Just read Paul Krugman’s post on Iceland’s post-crisis miracle just to check in on how things were going up there. My favorite cooked number, GDP, is looking good compared to other crisis nations as a result of a massive currency devaluation (which makes GDP look good) and debt (which makes GDP look good). This is outstanding, 2-dimensional analysis that came straight out of my $250 Economics textbook written by Paul Krugman. The flip side irony is that today marked the opening of whaling season in Iceland despite the international moratorium, and whales have been cast as “just another fish.”
Of course, whales are not fish and the lifespan of these top level mammals can approach 200 years. That is, if not killed by this asshole earlier. Many whale species are relatively mysterious because we (global “we”) don’t spend much money on observing the life cycle of planetary phenomena. Instead, we will invest billions of dollars in data capture in order to understand market trends and consumer behavior.
What is persistently bothersome about these types of issues is that they are amazingly simple to solve yet go unsolved because of the way literally handfuls of individuals think and act. Inaction seems more difficult than action in this case. Ironically, farm subsidies persist throughout developed nations keeping commodity prices artificially low while other food harvesters continue to wipe out the top level animal species. This proves to me that industries such as whaling have little to do with feeding anybody and have more to do with ego and perceived penis size.
Killing things just to kill things is not manly.
With another bizarre irony, eating whale meat is hazardous due to high levels of toxic material found within the bodies of whales. Let’s get it straight:
- We don’t give enough of a shit to observe whales in order to understand them
- We hunt them for the economic gain of a few individuals in the world
- We feed the hunted meat to kids in schools and slowly kill them
- We tax citizens of developing nations in order to make food artificially cheap
- We release toxins in the process of maintaining artificially cheap commodities that are building up to hazardous levels in whale meat
- Repeat cycle until everything is dead
Am I looking at this correctly, or have I missed a step? We may be better off live capturing whales, shooting them into outer space, then losing another $3 billion dollars on gauging market reaction to the 1-year anniversary of Michael Jackon’s death. There may be some correlation where we can write a derivative, sell it to your 401K manager, then fuck you over in the golden years. What do you think? Anybody want to start an investor’s club with me?
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I spent a week when I was much younger aboard a whale research vessel. Falling asleep, listening to humpback whale song through the hull of the ship is one of my most cherished memories. I just can’t understand the slaughter of these amazing animals.
People suck. Second verse, same as the first.
Yes, you are looking at that correctly. In a sense it is getting to the point that it no longer matters what people want. They should get what they need instead. There are so many bad paths that we have been walking for so many years and the tradition becomes an excuse. Fossil fuels, whaling, I don’t give a fuck. Get over it and move on to something more sensible. The fact that change is difficult is no excuse. The complexity of the issues and the convenience of staying on the same path is no excuse. I see two alternatives: Stop being a slave, or just shoot yourself.
I don’t know how to put it exactly but yeah I am ready to invest in shiny sanity the precious mentality.
Mia,
I’ve also had many encounters with whales at sea and have never had the thought, “it’d be awesome to kill that thing.” It’s sort of baffling, so must be deeply cultural? We take so much stuff for granted.
It also sucks that “save the whales” has become an easy way to spot/tag a hippie. It has become a cliche. Hippies are great, but not the most credible source of leadership in this country. I don’t know… just a thought. It’s a strange worldview that death=tough and life=soft. These are the same people who throw around talk about nuking other countries and killing stuff indiscriminately.
It is my impression that the majority of species on the planet spend their time cleaning stuff up or killing something when there is too much of it.
Humans imagine all kinds of things into existence (countries, enemies, uranium documentation from Niger), then kill that thing and leave a mess, as well as killing things that there are already too few of, and even when they try to kill the one thing that they have too much of (each other), they leave a mess that no natural scavenger can clean up.
So, what’s there to do about it? Individually, we can act better, consume less (consumption and GDP are the same thing), and set an example for our children.
Collectively, one of the most lucrative investments for changing things is to buy a congressman (or a couple of hundred). Corporations usually get a huge return on their bribe dollars. If everyone who wanted to do something about the whales pooled a couple of dollars, they would have as much lobbying power as the NRA (funny how hippies have money for iPads, but not for haircuts).
Given, that is playing the same crooked game, but until someone starts acting like a leader without the 2 dimensional economics logic (money and time, right?), 2 dimensions is all we have to work with.
My first thought about sending the whales into space is that they should come down on K street in D.C…..
Did you know there is a lobbyist for disclosure of UFO information? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sTBXPGIIGrQ
You’re completely right, Tommy. It’s a fucked up world. Auntiegrav — think you can assume that a person with long hair just likes it that way. And my best friend (!) is a hippie, and she cannot afford an Ipad. So not everyone fits the stereotype.
Kate: As for using and assigning stereotypes; what I say is “LIVE your stereotype!”
In other words, if the shoe fits, wear it out with all your heart, just don’t be offended if you look the part and people say so.
Actually chuckled through this one, Tommy. The idiocy of what we do is so stupid. We are laughable in our efforts to “control” the world and our lives. The reality is that so few of us actually make any real choices at all. We just get through each day, which ends, as do all the years.
I shot a robin with a bb gun when I was a kid and the thing wouldn’t die. I had hit it in the eye and it just laid their with a brass bb instead of an eyeball, staring at me. I still feel guilt as I had no need to kill that creature. Shame on me. On the up side, haven’t killed anything for the fun of it since.
“This is outstanding, 2-dimensional analysis that came straight out of my $250 Economics textbook written by Paul Krugman.”
You got ripped off. Krugman would send a lemonade stand into debt (and the lemonade would get suspiciously more watery each day).
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/ridiculed-americans-everywhere-krugman-now-threatens-gives-unsolicited-advice-germany-pisses