“A person of good intelligence and of sensitivity cannot exist in this society very long without having some anger about the inequality - and it’s not just a bleeding-heart, knee-jerk, liberal kind of a thing - it is just a normal human reaction to a nonsensical set of values where we have cinnamon flavoured dental floss and there are people sleeping in the street. ” - George Carlin

I recently watched the movie Guys and Dolls with Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra. The original broadway production was written sometime in the 40’s and premiered onstage in 1950. Hollywood was still oblivious to the building civil rights movement, and the traditional roles for men and women had not been challenged. Men drink liquor and gamble, women are homemakers and pretty things to look at. Milk has an interesting role in this movie.

A hardened mobster called Big Jule is seen at a bar drinking a milk shake. Another character remarks, “Do not think that because Big Jule drinks milk, he is a softie.” Big Jule proceeds to threaten Sinatra’s character with the gun in his coat. Sinatra’s character then asks to have a sip of the milk. Later, Brando’s character is ordering drinks in a bar in Havana, Cuba for his religious female companion, who thinks drinking alcohol is sinful. She demands milk. He orders “Dulce de Leche”, which he translates as “Sweet Milk” for her. Brando explains that they have to put some Bacardi in the milk to keep it from going sour in the evening hours.

Drinking milk appears to be for women, children, and men who are weak and submissive. It’s interesting that they use milk-drinking as a trait of significance. I, for one, am somewhat of a dairy addict. I drink enormous amounts of milk compared to the majority of modern American adults. Sometimes I drink nearly a quart of milk at dinnertime. I also eat a lot of cheese and yogurt. Does this say anything about me today, in the year 2009?

One thing that I’ve considered is the technology of milk. These days, milk from hundreds of cows is homogenized, pasteurized, packaged and shipped across the country at close to freezing temperatures. How much energy goes into this milk, from the feeding of the cows to the running of my refrigerator? How many megawatts of electricity does it take to enjoy a milkshake? Or a buttered grilled cheese sandwich? In the future, when we ration our energy usage in a reactionary post-apocalyptic attempt to be “green”, dairy consumption outside of farms and cooking purposes could be outlawed. I’m just doing my part to exploit the current system and consume as much dairy as possible before this harrowed day arrives.

“If you cannot find happiness along the way, you will not find it at the end of the road.” - Thomas Paine

“I’m sick of following my dreams. I’m just going to ask them where they’re going and hook up with them later.” - Mitch Hedberg