About a fortnight ago, I heard on the telly that the Mayor of New Orleans called the approaching hurricane the worst of the century and thus he invited his fellow citizens to leave town.
Well, being a born Berliner, we would say to this kind of braggadocio "one size smaller would be welcome".
I take the liberty to remind everybody the century barely started, we have still 92 years to go before we are able to make an evaluation. So let's be patient and leave the subject to our children or even better to our grand-children.
Another well-known fact, the stock exchange goes up and down, some get burnt and other get rich and probably next year we'll have other "events of the century" to consider. As to the king-size hurricane over New Orleans, the Mayor mishandled the evaluation of this one as he did on behalf of the previous one thus I suppose he will be reelected triumphantly by his thankful citizens.
Another thing I am quite fed up with is the "War on Terror". Every one of us has a bigger chance to win a Billion Dollar or Euro at the Sweep Stakes or the Lottery and afterwards get struck by lightning rather than being killed in a terrorist action. An efficient police force and a Secret Service that is doing his job on the ground are amply sufficient to neutralize these buggers.
And let's stop talking endlessly about September 11 when its main aim seems to be using it merely as an excuse to embark on actions that shy the light, a kind of smoke screen with an exceeding long shelf life.
Because there are problems and there are dangers facing us. Climate change is one. During the last Ice Age the average temperature fell 2°C. Not very much one might say but now we are in danger to live through increases of 4° to 6°C!! That means lots of more deserts everywhere as well as flooded and definitely disappearing coastline everywhere around the globe.
Another one is overpopulation. If we go on like this the horror movie "Soylent Green" depicting life in 2022 will become a reality well before the end of the century. I have seen recently a documentary about Dhaka the capital of Bangla Desh: that was hell on earth, just to look at it. Those unhappy people have already achieved this kind of concentration..............
Have a look at overpopulation at home. Fortunately, it lasted only one evening and half of the night. We were celebrating our ten years' living here.
All this to let off some steam and to entertain my friends worldwide who want to read something about politics.
Posts
well, georg :) you sound like me when i go off on a tear sometimes :) my own personal thought is that the perpetual 'war on terror' has more to do with usurping citizen's rights and civil liberties than it does actual terrorism. i won't get into my other thoughts on that topic here. as for the over exaggeration- well, we both know that stuff is only going to get worse. not many folks are taking global climate change seriously enough to, well, change- and that is going to impact everyone and quickly. the rest- well, soundbytes to play to the morons that unfortunately, plague my country. if i could, i would apologize profusely to the rest of the world for america. truly.
ReplyDeleteSince i didn't hear the shoe banging on the podium, I will consider it a minor, but well aimed and true VENT of your observations.
ReplyDeleteWish I had know there was a party at your place, would have sent over some of my home made wine!
(mulberry)
~Congrats~
Goerg, you really can take people laughing into the gas chamber!
ReplyDeleteHave you seen Alan Greenspan? He couldn't have been talking about the 21st century! I haven't seen the Mayor of New Orleans but being an American, it is his right to say "mine is bigger than yours!"
Overpopulation and global warming are really the two problems that pose grave threats. And nobody seems to be really serious about them.
Hallo Betmo, Sorrow and Vinod,
ReplyDeleteLet me thank you first for commenting so fast. I know there is a possibility to be informed immediately of a new post but I have not yet found out how to do it.
Regarding Betmo's comment about my mentioning 9/11, well, I had not the United States in mind but what happens here in Europe. Because that terrible September day is useful to many over here, too.
Sorrow's mulberry wine: yes, I would like to taste it. Here in France, the word "wine" is reserved exclusively for the stuff made of grapes. But we are making a beverage from some fruits and alcohol of about 80°. But I am not sure if this is the same. What I like most is cherries in alcohol. They have to remain in the jar at least six months.
I am really glad to hear that you, Vinod, appreciate my sens of humor. Not everybody does. I do not fully understand your remark about Allan Greenspan. I did not hear him in person. I was reading it somewhere, probably on an internet page. But I am unable to say where.
To all of you
Cheers and tinkety-tonk + toodle-oo.
