Optimists and Conservationists

Time magazine is the pop music of journalism. It gives you a predictable,simplified,uncontroversial picture of the world and the latest issue on Optimism, edited by Bill and Melinda Gates is a perfect sedative. It was the first time a civilian got to edit the magazine but Bill is special, as we all know. Special wealth, special altruism/philanthropy, special insight into the state of the planet. And according to Bill, things are on the up and up! There is no crisis,in fact, we've never had it so good! The crisis is a matter of perception, fostered by naysaying media that only reports on the bad. But according to Bill and Melinda democratic capitalism is saving the planet one child at a time and we should be checking our bad attitudes at the door.

I also picked up a copy of the magazine put out by Trout Unlimited where they describe all the great conservation work done by these great conservationists. They are conserving the shit out of trout streams. In one piece they interviewed a big donor named Charlie Johnson, a retired corporate whore who likes to fish. Charlie recalled how he called the CEO of TU and said: "Chris, Charlie Johnson here. I want you to know I will be watching you, I don't want to see TU become one of those commie-pinko organizations." Because Charlie is a millionaire conservationist who won't mention climate change and won't give money to TU if they mention it. So they plant willows in creeks that will soon be dry. Using Charlie's money (tax deductible)


I also saw that the son of Wallace Stegner just died and the obit talked about what a great conservationist (and probably optimist) he was, dedicating his life to conserving landscapes and species that are rapidly disappearing. No commie-pinko, thank God. Then there is National Geographic magazine's latest, with all the articles about all the bird species that are disappearing despite all the conservation work they have done and the articles they have written and the legislation passed and conservation yeah. Because they have conserved the shit out of it and still the ice is melting.