Social Bonds in Vino Veritas

In vino veritas? An extraordinary poem, The Stranger, by Alexander Blok from 1906 via a comment from Jeff Trexler. You know how it is at funerals, all the sadness, and the flower smell so heavy to block out the stench of death? When Rabelais salutes his comrades and calls for wine, it is not just about getting drunk together, as the Black Death spreads. As things get bad, what we have is one another. Not social capital markets only, but the toast, the glass raised high, whether it is a beautiful woman, a bride and bridegroom, or a casket, or soldiers at The Blue Angel we have in sight. When things get hard we have each other, a few friends. Raise a glass to the good men and women at Homeland Security! Today we drink together; tomorrow you round us up. Come, let us drink!