It is no measure of health

'It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society.'

- Jiddu Krishnamurti

I was in the local coffee shop today and a friend of mine was talking about an experience he had with some Amish children.  He found it interesting that the Amish children would sit for long periods of time without talking or anything; he said they would simply sit and watch while the other children ran around acting "crazy" as he called it.  Those of us who are not Amish all know what he meant by crazy.  I remarked that they sit like that because they have attention spans.  Where they come from there is no materialism, no television, no "new thing to do every five seconds."  Those children have patience.  Someone else remarked that they are also disciplined; a.k.a. by the hand.  Yet, I have known Amish who did not spank their children and their children still had this ability to sit calmly and watch.

Jump.

I take my personal health somewhat serious.  I say somewhat because I still cheat from time to time.  I still eat things I shouldn't eat.  I still drink alcohol.  I love fermented grapes and beer equally.  So I can technically only say; somewhat.  But I am not lacking in dietary and nutritional information.  In this regard my knowledge is not in the somewhat range.  I stay well informed about the poisons and chemicals that are put into foods and then sold to us at the store.  I can grow my own food, cook my own food, and store my own food.  I stay current on dietary and nutritional information.  It is part of my personality you could say that I am almost obsessive about what I put in my body.  I also know that it is common sense when I say we should eat healthy foods that we grow ourselves; it's a no brainer.  I am only saying this about myself because I hope to show a contrast.

So anyways, I am sitting in my psychology class today and the professor is basically reading out of the text book to us.  This is exactly what happens every time I go to this class.  It is mundane and ignorant.  It is an extremely boring class which tests my principles to the fullest.  Despite all my angst and bitterness I do the best I can.  I am only attending this class for the very reason that you are reading this right now.  I want to witness firsthand the sheepling of American children.  I am doing this so that when I stand to criticize the supposed higher educational system of Missouri, of our nation, I am not just "reading it out of a book" as some like to say.  It is a firsthand account. 

The professor is talking about toddlers’ biological self defense mechanisms regarding starvation, the effects of starvation on children, and how 25% of the world's children live with starvation.  When she finished one of the students raises her hand to ask a question.  This student is always sitting up one row and over one to the right of me.  She is Samoan I believe, she is always snacking during class.  Today it was some kind of granola bar, Special K, Fiber One maybe.  Yesterday it was animal cookies.  This class is at twelve so I assume she is getting in her lunch during class. 

This student wants to know what the professor thinks such and such should do for such and such a deficiency; she wants to know because she works in the ER.  The professor says to, "eat lots of fruits,” and then mentions juice as a source of fruit.  She even made sure to mention to the class that things like Tang do not count as juice.  I cannot resist.  I raise my hand.  I cannot allow for false information to be so casually dispersed right in front of me and I not counter it.  It is simply more than I can bear.  This is an area, after all, that I can be confident that I know what I am talking about.  It is not like some philosophical debate in which there is no right answer.  She calls on me, I shyly say, "but even the juices that say they are not from concentrate and are all natural, are not."  I go on to say that, "So not even the "real" juice is good for you."  She nods her head and moves on. 

But...Why is the girl who works in the ER asking this psychology professor for nutritional advice?  She did not seem at all like she was testing her knowledge, you know, trying to trick her into looking stupid or something.  In defense of the girl, I tried to rationalize this as a reason to ask such a question.  Nothing I could think of matched the scene though, it seemed a genuine question.

Why do college kids need to be told Tang is not real juice?

When is not a good time to eat fruit?  In a healthy diet that is? 

Ah, there it is; healthy diet. 

If people knew what healthy diet meant, there would be no health care problem in America.  That is not my opinion either, that is a fact.

What did Krishnamurti say?  It is no measure of health to measure it against a sick society.  These kids measure their dietary habits in comparison with this American culture.  Even the best of them eats disgusting food throughout any given week.  Yet, it is not disgusting food to them; they have been told it is good for them.  In reality though these kids do not even come close to a genuine healthy diet.  Why doesn't the girl working in the ER who is responsible, in one way or another, for the lives and well being of others already know this herself? 

I am not making this assessment purely on the class room experience.  I have been doing this college thing for a few years now.  I also happen to venture into their cafeterias, the dining halls for their dorms, from time to time.  It is a chance to be immersed with hundreds of young kids who are all attending college.  I always have a few friends who live in the dorms, and they invite me to eat with them sometimes.  It is always a free meal for me so I rarely decline it.  And sometimes if I have not eaten for a few I call one of my buddies for a swipe in at the dining hall.  The food is absolutely gross though.  It is all highly processed with nothing nutritional whatsoever about the majority of the food they serve.  It is worse than I remember my school food being when I was a kid.  I attended several different public schools growing up and none of them served food as bad as this stuff.  Maybe it is just a bias on my part because I eat so much healthier now, but it really is gross.  Yet most of the kids do not mind it all.  They have been eating it nearly all their lives.  They will tell you they eat healthy.  Well the ones that don't gorge on the junk food will, because the kids who gorge on junk food are the unhealthy ones.

It is no measure of health to measure your personal health against the sick society around you.

And what about education?  These kids will all tell you they are educated, yet they do not even know how to live and eat healthy?  How can they be educated?  Aren't they doing the exact same thing with their definition of education?  They think they are educated according to the kid sitting next them, but that kid happens to be just as ignorant.  What kind of measure is that? 

What is scariest to me is that I see the same thing in our politicians and all of those who vote.  They say they are educated but they clearly are not.  No educated person would do such things. 

What does it mean when I say education?  For me it means the acquiring of knowledge and at the same time the unlearning of traditions.  All of which means; knowing one's Self.