing this country right now, with the insult added to injury of soaring corporate profits. "Commentators" such as Paglia and Sullivan continually prove themselves completely insulated from everyday reality -- it's no wonder they come across as navel-gazers. This is a world in which bread is $3 a loaf and climbing and you haven't had a raise in four years.
(The local Jewel has been forced to cut its milk prices because it was selling a gallon of milk for a dollar more than the local Walgreen's. Given that it's the same milk from the same dairy, you have to wonder what prices are based on. In the meanwhile, the local Latino grocery store [which had produce much better than Jewel, with a wider selection and significantly lower prices] has gone out of business. And, some of the commenters at Cunning Realist notwithstanding, you better believe I know how much a gallon of milk costs at different stores.)
Open your eyes, dammit.
3 comments:
This is a world in which bread is $3 a loaf and climbing and you haven't had a raise in four years.
*blinks*
I buy my bread for 69 cents a loaf, and it's been around that price for the past two years. Unless you do all your major grocery shopping at a 7-11, where are you getting that figure?
Robbie - Where are you getting bread for 69 cents? Seriously. Rye bread is 3.49 in Oakland this week at a major discount grocery chain. Do I need to move? I'm not asking for snarkiness, I am seriously curious. Thanks.
The bread that was 79 cents a loaf two years ago is now $1.29. Aside from that, the median price at the local Jewel is a little over $3 (ranging from about $2.69 to $3.69), until you get to the "gourmet" breads over in the deli, which are about $4.50 and up. Their bakery has "Italian" bread at about $2 a loaf.
The bread at the DelRay Farms that closed recently started at $1.89 -- this was the Spanish-language equivalent of Wonder Bread.
Where do you do your shopping?
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