Here in the good 'ol US of A we take ourselves pretty seriously. Maybe rightfully so, but maybe not. We are the most powerful country in the world and we have been for about a century. There is no doubt that that is impressive but is it reason enough for our egos to be as big as they are? I think not.
From the perspective of time, the US is, at this point, simply an experiment in governance. A lark that, considering the track record of past empires, is likely to someday be just a blip on the radar of history. That's a pretty bold statement but consider that the Roman Empire, which had a golden era of about 500 years and a total life span of over 1400 years, rarely gets more than a few weeks of attention in most world history courses in the US. With this in mind, where does that leave the US?
Well, I don't really know. I can't predict how history will view the US but I can say with confidence that the US is centuries, like five or six of them, away from beginning to compare to some of histories great empires. Is that the story that we are taught as kids? No, we are taught that we are the best that has ever been and will ever be. There is nothing inherently wrong with that, every country/empire needs propaganda to operate successfully, it's just that it makes it really hard for us to analyze the US today without having a heavily biased perspective. I am not trying to be anti-american I just think that it is important to take all the talk US supremacy with a big ass grain of salt.
I am not really sure why this is all coming out of me right now. I can only guess that it has something to do with the fact that, especially in these times of great historical import, it is vital to remember that, in terms of history, a human life is short and that appearances can be deceiving.
Now, to sum up, think for a moment that the US empire will eventually collapse, that the country will eventually break up, and that history will eventually forget us. For some reason these thoughts give me some comfort on an existential level and I hope they do for you, too.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
some sweet links
http://izismile.com/2009/03/31/road_crash_hummer_h3_vs_suzuki_ignis_7_pics.html
http://trinixy.blogspot.com/2009/03/are-your-eyes-playing-tricks-on-you.html
more real entries to come later tonight after i'm done that h-dub
http://trinixy.blogspot.com/2009/03/are-your-eyes-playing-tricks-on-you.html
more real entries to come later tonight after i'm done that h-dub
Monday, March 30, 2009
LED sheep and some statistics to ponder
the sheep- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2FX9rviEhw
the stats-
In America:
1970- 50% of one paycheck bought middle class lifestyle
2000- 70% of two paychecks bought middle class lifestyle
1970- Avg CEO made 30x more than avg worker
2000- Avg CEO made 400x more than avg worker
the stats-
In America:
1970- 50% of one paycheck bought middle class lifestyle
2000- 70% of two paychecks bought middle class lifestyle
1970- Avg CEO made 30x more than avg worker
2000- Avg CEO made 400x more than avg worker
can there really be good logging?
YES! I saw it first hand in Montana. It is out there and it is awesome. I saw this article yesterday on nytimes.com and was really excited to see that more environmentally mindful loggers are getting some press. The below links are the article and the website of the logger that I worked with in Montana.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/business/energy-environment/29forests.html?_r=1&hp
http://www.rbmlmbr.com/
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/29/business/energy-environment/29forests.html?_r=1&hp
http://www.rbmlmbr.com/
The myth of the free market
These days there is a great debate going on as to how much influence the government should have on the economy. Many of the debaters are of the opinion that an entirely free market is the best option for america and the world. This simply is not true.
The idea of the free market is based on the fact that, under the right set of circumstances, market forces do eventually push suppliers and demanders to an equilibrium price at which optimal output is achieved. This is true. The problem is that that right set of circumstances rarely, if ever, occurs. This is due to the fact that some of the circumstances, such as consumers and suppliers having perfect information (i.e. having a full understanding of the circumstances surrounding any transaction), there having to be no externalities (side-effects) that result from any transaction, and that all of the suppliers must be price-takers and not price-makers (i.e. be firms that are too small to dictate the price of a good in a market on their own), are nearly unachievable in this modern world of mis-information, pollution, and big business.
My point is not that there is anything wrong with the free market, in theory it is ideal, my point is that free markets do not, and cannot, really exist. Therefore, the idea of conducting business in a market based on the assumption that the market is a free market is ludicrous. Acting as though free markets exist leads to the exploitation of consumers, workers, and the environment in the name of profits. In other words, it leads us to exactly where we are today.
