There’s a scene from Band of Brothers, two GIs meet a French family on D-Day. One of the soldiers offers the boy, 4 or 5 years old, a chocolate bar. The boy smiles from ear to ear when he tastes it. His father says, “Thank you. He’s never had chocolate before.”
Imagine that. Imagine living in a society where chocolate is considered an exotic food. That’s how the world was, for almost all of human history. You live in Norway and you want a lemon? HA! Tough shit, you’ll never even know what lemon smells like.
But, at some point, Americans got used to having every delicacy from every corner of the world. We forgot that each nibble of chocolate is exotic. That the beans aren’t native to our country. That most people in the world can’t afford real chocolate except as a rare treat. And look at us now - just like the rest of the world.
By coveting.
There’s a scene from Band of Brothers, two GIs meet a French family on D-Day. One of the soldiers offers the boy, 4 or 5 years old, a chocolate bar. The boy smiles from ear to ear when he tastes it. His father says, “Thank you. He’s never had chocolate before.”
Imagine that. Imagine living in a society where chocolate is considered an exotic food. That’s how the world was, for almost all of human history. You live in Norway and you want a lemon? HA! Tough shit, you’ll never even know what lemon smells like.
But, at some point, Americans got used to having every delicacy from every corner of the world. We forgot that each nibble of chocolate is exotic. That the beans aren’t native to our country. That most people in the world can’t afford real chocolate except as a rare treat. And look at us now - just like the rest of the world.