Georg
Hi Georg,
ReplyDeleteAlan Greenspan sometimes looks so old that you might be forgiven for thinking he is from the 19th century, forget 20th!
I am the author of a book titled "Five Short Blasts: A New Economic Theory Exposes The Fatal Flaw in Globalization and Its Consequences for America." I think you may find this book to be very interesting because population density lies at the heart of this new economic theory. To make a long story short, as population density rises beyond some optimum level, per capita consumption of products begins to decline out of the need to conserve space. People who live in crowded conditions simply don’t have enough space to use and store many products. This declining per capita consumption, in the face of rising productivity (per capita output, which always rises), inevitably yields rising unemployment and poverty.
ReplyDeleteFor most people who see never-ending population growth as a problem, their concerns are rooted in a concern for the environment. Economists, on the other hand, shrug off such concerns, claiming that man is ingenious enough to overcome any obstacles to population growth. Resources can be used more efficiently and recycled, pollution can be abated, and so on. Making matters worse, they can’t envision how an economy can remain healthy without further population growth. So our government and business leaders hold fast to their “pro growth” approach.
This book, however, finally offers the ultimate weapon for environmentalists and anyone concerned about population growth - a solid economic argument for a reduced population. It explains how everyone’s wallet is directly impacted by growth which has become cancerous, driving up unemployment and eroding their finances and quality of life. It’s written in plain language, not economic gibberish, and is aimed at average Americans.
If you’re interested in learning more about this important new economic theory, I invite you to visit my web site at OpenWindowPublishingCo.com. There you can read the preface, join in the blog discussion and, of course, purchase the book if you like. (It's also available at Amazon.com.)
Please forgive the somewhat “spammish” nature of the previous paragraph. I don't know how else to inject this new perspective into the debate about overpopulation without drawing attention to the book that explains the theory.
Keep up your efforts to raise concern about our growing population problem.
Pete Murphy
Author, Five Short Blasts
Bonjour Peter,
ReplyDeleteThanks for explaining your book. I'll have a look right after this post.
To Vinod:
Now I get you. Absolutely, A.G. looks a bit like Ramses from Egypt.
Georg
You know they just want to keep people afraid and in fear of leaving their houses.
ReplyDeleteReminds me all too much when the Russians were supposed to be coming in the 50s and 60s (duck 'n cover etc).
Same smell! ; (
Hey, where are all the men hiding in that picture???????
Cheers from down under in the usa!
what are the kids watching..they look SERIOUS.
ReplyDeleteHallo Anrosh,
ReplyDeleteThe video they looked at are either
"Fourmiz" or "The Cavern of the Golden Rose".
Cheers
Georg
oh dear Georg, yes! the devastating themes of the day: overpopulation, scare food, and yes this awful heat in California, the serious matters indeed. I am mexican and raised in Mexico City so I do understand the dynamics of overpopulation... and for political reasons (or excuses) we have many here in the US, and 9/11 has become such a stigma! the other day on a cartoon, they were making fun of how a politician can be popular here: " Just say 9/11" so people from the public would ask different questions about health, economic issues, etc. and the politician would reply just: "well, 9/11" then the public cheered, sadly that doesn't happen just in the cartoons here...
ReplyDeletefood, health, and a non-exploding planet is what we need, all of the rest flows anyway, one century after another, and i just hope as Charlton Heston that we are not eating 'green, and with lots of proteins' cookies soon! although the American cookies would NOT be fat free (now a very dark joke here too, es tut mir Leid! couldn't resist ;))
Hallo Berenice,
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting so much to the point.
As to the fat free cookies: I am so glad you could not resist. Great joke. I'll keep that one in mind.
Georg
Georg,
ReplyDeleteWas ist los mit Ihnen? Unglaublich. Glauben Sie in Gott in den Mindesten?
Georg, apparently the only problem with over population in the world is yourself. Pour some coffee on your face, go to church, and wake up from your depressed, Godless existence! Life wasn't meant to be a cult of gloom and doom.
Tschuss!
Hallo Eddi,
ReplyDeleteJust one question: why should I pour coffee on my face? And anyway, I prefer tea, any brand as long as it is not Lipton. Would tea do the job, too?
Cheers, Eddi
Come back again
Georg