The digestive functions of society

“Those things which now most engage the attention of men, as politics and the daily routine, are, it is true, vital functions of human society, but should be unconsciously performed, like the corresponding functions of the physical body. They are infra-human, a kind of vegetation. I sometimes awake to a half-consciousness of them going on about me, as a man may become conscious of some of the processes of digestion.”—Thoreau

We teach our children that noises from the digestive tract are to be avoided in polite society. We teach them that products of digestion are not to be discussed in polite society. If, as Thoreau suggests, politics and commerce are the digestive functions of society, perhaps they too ought to be performed quietly and discussed as seldom as possible.