Everyone loves the panda bear, right? Cute, cuddle... nearly extinct. They are nearly extinct because they hyper-specialized their diet and caused lower reproduction and the loss of habitat is making them nothing more than cute zoo animals we watch on cameras, trying to slow their decline.
Human beings are a race of Sisyphus.
We are the only species on the planet that helps, voluntarily, other species. Good on us.
However, we are also hyper-specializing. We are now so stupid that we are on the precipice of disaster because we have people who don't understand the root of all money. That would be production for those of you who read Marx.
This pandemic has showed us the depths of stupidity, and the sheer ineptitude of our educational system.
We have people who are saying we can't reopen the economy because INFECTION! Uh, yeah, we can. If we don't you don't eat. Wait... they may have a point.
I have become determined to grow my own fruits and veggies. Will I be stealing from anyone? No. I buy very little fresh produce from the grocery store because, for a very long time, I had a fridge that froze everything and got out of the habit of buying fresh. So, now that I have a fully functional fridge, and I do buy fresh, it usually goes bad because I forget it's there. The stuff that gets eaten is on the counter or table where I can see it and I eat it. Because I love me some fresh produce. I have a greenhouse and a huge yard where I can do as I please.
Does that mean I can butcher my own meat? Oh, hell no. For that, I would need a specialist, a butcher, trained in the break down of animal meat for human consumption. That is why I get my meat from a store.
If it was fish I could easily clean it and eat it. I used to do it nearly every day when I was growing up. Not because I needed to, but there is something very satisfying about catching and preparing, then eating your own food.
So, there is some area where I can easily gain access to protein, and some where I cannot. I bow to the experts in that area. However, I can cook the food in imaginative ways because... I raised four children, one that was particularly... finicky.
I cannot, myself, produce aluminum. I know the mechanics of the alloy, but I cannot make it myself. So I buy it from someone who can, and then I recycle it. I cannot produce fuel for my car or lawn mower. But, I understand, because I live in Texas, how it is brought out of the ground, transported and refined until it's put in my gas tank. I understand the supply chain.
This is how I know that if I grow my own cucumbers there isn't a farmer somewhere in the Rio Grande Valley starving because of the loss of the 4 or so cucumbers I buy each year. If I cannot travel and have no need to buy fuel for my vehicle? Not a huge deal. If millions cannot do the same, disaster. That is why the bottom fell out from the oil market this week. Because, for months now, people don't need to drive for more than groceries, and most still haven't needed to buy gas. You do the math.
You need lumber to fix something in your house? Good luck there. Solitary jobs like being a lumberjack aren't working because lumber isn't even allowed to be sold in many places. Need a plumber? Nope, not allowed. Because they're not repairing drains and pipes, the sell of pipes, fixtures, supplies has plummeted.
The problem with humans is that we are tunnel visioned about most of our lives. Everyone is. If you think you aren't you're lying to yourself. We refuse to see that things are interconnected. The place where this is most obvious is the field of medicine. Every time I get sick or injured I am referred to a specialist, because my family practitioner is evidently unable to accurately remove a mole or get rid of a rash. However, in the event I just have to try out a new drug, he's the one I'd go to.
This is what kills me. My podiatrist is not allowed to treat any ailment above my ankle, even though... they are interconnected, one causing the pain of the other. Crazy.
When I was in school we began learning economics pretty early. I seem to remember learning about the supply chain in second or third grade and every year after that deep understanding was gained. In high school, I remember learning about capitalism through a project where we had to create a product, then market it to sell stock to kids in our class. It taught me the value of a good idea and an imaginative marketing campaign. How else was I going to sell a Popemobile?
We had to provide details on how we got the materials necessary to produce whatever we were marketing. We had to provide information on our capital and reserves. My teacher for that class was our varsity football coach. He got it. So why can't the teachers today?
We hold our cell phones in our hands and never give any thought to how it was assembled or by whom? Most of them out there are produced by slaves in China. Most of the batteries leave scars on the Earth, and yet you see dreadlocked screechers by the dozen posting their latest eco-protest from their phones that are far more damaging to the environment than the farmland where some obscure insect was once seen... fifty years ago and never since. They never, ever think about why any factory anywhere would need to install suicide nets. They, in fact, support the regime that does this with a zealotry not seen since Torquemada. But hey! This phone is great!