This is not to say that government intervention is the answer to all of our problems but it is to say that some government intervention in markets like ours, markets in which many of the necessary circumstances of free market economics do not exist, is a good idea. At some point, hopefully soon (as in during this administration's lifetime), the policy makers, which in reality are not necessarily all elected officials, in this country need to ensure that guide lines, which make it so that businesses cannot operate on free market principles are set up. Again, I am not calling for socialism but I am calling for the reining in of some of our free-wheeling economic principles.
The idea of the free market is based on the fact that, under the right set of circumstances, market forces do eventually push suppliers and demanders to an equilibrium price at which optimal output is achieved. This is true. The problem is that that right set of circumstances rarely, if ever, occurs. This is due to the fact that some of the circumstances, such as consumers and suppliers having perfect information (i.e. having a full understanding of the circumstances surrounding any transaction), there having to be no externalities (side-effects) that result from any transaction, and that all of the suppliers must be price-takers and not price-makers (i.e. be firms that are too small to dictate the price of a good in a market on their own), are nearly unachievable in this modern world of mis-information, pollution, and big business.
My point is not that there is anything wrong with the free market, in theory it is ideal, my point is that free markets do not, and cannot, really exist. Therefore, the idea of conducting business in a market based on the assumption that the market is a free market is ludicrous. Acting as though free markets exist leads to the exploitation of consumers, workers, and the environment in the name of profits. In other words, it leads us to exactly where we are today.
This is not to say that government intervention is the answer to all of our problems but it is to say that some government intervention in markets like ours, markets in which many of the necessary circumstances of free market economics do not exist, is a good idea. At some point, hopefully soon (as in during this administration's lifetime), the policy makers, which in reality are not necessarily all elected officials, in this country need to ensure that guide lines, which make it so that businesses cannot operate on free market principles are set up. Again, I am not calling for socialism but I am calling for the reining in of some of our free-wheeling economic principles.
Impressive weather
This is just plain awesome. http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/video?id=6734765
The storm was yesterday evening. I hope all of you got to see it. I was outside before it started and the air felt electric. There was lightning everywhere, really high humidity, swirling winds. Then I ran back to my house and called brad out. It then started hailing like crazy and raining. We just stood there in awe. I had so much adrenaline. Then we realized that almost all of the windows in the house were open and spent the next five minutes franically running around fighting against the wind and hail to close them. Everything got wet. Hail got 15 feet into Brad's room. It was so surprising and exciting. Good times.
The storm was yesterday evening. I hope all of you got to see it. I was outside before it started and the air felt electric. There was lightning everywhere, really high humidity, swirling winds. Then I ran back to my house and called brad out. It then started hailing like crazy and raining. We just stood there in awe. I had so much adrenaline. Then we realized that almost all of the windows in the house were open and spent the next five minutes franically running around fighting against the wind and hail to close them. Everything got wet. Hail got 15 feet into Brad's room. It was so surprising and exciting. Good times.
Saturday, March 28, 2009
everything has to have a beginning
Hey guys. So, this is the first post of my new blog musings on the modern world. The intent of this blog is really just to give me a place to voice many of the opinions and ideas that I have about my life and all of our lives in this city, country, and world. I want to cover a broad range of topics from environmental, globalization, and socioeconomic issues to natural history, music, biking and beer. I'm hoping that it will be interesting, entertaining and, maybe even a little, enlightening for those that read it. I would also really love if this became a place where some discussions could get started up. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it and here are a few links to get the ball rolling.
-The first one is a pretty interesting piece from another blog on the possibility that the US may be becoming, or has already become, an oligarchy and the second one is a slide show of some pretty stunning bird life.
-http://futurenewstoday.blogspot.com/2009/03/has-us-become-oligarchy.html
-http://thehomebased.com/?p=25
-The first one is a pretty interesting piece from another blog on the possibility that the US may be becoming, or has already become, an oligarchy and the second one is a slide show of some pretty stunning bird life.
-http://futurenewstoday.blogspot.com/2009/03/has-us-become-oligarchy.html
-http://thehomebased.com/?p=25
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