![\"Image](\"http:\/\/socialistnetwork.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/09\/where-billionaires-come-from-cartoon.jpg\")
<\/p>\nMy first reaction to the contemplative practices was distaste because I found them trivial. I still feel that way, though I do think they are premised upon a central point which I do find valuable. That premise is that it is valuable for one to imagine their own place within the larger industrial food network. I think that both the lectures and our readings speak to the necessity of that positioning because one must feel both empowered and interested in acting to disrupt the industrial food system, and more broadly hegemonic capitalism which inevitably chooses winners and losers, condemning those losers to death while sacrificing the health of many \u2018winners\u2019.<\/p>\n
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I have advanced my politics a lot this quarter. I am a debater for the UW and as such am exposed to a wide variety of leftist politics which shapes my everyday views. However, it was not until recently that I began to internalize the critiques of capitalism that I had been exposed to in theory. I believe this is do to the request put out to students to be contemplative, but I do not believe that the physical in class contemplative practices facilitate that goal. I believe some sort of introspection is necessary, though I cannot provide advice for how to do that for every person.<\/p>\n
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For me, reflecting on where food comes from has been powerful. Understanding that without even intending to I am participating in a capitalist enterprise has been a very fruitful intellectual undertaking. Specifically, grappling with the necessity of participation in capitalist structures to nourish myself and survive. But even so, I think that some broad sweeping revolution against capitalism is as impossible as it is to survive without being part of the system. That line of thought has focused my socialist politics.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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