Food Should be Free

There's a scene in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness where Strange and America Chavez are bouncing between universes and Chavez shows up with some food. Strange asks her how she paid for it to which she replies: > It was free. Food's free in most universes, actually. It's weird you guys have to pay for it. It's been four years since I watched that (otherwise completely forgettable) movie and that scene has really stuck with me. The more I think about it the more I have to agree: 🤯 FOOD SHOULD BE FREE I am fully aware this isn't some unique and groundbreaking position - it was mentioned in a Marvel movie after all - but it can sure seem unique and groundbreaking sometimes in our corporate-profit-driven capitalist society (yes I live in the USA). Thankfully there is some movement in the right direction in the form of free school lunches, and yes I am aware of things like food banks and less traditional food distribution programs, but even feeding literal children at their government mandated place of education isn't the slam-dunk policy move it should be (wake me up when it's all 50 states and nobody is complaining about it). If at this point in the discussion you find yourself enthusiastically nodding your head there is little reason for you to read further - but if not I urge you to ask yourself a simple question: ❓ Why shouldn't food be free? What benefit does hunger bring to society? What is the purpose of a government if not to help its citizens meet their most basic needs? Why are you okay with rampant war spending (yes I live in the USA) in the name of national security (ha!), but you don't bring the same energy and enthusiasm for food security? If you think hunger is a good tool to motivate people to contribute to the capitalist machine (aka get a job) why are you such an asshole? A few other thoughts: - Free food that involves a purity test (eg proving you have a low income) isn't good enough. Those purity tests exists just to shame poor people and all the money spent on them would be better spent on food. - Free food that involves going to a special place for poor people (eg food banks, neighborhood food distribution programs) isn't good enough. Regular food at regular stores! - Free food limited to a handful of times and locations (eg free school lunch) isn't good enough. All day long every day of the week! I want to emphasize that I am not trying to be critical of things like food banks (a stop gap measure on the road to free food) or free school lunch (a single component of free food), I am simply saying we can't stop there. It isn't enough. PS: Even I, in this post advocating for free food, understand that different foods have different inherent costs to produce and that a free food scheme doesn't have to mean "everybody gets filet mignon every day". I am also aware that restaurants exist and are a thing and I haven't decided yet if I want them to be a part of this or not but please don't worry there will be something for you to spend your rich person money on. PPS: In a strange (see what I did there) twist of fate, the food American Chavez had procured was not in fact free in that universe. PPPS: The choice of some Marvel writer to use the word weird seems very intentional and reminds me a lot of that brief moment during the 2024 US presidential election where Democrats kept calling all the completely batshit-crazy things Republicans were saying/doing weird. It's like the word of choice for trying to call somebody stupid in a polite and non-offensive way. I think in cases where the target of the word is actually receptive to challenging their own ideas (eg not MAGA Republicans) it might actually be effective. I'm going to try to remember to try it some time in person.