The consumer is no longer able to know where it came from, who it was that picked that particular fruit, and what social and economic context that fruit represents. For instance, a peach is picked from somewhere across the country or around the world and then shipped directly to that supermarket. Instead, his final conclusion is that modern humanity is no longer able to see the history of a particular object, fruit being his example. In his poem, "A Supermarket in California," Ginsberg goes into a supermarket to try and find the natural beauty of the fruits and vegetables there. Ginsberg saw the economic commodification of society as one of the great ills of modern life. This is the fate of the "best minds" from Ginsberg's poem, "Howl:" the "best minds" are driven insane by their inability to accept the models of normality and conformity imposed on them by modern life, and their inability to escape these same strictures. Insanity, however, is not a state of being true genius is able to escape, Ginsberg argues. He would later admit that this absence left a stain on his development and was responsible for both his fascination and disgust with the mentally ill. His mother, Naomi Ginsberg, was institutionalized on several occasions, which left a young Allen without his mother or full family for much of his early life. Ginsberg dealt both literally and metaphorically with insanity throughout his entire life.
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