Thursday, April 10, 2008

Musing idiocy and immobility

CBC is reporting on some new polar bear = starving = climate change research in Arctic. The comments, now typically, as with Afghanistan, seem to attract all manor of idiots with their 8 beer logic and tequila shot punchiness about climate science, ice science, the behavioural biology of Arctic mammals, and the giant international conspiracy that is apparently peer review because scientists all want to get rich or something. Once again, I get to lamenting the fact that such nonsense is for some reason legitimised and even infects goverments to the point where they fire their own scientific advisers. What is to be done?

I think we're at the point now where it's pretty safe to assume the national "leadership" and maybe, looking at the polls, 30% of the country is so blindingly and malignantly ignorant as to effectively neuter any government spawned action to try to do anything from end a war, to promoting gender equality, or planning for climate change. Without some major black swan, we've probably past peak of public-government capacity to deal with any really pressing problems involving the national welfare. I mean, the current goon in charge is so in love with himself he'd likely use a crisis to stick bronze erections all over the country. In fact, it wouldn't surprise me to learn he's thought about it. And the opposition seems all for enabling it. This may eventually change, but those that seem to get elected tend to be those that don't stray too far off certain accepted paths. That's really a public problem, I reckon, since we seem to be the ones electing and tolerating this state of affairs. Doesn't seem much like that'll change soon.

At what point does it become more efficient or effective to bypass the macro political arena and begin to structure your life around anticipating the changes? How much energy is it worth beating on a door that won't open?

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