Tuesday, August 15, 2006

brain bombs

I always love it when someone can take a radical fringe belief that happens to be the truth and make it sound as sensible and obviously right as it is. Those little brain-bombs that crystallise the point perfectly and in a few short words ensure you are never fooled on the particular issue again.

A favourite was the stickers that said, 'When Barclays closed all their rural branches, where were the Countryside Alliance? They don't care about rural life, they just want to hunt foxes'.

On large and seemingly unweildy topics, Jim Bliss is a master of the brain-bomb.

Asked to explain in simple and concise terms why modern capitalism is so bad, he replied that it is dependant on perpetual economic growth. 'Economic growth' is a synonym for 'accelerated consumption of mostly finite resources'. It doesn't take a particularly great mind to work out why you can't indefinitely consume finite resources at an ever increasing rate.

Isn't that just brilliant?

I certainly think so, which is why I've made myself look ever so clever by taking that line and using it again and again and again.

Jim's latest blog post is the most brilliant and clear explanation of the intrinsic injustice of freemarkets. Go, read it, and never be fooled again.

I'd nominate Jim for the post of Benevolent Dictator of The Galaxy, except he'd probably make us all listen to his Chris De Burgh albums. Even the live one with Lady In Red on.

No comments: