“But what specifically interests me here is how the long-term re-formatting of the planet’s landscape, whereby the surface of the earth has slowly been made habitable almost solely for humans and the species they cultivate, began with something as small-scale—a field operation as micro-tactical and discrete—as pushing roots into the ground and then coming back a few days later to see how it’s all developed. Repeat this action for a hundred-thousand years, scaling it up each time, both mechanically and quantitatively, and what was once a lo-fi interaction with the forest has become an industrialized agriculture for an exponentially humanized earth.”
“I think we should rediscover a view of humans as resourceful, creative, productive. Too much of environmentalism views humans simply as consumers and users, as drainers and ‘footprints.’ This is very one-sided. Even where people are ‘just consumers,’ say in the less developed parts of the world, it is because of a failure on the part of society to provide the infrastructure in which people can produce and create and work.”
Brendan O’Neill wrote that, in an email exchange with Andy Revkin about population and population control.
Also noteworthy, in my opinion, is Revkin’s justification for engaging O’Neill, who seems as interested in stirring proverbial pots as he is in educating his publication’s readers:
My goal here, as is hopefully clear, is to try to move from stridency and name calling to rational discussions of reasonable approaches to smoothing the human journey. This is perhaps a fool’s errand, but I think it’s worth trying.
Maybe what society really needs to provide is the infrastructure in which fools like Andy can run errands to their hearts’ content.
“With a decrease in the number of pirates, there has been an increase in global warming over the same period. Therefore, global warming is caused by a lack of pirates.”
I’ve never seen this kind of excitement in climate science (or in other disciplines that deal with environmental danger). Probably has something to do with the fact that the disciplines come to scary conclusions. But shouldn’t joy of discovery be able to trump fear? Some of the time, at least?
Worth noting, also, that Richard Feynman, who died in 1988, doesn’t appear to have ever commented on climate destabilization or its science, culture, or politics.
“So as far as markets are concerned I’m a libertarian, but I have enough expertise in politics and history to understand that a free market ends up as monopoly unless you force them to be free.”
Assange has “mixed attitudes toward capitalism,” but he loves markets; the more information available to consumers, the better:
“For a market to be free, people have to know who they’re dealing with.”
Who exactly we’re dealing with in the case of Julian Assange remains a bit of a mystery. Facing some legal trouble, he “strongly denies any wrongdoing but admits having unprotected but consensual encounters with two women during a visit to Sweden in August.”
A wise observer reckons that “this guy is being player hated upon.”
I have chosen not to leak said wise observer’s name.
Janet Carmosky of The China Business Network notices that, thanks to the recession, the US is buying less “trim-a-tree” (cheap, low quality, low artistry, one-time-use decorative objects) from China. She thinks it’s a good thing:
I begrudge no one the enjoyment of holiday decorating, nor the trade-up from grueling subscale agricultural drudgery to a salaried indoor job. If there’s a moral basis for “Peak Stuff”, it’s this: Green Light the desire to create and to share objects with others. It’s a driver of human progress. Question the compulsion to purchase or own increasing volumes of things devoid of real quality.
An observation worth noting. And a pretty nice little two word concept.
