State of the City
From:
Andrew Hine
Date:
Mar 18 19:01 UTC
Short link
Wow, Sir! You're up early for March 18th!
I have two comments at the moment; one about Education and the other about the
Economy.
Education:
Last night at the Ceili (CSPS Hall, w/ Barra and The Eddies) there were people
as young as 2 and as old as 90. It struck me that not only were the young
learning from the old, but the old were learning from the young, too. (I'm 46,
so I didn't learn a thing.) It would be nice to have more of this type of
activity, but maybe with less Irishness.
Economy:
I realize that just because a city used to have a lot of certain types of jobs
doesn't mean it always will, or always should. Take brewing, for example. A
lot of people used to be employed by breweries in Saint Paul. Now very few
are. Part of the problem is that Saint Paulites buy beer from places like Saint
Louis, Oregon, Michigan, and Amsterdam. One of the reasons I quit the Team of
17,999 is that Wally The Beer Man was not allowed to sell me Summit at my seat.
Even shouting "Summits for our whole row!" didn't work.
Buying local beer is the easiest, if not the most satisfying, thing I can do to
reduce pollution caused by shipping. The Farmer's Market is another example.
Schmidt Brewery Water used to be another - even seeing a bottle of Fijian water
gives me a drowning sensation.
So, my first question for you, and thank you very much for the opportunity, is
"Can we raise the tax on Anheuser-Busch and Miller products and make Summit,
Finnegan's, Flat Earth, and Great Waters beer tax-free? What about other
incentives to reduce 'redundant imports'? What about hiring people to
'dismantle' old homes (to reuse the studs) instead of knocking them to
smithereens?"
If people still need their lite <sic> beer, I suppose a person could whip some
up easily enough down at Pig's Eye Lake (more jobs).
Zymurgically yours,
A. M. Hine
Brewerytown USA
PS Don't miss "What's Brewing In Saint Paul?", a free preservation talk at the
Summit Brewery, Thu 10 Apr 08, 7-9pm. Located on the #54 (limited stop)
busline. More info at www.historicsaintpaul.org