There are two interesting op-ed pieces on opposite pages in today's
NY Post. Kyle Smith writes that life is getting better not worse, despite what most media outlets and government agencies would have citizens believe. He cites several examples (pared and edited by yours truly): "the DDT scare (banned in 1972, it was later found to be as carcinogenic as coffee by the International Agency for Research on Cancer), the overpopulation scare (in fact, the population is leveling out and will actually start to decline in about 50 years), the famine scare (despite a doubling of the world population since 1968, world food production has tripled. Cancer rates have fallen precipitously, while survival rates are way up. Ronald Bailey writes in
The End of Doom: Environmental Renewal in the Twenty-first Century that massive improvements in virtually all areas of human endeavor have simply gone ignored. The doomsayers simply never account for the role of human cooperation and ingenuity in confronting challenges. Remember the hole in the ozone layer? Chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants apparently floated up to the atmosphere and were eroding the protective ozone layer over Antarctica. French researchers reported in 2013 that the ozone layer is recovering. Ask yourself which science has seen more breakthroughs in the last few decades — political science or technology. Solar energy, on current trends, could be as cheap as $24 per megawatt hour in a decade. That is far cheaper than the forecasts for fossil fuel costs. Smith concludes with a quote from Bailey: 'Wagering against human ingenuity has always been a bad bet.'" I believe humanity's chief struggles these days, at least in the western world, are cultural. The evolution there is as staggering as that of technology, at least to baby boomers and those older than that. It is a far different world from the one in which we grew up. Have the changes improved the quality of life in the way science has? The argument will rage. I believe it has merely made things messier. Naomi Schaefer Riley cites another of those changes in her article: "From college campuses in Indiana to bars in New York City, men and women are using technology to find available partners in the vicinity, for one thing only: sex. But this is more than a dating apocalypse. This is the marriage apocalypse." Where will the new normal lead? I am in the position of wanting to believe social liberalism has not gone too far, although my instincts tell me otherwise. I want to believe the evolution of western society on the personal level, as frightening as it often is, has been largely positive. Unlike the Al Gore's of the world, my views have always been characterized by uncertainty. The polar ice caps remain, receding in the north, expanding in the south. Hopefully the western world, America, will remain solid and not melt down from within.
In the book I'm reading, which I'll comment on when I've finished it, I came across a word that was completely unfamiliar to me: "didgeridoo." It is an Australian instrument. I believe I've seen it used in a Yanni concert broadcast on PBS. Here's a pic:
So many things went wrong today but one positive rectified all. I was half way to Park Slope when I realized I'd left behind my cell phone and the bottle of water I'd frozen overnight. When I arrived I bypassed the perfect parking spot, the size of which I'd miscalculated as I passed. I considered moving the car, but it would have involved backing into the intersection and making a U-turn. Why risk a ticket when the car was only 25 yards away? I would pay for that mistake. I stood under the tree closest to the corner of 4th Street and watched lots of people pass. Despite the heat, foot traffic was unaffected. Unfortunately, no one was interested in books. I was willing to give steep discounts, but no one even asked. Fortunately, clouds moved in and provided nice relief, so I was able to stay as long as I'd intended. And it paid off when a lovely young woman approached, slipping a Newport behind her ear. Monique, who had worked in a trading environment, bought
Exchanges. As we were conversing, it began to sprinkle. I was surprised, not having heard about any rain in the forecast. I'd heard no thunder. By the time I was half way through packing up, it was a deluge. There were rivers flowing fast along 7th Avenue. The rain actually felt great. It's not good for books, though, and I had to lug them across the street. Driving home, I had to take a detour, as a street fair was set up along a stretch of Coney Island Avenue. Traffic was a mess for a while. And the rain persisted. I had to park at the viaduct on East 15th in order to check on and sort the books. So far, only one is lost, a paperback copy of Jeffrey Archer's
Be Careful What You Wish For. I've spread a bunch of the others on the back seat and along the back and front windshields. All but one of the boxes I kept them in were ruined. Still, it was all worth it thanks to Monique.
Vic's 3rd Novel: http://tinyurl.com/7e9jty3
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