There Are Shockingly Few Industrialized Countries

It's a huge lie! Most of us are not doing well.

Sincerely,

Comrade Andrea, apparently.

P.S. A question for another time, in a far-off place: Is industrialization good?

If you gather the berries, I'll slaughter a rabbit

For how long will we be beholden to our evolutionary past?

This article is about how men tend to be more intelligent than women (you read that right). It claims that the reason for this comes from two factors:

1. Our hunter male ancestors had to solve complex problems to hunt. This meant the smarter ones survived. Our female ancestors who were in charge of the mindless task of collecting berries, on the other hand, could be as dumb as they pleased.
2. Our hunter male ancestors also increased their chances of survival and reproduction if they were more competitive. Thus, not only are men more intelligent, on average, than women (by 5 IQ points!), but also they are more likely to ruthlessly pursue success.

I understand that our old Neanderthal brains are all kinds of stressed out in our new, rapidly evolving social world. But, evolution hasn't come to a standstill. The verdict doesn't have to necessarily be in forever, right? Perhaps these days men and women face tasks that are more equally challenging than before. Perhaps in a million billion years we'll close that 5 point gap.

Surely we're now (and have been for the last, say, hundred thousand years) being selected on different features of brains from those for which our hunter-gatherer relatives were rewarded.

Or are we?

Your attention please

First, a review of the headlines for your fancy:

1. This article is important for obvious reasons: The US Government is, unsurprisingly, but still terrifyingly, a propaganda machine.
2. This article is important for less obvious but far more fundamental and far-reaching reasons: Some languages don't have different words for the color blue and the color green!

Second, two acts of self-indulgence: the first, a Miserable Observation; the second, a Triumphant Announcement:

1. Today is day 22 of the 30-day Hot Yoga Challenge and Andrea is verrry sick of it.
2. Daystallion will be competing in Cage Match at UCB on Thursday, May 29!

Third, one complaint:

1. I had the misfortune of watching "The View" for several minutes on a television in a lobby today. The subject for the day was "hot topics". They spent 1 minute on the election, where, in addition to announcing to everyone that, yes, the war in Iraq is still going on, they made clear the general fact that the economy is bad. As quickly as the subject came up, it was abandoned. The rest of the conversation was dedicated to the issue of Kristi Yamaguchi as a cast member in "Dancing with the Stars." I do not know what the point of "The View" is actually supposed to be, so my reaction may be wholly misguided, but I essentially found the experience entirely disheartening.

Fourth, one truth:

1. Selectively and sparingly used, the placement of an exclamation point instead of a question mark at the end of a statement that is undeniably interrogative can be masterful.

Fifth, a first installment of our new series, dear readers, of An Eye For An Eye*:

1. Today I watched someone who normally puts people on hold get put on hold.

Sixth, a review, in order, of all the numbers used in this entry:

1. 1, 1, 2, 2, 2, 1, 2, 1, 22, 30, 2, 29, 3, 1, 1, 4, 1, 5, 1, 6, 1
   

*working title.

Back on my high horse

Writing a dissertation is like going to the gym ---- Just kidding, dear readers! This blog entry is decidedly not about my dissertation (whew). Instead, it is about this article. But you are busy people, so instead of expecting you all to read the article, I will present the main points for your convenience, information, and discussion. First, here is the background:

1. The cost of food is on the rise around the world.
2. This is mostly because demand is skyrocketing as people in developing countries get wealthier.
3. The world's stockpiles of grain are the lowest since world stockpiles of grain made sense as a concept.
4. High prices of food are contributing to inflation in the US
5. High prices of food are contributing to social unrest and violence in many countries
   

Now, to be sure, farmers all over the place are responding to the demand by growing as much as they can. But it's all mostly wheat and grains. (Fun fact: there was a one-day pasta strike in Italy last year!) Apparently demand for bread is huge in a lot of places that don't traditionally include it in their diets:

"Between 1995 and 2005, per capita wheat consumption in Nigeria more than tripled, to 44 pounds a year. Bread has been displacing traditional foods like eba, dumplings made from cassava root." It's even gotten to the point where, if you think about it in terms of a substance, people are basically addicted to it. (On this subject, read this book.)

Add to this that demand for other American-style foods is also increasing -- In addition to bread, people all over the place now want things like pork, dairy, and beef. (I've belabored the point elsewhere about how eating all of these things basically makes our healthcare costs ridiculously high and probably is what gives us all degenerative diseases.)

It used to be that the Standard American Diet was the sort of thing that was bad for our health, sure, and, ok, also terrible for the environment. But at least the environmental impact was somewhat mitigated by the fact that it was mostly just Americans eating this way. Then our harmful and unsustainable habits spread to parts of Western Europe. Then they caught on in China. Now they're really ramping up everywhere.

Thus, in the midst of global concerns about overpopulation and global warming, the very lifestyle that contributes most to healthcare costs, costs of living, and environmental damage is spreading like wildfire. Or like a disease!

As if all of this isn't bad enough, the US Government is actively limiting the ability of local farmers in the US to (a) increase how much they grow, and (b) grow things that are not corn, soybeans, wheat, rice, and cotton -- which are the five federally subsidized commodity crops. For more on this terrifying story, go here.

How is it possible, you ask, that in the face of what looks to be a flat-out global economic, health, and food crisis, the US Government isn't changing its policies drastically to try to prevent it, or at least strongly minimize its effects? Alas, my friends, THAT is the subject of my dissertation.

Damn! But before I go, a piece of advice: Even if they tell you you can't have more than one Blockbuster account, you actually can.
Piece of advice #2: Don't incorporate in Nevada.
Piece of advice that I never follow: Brevity, friends, brevity!