Right now, Greta Thunberg is getting her wildest dream, the complete collapse of fossil fuels. How's that going, sweetie? Now all of those people are out of work and can't afford to buy your gas. What did you think was going to happen? Bet they love you now, right?
Human beings are a race of Sisyphus.
We are the only species on the planet that helps, voluntarily, other species. Good on us.
However, we are also hyper-specializing. We are now so stupid that we are on the precipice of disaster because we have people who don't understand the root of all money. That would be production for those of you who read Marx.
This pandemic has showed us the depths of stupidity, and the sheer ineptitude of our educational system.
We have people who are saying we can't reopen the economy because INFECTION! Uh, yeah, we can. If we don't you don't eat. Wait... they may have a point.
I have become determined to grow my own fruits and veggies. Will I be stealing from anyone? No. I buy very little fresh produce from the grocery store because, for a very long time, I had a fridge that froze everything and got out of the habit of buying fresh. So, now that I have a fully functional fridge, and I do buy fresh, it usually goes bad because I forget it's there. The stuff that gets eaten is on the counter or table where I can see it and I eat it. Because I love me some fresh produce. I have a greenhouse and a huge yard where I can do as I please.
Does that mean I can butcher my own meat? Oh, hell no. For that, I would need a specialist, a butcher, trained in the break down of animal meat for human consumption. That is why I get my meat from a store.
If it was fish I could easily clean it and eat it. I used to do it nearly every day when I was growing up. Not because I needed to, but there is something very satisfying about catching and preparing, then eating your own food.
So, there is some area where I can easily gain access to protein, and some where I cannot. I bow to the experts in that area. However, I can cook the food in imaginative ways because... I raised four children, one that was particularly... finicky.
I cannot, myself, produce aluminum. I know the mechanics of the alloy, but I cannot make it myself. So I buy it from someone who can, and then I recycle it. I cannot produce fuel for my car or lawn mower. But, I understand, because I live in Texas, how it is brought out of the ground, transported and refined until it's put in my gas tank. I understand the supply chain.
This is how I know that if I grow my own cucumbers there isn't a farmer somewhere in the Rio Grande Valley starving because of the loss of the 4 or so cucumbers I buy each year. If I cannot travel and have no need to buy fuel for my vehicle? Not a huge deal. If millions cannot do the same, disaster. That is why the bottom fell out from the oil market this week. Because, for months now, people don't need to drive for more than groceries, and most still haven't needed to buy gas. You do the math.
You need lumber to fix something in your house? Good luck there. Solitary jobs like being a lumberjack aren't working because lumber isn't even allowed to be sold in many places. Need a plumber? Nope, not allowed. Because they're not repairing drains and pipes, the sell of pipes, fixtures, supplies has plummeted.
The problem with humans is that we are tunnel visioned about most of our lives. Everyone is. If you think you aren't you're lying to yourself. We refuse to see that things are interconnected. The place where this is most obvious is the field of medicine. Every time I get sick or injured I am referred to a specialist, because my family practitioner is evidently unable to accurately remove a mole or get rid of a rash. However, in the event I just have to try out a new drug, he's the one I'd go to.
This is what kills me. My podiatrist is not allowed to treat any ailment above my ankle, even though... they are interconnected, one causing the pain of the other. Crazy.
When I was in school we began learning economics pretty early. I seem to remember learning about the supply chain in second or third grade and every year after that deep understanding was gained. In high school, I remember learning about capitalism through a project where we had to create a product, then market it to sell stock to kids in our class. It taught me the value of a good idea and an imaginative marketing campaign. How else was I going to sell a Popemobile?
We had to provide details on how we got the materials necessary to produce whatever we were marketing. We had to provide information on our capital and reserves. My teacher for that class was our varsity football coach. He got it. So why can't the teachers today?
We hold our cell phones in our hands and never give any thought to how it was assembled or by whom? Most of them out there are produced by slaves in China. Most of the batteries leave scars on the Earth, and yet you see dreadlocked screechers by the dozen posting their latest eco-protest from their phones that are far more damaging to the environment than the farmland where some obscure insect was once seen... fifty years ago and never since. They never, ever think about why any factory anywhere would need to install suicide nets. They, in fact, support the regime that does this with a zealotry not seen since Torquemada. But hey! This phone is great!
Right now, Greta Thunberg is getting her wildest dream, the complete collapse of fossil fuels. How's that going, sweetie? Now all of those people are out of work and can't afford to buy your gas. What did you think was going to happen? Bet they love you now, right?
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