Day 2639

There weren't any blueberries when I went to the store this weekend, so I substituted blackberries in my morning smoothie today. I think I like blueberries better. Do I go out and look for some more blueberries tomorrow, or do I just live with the mix of blackberries, strawberries and bananas for the rest of the week? Why do I concern myself with such minutiae? Probably because it allows me to avoid the frustration of thinking about larger issues.

I could be thinking about globalism vs. nationalism. It's certainly a hot topic right now. I prefer blackberries vs. blueberries because I can actually make a choice about things like this. Larger issues just become abstractions that nobody really understands. If you really want to know, I think nationalism is better than globalism. Not for the reasons you might think though. Nobody seems to take the long view on these type of issues. It's not national pride vs. cheap flat screen TV's for everyone. I tend to think that globalism is a recipe for the extinction of the human race.

A global society is the ultimate too big to fail entity. If a global, unified society fails, who's going to bail it out? Small redundant systems are much more resilient. The natural world works this way. So does the internet. When you have thousands of independent connected servers, it doesn't matter if one goes down. The signal just gets rerouted to a different server and everything stays connected. Wouldn't a world consisting of thousands of small independent countries be better? Lots of small countries, each developing their own rules, traditions, and culture would give the world the genuine diversity and redundancy it needs to survive. If a few countries screwed up, it wouldn't really matter.

It is ironic that we even talk about diversity in a global society. The whole point of globalism is to maximize efficiency and standardize everything. This destroys diversity. If there is a Starbucks in Beijing and your food comes from Argentina, choices gradually diminish for everyone. When everything is one big giant system, the repercussions from failure are enormous. Remember, when the world becomes too big to fail, who's going to bail us out when it all starts to crumble?

I don't know why people can't understand this. Lots of small, weak countries that manufacture their own stuff and create their own traditions is a better recipe for long term survival. If the European Union fails, it is probably a good thing. The United States should probably split into several smaller countries too. We just aren't smart enough to create a unified world where everyone follows the same rules. With lots of little, isolated, self sufficient countries, you wouldn't have to worry about world wars as much. People would still fight, but it wouldn't really matter if nobody had any power.

It is hard to even explain this concept, because this is not the world we live in. Humans seem to operate on two emotions: fear and greed. When a country gets a little more powerful than it's neighbor, they become greedy. The temptation to gobble up the weaker country becomes overwhelming. That's how the world became the way it is. We just can't leave things alone. I take the long view. Democrats vs. Republicans is just a minor distraction if you're convinced that the human race will be extinct in 30,000 years.

So, this is why I spend my day talking to dogs and wondering whether blueberries are better than blackberries. The larger issues are like the wind and the tides. I can't change things. I can't even articulate what I am seeing. I just watch and wonder, thinking that something has gone horribly wrong.

Anne is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day

Day 2413

When Dash and I were out on our walk this morning, we passed a message written in chalk on the sidewalk. It got me wondering what hope actually meant to me. I hope that Dot will be with us for another year. I hope that Janet stays healthy and happy. I hope I won't run out of money before I die. My hopes are pretty basic and almost exclusively centered around the small world I live in. I never hope for world peace or a winning lottery ticket. That's rainbows and unicorns stuff. I'm a realist. If you've ever been a part of a dysfunctional family, or a member of a homeowner's association you understand how difficult it is to get along on even the most basic level. Neighbors become mired in petty arguments about barking dogs and trees on the property line. 50% of all marriages end in divorce. If our cities and states and individual countries are so divided, how can we ever expect the entire world to come together. It has never happened in human history.

My sister is a historian and one of the smartest people I know. I remember her telling me once that one of the most productive periods in history was when the great Italian city states flourished in Europe. These small city states were extremely competitive and were constantly at war with each other. Since the city states were so small, they couldn't do much damage on a global scale. The competition between the states was good. It created great wealth and played a major role in the Renaissance. Art, science, and philosophy all flourished during this period of time. It was only when countries got larger and decided to expand their influence by conquering other countries that the world started to get screwed up. The rise of the British Empire probably caused a lot of the problems we see today.

Humans are not a friendly species. Great White Sharks and Cobras are puppy dogs compared to us. This is why I've never been a fan of globalization. To survive, we need small redundant systems, so that if one element of society fails, it doesn't take down everyone else with them. The Internet is a redundant system. If a server goes down, information will bypass the trouble and find another route to its destination. There is no master hub that controls the entire Internet. Politicians don't seem to understand the beauty of this model though. They keep trying to make things bigger. The United Nations, The European Union, NATO, and it appears even The United States of America, all appear to be completely unable to bring people together on any lasting basis. I have very little hope that we are ever going to get it right.

None of this really bothers me though, since I seldom venture more than five miles from my house. My philosophy has always been "I'll leave you alone if you leave me alone." As long as the Zombie Apocalypse doesn't begin until five years after I'm dead, I'm fine.

I got an early start on my chores today because it was so hot outside. When I was using the automated checkout aisle at the grocery store, I couldn't get the bar code reader to work. It would beep when I pointed it at items in my cart, but nothing would show up on the register. This must be a common problem, because it didn't take long before an employee noticed me trying to read the UPC code on my strawberries over and over again and came over and rebooted the machine. Turn it off and then turn it on again seems to be the universal solution for everything these days. It's really too bad we can't just reboot the entire world.

Jewel is today's Dalmatian of the Day

Watch of the Day