Comments on: Frank Bruni, Rich A**holes and Bluefin Tuna as Gucci Handbag

By: We're destroying our oceans, and we don't even care.

We're destroying our oceans, and we don't even care. — Wed, 04 Aug 2010 18:06:35 +0000

[...] on its last leg, we do nothing. What's worse: some people are willing to pay $600 a plate because what they're eating is endangered – and thus, special. Reply With Quote + Reply to Thread « [...]

By: Hive Mind - Hive Mind - The Banality of Extinction - True/Slant

Hive Mind - Hive Mind - The Banality of Extinction - True/Slant — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 20:11:05 +0000

[...] Brandon’s example: Bluefin may go commercially extinct for the same reason that limited-edition Gucci handbags sell [...]

By: shrdlu

shrdlu — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 09:50:04 +0000

It’s too often the case of mistaken and tragic attention to priorities, what we choose to pay attention to and what we choose to ignore. There is very little enforcement resources directed at stopping the obscene laying of waste to precious resources because our policy makers have been blinded by the drug hysteria. The coast guard spends millions of dollars a year stopping ships bearing drugs at sea, sequetering and destroying their contents and doing what the trade in blue fin, exotic, rain forest hardwoods, dolphins is experiencing at this moment….driving up their worth so that the useless Gucci-wearing drones can flaunt their superiority because they judge their intrinsic worth on what they hold title too. I don’t think it’s a stretch of the imagination to observe that the empty words of the politicians trumpeting their superior morality and devotion to worthy causes speak with forked tongue. They will not halt the destruction of species world-wide because the people engaging in this very same destruction have them on their payroll.

By: Mike Saunders

Mike Saunders — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 21:04:23 +0000

The ephemeral value of seemingly silly things (fish belly, Beanie Babies, baseball cards) is always something to puzzle over. But as a reluctant NY Times shareholder, having Bruni pay that much for a piece of fish really pisses me off.

What, you can’t get a decent hot dog in New York, Frank? C’mon.

By: Rich Assholes and Bluefin Tuna | Vegan.com

Rich Assholes and Bluefin Tuna | Vegan.com — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 18:29:15 +0000

[...] don’t think it could be said any better. [Via The Daily Dish.] Link. Spread the [...]

By: Hive Mind

Hive Mind — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 18:19:38 +0000

@fausty: But also worth remembering that given enough time, and without humans hogging all the resources, life will branch back out again. After all, the creatures we have are descended from a few mega-extinction survivors. From a human-centric but nature-loving perspective, nature will ultimately prevail, but in the meantime we’re impoverishing our own lives.

By: SteveInTransit

Fri, 24 Jul 2009 13:13:18 +0000

Fishing is a classic market failure- in that the price mechanism works exactly backwards. High prices encourage producers to make more until the price matches demand. But higher prices encourage overfishing, which drives down the population further. Fishing is a complex problem- and the best solutions seem to be fishing bans and overt monitoring of boats and catches.

By: fausty

fausty — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 05:10:18 +0000

Long after handbag-carrying, status conscious humanity is dead and gone from this planet, the extinction of half of all living species will be our one true “legacy” to the future. How very fitting that our ability to destroy is the one thing that really sets us apart. Hooray for us. :-/

Fausty | http://www.cultureghost.org