617
ours in any case. So much has happened since the beginning of our biological formation. Indeed, there is no ascertainable transitional from the microbial to any other
Kingdom, in as much as these things, units of measurement, categories of that compulsion to denominate, are useless letters of all those human languages that know
only the mechanism of harpooning targets across every suite of the biosphere, and
thence upon the printed page. And like that emboldened, ruthless fool who is the
Ahab of every doomed genetic generation, and has always been he, there is no
known remedy for the fatal hubris eating away at all we have dreamt. Those dreams
serve only to further corrode any and all (golden age) legacies, spelling out in ravenous detail the future our Anthropocene makes more clear by the minute, from microplastics in the Arctic snow to the grotesque tally of dead fur-bearing animals in
Denmark, the true victims wandering in the guise of Hamlet’s ghost, the figure of a
man who is certainly one of many crucial keys to all that was Shakespeare, as was
the year 1606.
But that is not to suggest the least clarity. Such analysis is the wan metaphor of
black holes within holes, where no measurements have meaning. Where even theoretical inference connotes only those odd mesmerizing fragments of collective delusion, from cemetery to cemetery. We’re not suggesting that there is no good will or
interesting outcomes in these miles-upon-miles of library shelves. Only that our
biological growth has so favored consolidation in mind, that mind is stuffed, the way
a mirror in Jain tradition is clouded by karma, impeding our ability to see and act
clearly.
65.4 A Colossus of Migraines
What, then, is there to say about this colossus of migraines, pounding blood pressure, and grievous missteps? While multitudes positioned at the hypothetically individual bio-level have purportedly imagined some Utopian alternative to prescribed
histories and mythologies; painted caves, illuminated manuscripts and the harmonious gatherings of musical cadence, each production assaying self-referential edification; the underlying problem is ineluctable. Paramount. Baffling. A malignancy as
aggressive as an asteroid breaking out in body and soul with no distinguishing or
differentiating characteristics that might otherwise lend themselves to repair or the
slightest redemption. In the most mundane but telling guises of this problem, it is
noteworthy that every national collective has debt. Those nations where the debt
appears to be diminutive, in fact, have not internalized natural capital depreciation.
That would include, of course, meat eating, which is highest in the United States,
Kuwait, Australia, the Bahamas, Luxembourg, New Zealand, and Austria.
26
And
lowest in Bangladesh, then India, Burundi, Sri Lanka, and Rwanda.
But there are innumerable other uncorrelated factors. India, for example, is one
of the largest exporters of buffalo meat in the world (as described in Chap. 36, f. 23).
26 See, “Revealed: The world’s most vegetarian country,” by Oliver Smith, The Daily Telegraph,
March 26, 2018.
65.4 A Colossus of Migraines
ours in any case. So much has happened since the beginning of our biological formation. Indeed, there is no ascertainable transitional from the microbial to any other
Kingdom, in as much as these things, units of measurement, categories of that compulsion to denominate, are useless letters of all those human languages that know
only the mechanism of harpooning targets across every suite of the biosphere, and
thence upon the printed page. And like that emboldened, ruthless fool who is the
Ahab of every doomed genetic generation, and has always been he, there is no
known remedy for the fatal hubris eating away at all we have dreamt. Those dreams
serve only to further corrode any and all (golden age) legacies, spelling out in ravenous detail the future our Anthropocene makes more clear by the minute, from microplastics in the Arctic snow to the grotesque tally of dead fur-bearing animals in
Denmark, the true victims wandering in the guise of Hamlet’s ghost, the figure of a
man who is certainly one of many crucial keys to all that was Shakespeare, as was
the year 1606.
But that is not to suggest the least clarity. Such analysis is the wan metaphor of
black holes within holes, where no measurements have meaning. Where even theoretical inference connotes only those odd mesmerizing fragments of collective delusion, from cemetery to cemetery. We’re not suggesting that there is no good will or
interesting outcomes in these miles-upon-miles of library shelves. Only that our
biological growth has so favored consolidation in mind, that mind is stuffed, the way
a mirror in Jain tradition is clouded by karma, impeding our ability to see and act
clearly.
65.4 A Colossus of Migraines
What, then, is there to say about this colossus of migraines, pounding blood pressure, and grievous missteps? While multitudes positioned at the hypothetically individual bio-level have purportedly imagined some Utopian alternative to prescribed
histories and mythologies; painted caves, illuminated manuscripts and the harmonious gatherings of musical cadence, each production assaying self-referential edification; the underlying problem is ineluctable. Paramount. Baffling. A malignancy as
aggressive as an asteroid breaking out in body and soul with no distinguishing or
differentiating characteristics that might otherwise lend themselves to repair or the
slightest redemption. In the most mundane but telling guises of this problem, it is
noteworthy that every national collective has debt. Those nations where the debt
appears to be diminutive, in fact, have not internalized natural capital depreciation.
That would include, of course, meat eating, which is highest in the United States,
Kuwait, Australia, the Bahamas, Luxembourg, New Zealand, and Austria.
26
And
lowest in Bangladesh, then India, Burundi, Sri Lanka, and Rwanda.
But there are innumerable other uncorrelated factors. India, for example, is one
of the largest exporters of buffalo meat in the world (as described in Chap. 36, f. 23).
26 See, “Revealed: The world’s most vegetarian country,” by Oliver Smith, The Daily Telegraph,
March 26, 2018.
65.4 A Colossus of Migraines