Some questions are better left unanswered
One of my favorite blogs is Creative Loafing’s the941. There’s no better source about what’s going on in the culture of Sarasota, if you could call it “culture.” The contributors lean left, but that’s not really surprising. Once there was a time when counter culture magazines were counter culture. Now it’s more like reading the script for Avatar. Hey, not everyone is perfect. No one reads Creative Loafing for political advice (I hope).
The most obnoxious column in the magazine is a weekly one called “Don’t Panic! Your war questions answered.” It’s written by Andisheh Nouraee who has his own blog and twitter if you like. There’s nothing really interesting about Nouraee’s column. It hits on all the bases that most progressives hit on… Bash Bush or anything that might be conservative, throw in some recycled derogatory rhetoric, and cite Media Matters as much as possible as a credible source for news. Continue reading »
There are plenty of reasons to love the United States. We live in a mostly free and open society. Our key principles of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness have led to unequaled economic prosperity. However, when you boil it all down the United States is really exceptional for just one thing: hamburgers. It’s with this in mind that I went to the Ritz Carlton in Sarasota to check out the Bayview Burger Bar. Yes, I went to the Ritz Carlton to eat a hamburger. Thanks to an article in Creative Loafing I learned about this hidden-in-plain-view spot in Sarasota.
The All American Burger
The Burger Bar is only open Friday-Sunday, but it sits on the backside of the building facing the beautiful Sarasota Bay. The burgers start at a very reasonable six dollars. I got the All American Single (doubled) with Bacon. That cost me $10 and it was worth every penny. The shiny plastic silverwear looks like real silver at first. The Ritz Carlton spares no plastic expense. The burger itself isn’t enormous, but is cooked to perfection. For some reason the bartender didn’t ask anyone in our group how they wanted it cooked. That was a bit puzzling and visions of e coli danced in my head.
There are also hand-dipped milkshakes for dessert, but it was to too windy and cold for us to try them out (“cold” being defined in Sarasota as anything under 70 degrees F). Be warned, the prices are reasonable but any domestic beer is more than $5 and cocktails are around $12. One other helpful hint is to remember to get your valet parking ticket verified at the bar.
What is finitephobia? People who have a illogical fear of running out of resources. This paranoia isn’t new. Well educated people have promised all kinds of scarcity disasters. One day we’re faced with overpopulation; a few decades later it’s water or oil. At the heart of American scarcity paranoia is the idea that the average Wal-Mart consumer is fat, uneducated and polluting the planet. Elitists all over the fruited plain like to look down at these stupid peasants.
Nothing lasts forever, but the idea that we’re at the precipice of running out of vital resources is absurd. There’s no evidence to suggest we’re almost out of any resource. The world could use more clean water, but the Earth isn’t running out of water. In order to have more clean water we have to pay for it. Another popular finitephobia is that the United States is becoming overdeveloped. Well over 90% of the United States is undeveloped, but this doesn’t seem to stop communities from implementing Smart Growth. There’s nothing smart about it.
Ultimately, the irrational fear of scarcity becomes problematic. Here’s a prime example from a finitephobe I encountered at Creative Loafing’s the 941 blog. I tried to make this point about finitephobia and was promptly greeted with a mixture of anger, profanity and condescension. Here was Susan Nilon’s reaction:
It doesn’t take much intelligence to look around you and see that we cannot sustain ourselves at the rate we are going. If you can’t recognize that, then please step aside. You are in the way. [emphasis added]
There’s the rub. “I am in the way.” Well, that’s a fairly totalitarian way of looking at a differing opinion. What’s the solution then? Everyone with my opinion must be exterminated in order to “fix things.” I jest, but when this kind of religious devotion to finitephobia sets in it becomes nearly impossible to have a logical debate. How do you debate someone who is “looking around” and claims “we cannot sustain ourselves at the rate we’re going”? Do we have to stop growing? De we start sterilizing humans? Will the world appoint a Growth Czar to make sure there’s no illegal breeding?
I’m troubled by the elitist mentality by many Americans. It’s especially annoying when these people can’t even form a logical argument. It might be fun to drink cocktails and make fun of people who shop at Wal-Mart. When this sentiment starts shifting from snobbery to a “these people are in the way” then there’s a problem. One last point…. Why is it that so many people who are worried that growth is unsustainable are the same people who don’t see any problem with unsustainable government growth?
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