Sportswear

Sportswear is a monstrosity. It is made by the poorest people who are exploited for their labour. It is bought and worn largely by people who do not participate in sport. It is sold by uncrupulous people in thrall to mega rich sporting organisations intent on exploiting their supporters. 

Altogether an enterprise we would be better off without.

Cargo Cult

My country is engulfed by un-reason. Many of my countrymen will vote soon on becoming independent from the United Kingdom. They may even prevail. Words can hardly describe this folly. The nearest I can get is the phenomenon of the cargo cult which exists in parts of the Pacific.There people have a memory going back to WWII when aircraft brought goods and supplies for the war effort and which at the margin benefited local people. After the war the belief developed that these deliveries could be induced to continue and to this day various religious practices are followed which seek to restore these deliveries bringing material prosperity. This religion is sometimes described as a cargo cult. The followers of the Scottish National Party show some similarities. In defiance of all reasonable independent assessments they cling to the notion that independence from the United Kingdom will bring prosperity beyond the dreams of avarice. If we step over this line we shall find out!

Three Paradoxes

Over the last few decades a number of trends amusingly point to a gap between aspiration and actions.

In clothing and footwear we have seen the huge growth of sportswear parallel increasing inactivity and a decline in participant sport. Fortunes have been made on the trend. We do less but are more inclined to dress as if we did more.

In household design we see a massive growth in the importance of kitchens, their design, equipment and all round desirability precisely in time with a collapse in home cooking and the growth of fast food and restaurants.

Lastly we have seen an explosion of attention to dentistry both conventional and cosmetic. We have never for many centuries had better teeth precisely as we have adopted a diet that renders highly efficient dentition less and less necessary.

With better sportswear, cooking facilities and better teeth just think how much healthier we could be. Sadly we take less exercise, cook less and consume a worse diet all leading to the current epidemic of obesity. Do we spend more on sportswear, kitchens and dentistry to ease  a sense of guilt at our own behaviour?

Three unrecognised elephants

There are three issues which distort and destroy much of public life. They are omnipresent yet are seldom mentioned. We need to recognise these for if we don't we are condemned to a future of hopelessnness and despair.

In most public debate on any matter whatever if one attends one sees evidence of Ignorance - individuals making judgements while not in possession of available knowledge, Stupidity - a relative inability to draw reasonable conclusions from such knowledge as is to  hand and Laziness - a failure to exert effort to comprehend or affect the situation. Look, listen and reflect and you will see this at every turn in the pronouncements of many in the public eye. There was a time when such persons would not have been afforded a hearing. The great transformation may have been triggered by the election of Ronald Reagan in 1980 as  President  of the USA. He embodied all three failings in a high degree and his situation was starkly apparent in the inevitable comparison with his predecessor Jimmy Carter who showed then and has confirmed since that he is knowledgeable, smart and diligent. The three opposites of Reagan's defining features.

We need to stop being squeamish and call such people out. We cannot allow this unholy trinity of properties to blight our future. Listen, Look, Reflect and above all Act!

What (not) to Eat.

As never before many of us have huge choice of what to eat. From a past where most of us had to eat what was available, cheap and plentiful we now have a huge range of  foods. so which to choose? Are some foods more "natural" than others? If so are these foods more "health"?  Firstly we should note on inescapable issue. Mankind has changed its diet massively these last 50000 years or so and the biggest change from our remote ancestors is the use of cooking. So dramatic is this and so prevalent in daily use it is now widely believed that none of us could survive on a diet of uncooked food!
Next we might consider if any foods stand out as "unnatural". Let us consider all the things we might eat and see if there are any that are not eaten by animals. Animals of course in the wild do not eat cooked food. They do however eat fruit, vegetables, herbs, fish, meat, etc. So what is missing that we eat? Firstly cereals which we invented but at a stretch are just specialised grasses so might count as natural. The big thing missing fro animals diet in the wild and massive in ours (in much of the world) is dairy produce. We get through masses of milk and milk products. Wild animals beyond infancy consume none. Dairy produce is seriously unnatural. (and in much of the word milk causes serious health problems). Should we avoid it - its for you to decide. Me? Yoghurt and cheese give most taste - the rest I avoid.

The Flood

Much fun was had last week when a science supporting actor had a TV debate with a "young earth creationist". This species of person apparently goes about pretending to believe that the earth is about 7000 years old and every  word of the bible is true. There was it seems some discussion of Noah, the flood and all that. Here is a thing: the flood covered the entire earth, and the rains eventually stopped. The waters abated and dry land was exposed. Here's the question - where did the water go? If the whole earth was covered in water there would be nowhere for it to drain away to. If it evaporated it would fall again as rain and start the whole mess off again. So where did the water go? To my utter delight I now discover that Leonardo da Vinci made this exact point! Try this on your local friendly creationist. Harmless amusement.

A Non-Random Sample

USA for all its wealth has possibly unique problems not widely shared by other advanced (largely European) societies.  No healthcare for many, plutocracy run riot, guns, racism, obesity etc etc.
Why?
Non-native Americans are descended from assorted immigrants from around the world whose originating societies may currently be poorer but many of which in measurable ways  are doing better.
Who were those migrants and how were they selected? Randomly?  No.
The migrants were of two sorts - those who went willingly and those taken against their will.
Start with the latter. From Europe many were taken as indentured servants - slaves of a sort and not willing. Who selected them? Their masters.  African slaves made a substantial minority of immigrants. How were they selected? Firstly they lived within reach of the sea, secondly they were unlucky and thirdly they were out of favour with their masters who sold them.  Overall not a random sample.

Of those who went voluntarily? A mixture of poorer more dependent people lured by promises , some driven by threats and some clearly so socially disturbed that the perils and uncertainties of emigration were to be preferred. Notable among this group were those seeking religious (ie fractious sectarian religious) freedom a characteristic still evident though thankfully now in terminal decline. Again not a random sample.

So today USA is largely populated by the descendants of these non randomly selected migrants. And that it is how it is in all its unique bizarre splendour.

It is now down to the molecular biologists to study the DNA to discover how Americans differ from the current populations in those countries  from whence their ancestors came and offer insights which might help them recover and join the wider human community.

Religionists Rank Ingratitude Rankles.

The most depressing infuriating enraging aspect of the religionist is not the vapid tawdry nature of his purported but largely not effected beliefs. It is rather that he has spurned the efforts of better folks than himself who strove and took great risks to create a world in which this supernatural nonsense need no more terrorize and enslave him. The religionist is ungrateful. That is unforgivable. Men and women throughout the ages thought about things and demonstrated the falsity of religious pronouncements. We were freed from its clutches both mentally and in time physically. We were free!  The progression from ancient insights, the renaissance, the reformation and the enlightenment chart major steps on this escape and sensible persons have grasped and exploited the possibilities. But not the religionist. He affects to spurn this enterprise and clings or purports to cling to his discredited dogma yet revels in the benefits the overthrow of religion brought him.