"I'm not sure when I stopped feeling proud to be American. Maybe it was gradual, like roots rotting beneath sturdy timber. Everything looks fine until suddenly the whole thing tips over. Or maybe it happened all at once, like an earthquake so big that the ground splits open and the tree plunges into the void. Either way, 2025 left me lost, unsure how to hold American identity in my hands without feeling like I was clutching something that might combust."
"I had admired Natalie from afar during my time in the industry. She was one of those people whose name you drop casually to signal you know what's actually good, and who actually matters. She is smart, discerning, and the kind of professional whose enthusiasm means something because it's earned, not given. So, when I saw her pouring samples of Pathfinder, a non-alcoholic spirit I'd been curious about, the coincidence felt less like chance."
"What makes hemp interesting is that it wasn't common or grown with abundance until 2018. Here is what kids should learn from American history class: The 1937 Marihuana Tax Act wasn't really about marijuana. It was about William Randolph Hearst's timber empire feeling threatened by hemp's potential as cheap paper pulp. It was about Treasury Secretary Andrew Mellon's investments and his friends at DuPont, who'd just patented nylon and didn't need a natural fiber cutting into their synthetic gold mine."
Personal pride in American identity erodes in 2025, experienced as either gradual rot beneath the surface or a sudden, earthquake-like collapse. A chance meeting with Natalie Lichtman at a supplier showcase provides reassurance and professional validation amid that uncertainty. Natalie embodies earned enthusiasm and discernment; her presence and recommendation of Pathfinder, a hemp-based non-alcoholic spirit, feel like a lifeline. Hemp gains renewed interest after legal changes in 2018. Historical forces suppressed hemp through the 1937 Marihuana Tax Act, motivated by timber, DuPont, and political interests seeking to protect synthetic and corporate investments. Nepotism and manufactured fear contributed to crushing a viable agricultural industry.
Read at San Francisco Bay Times
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