Since you have forgotten some of your lessons, let's review. That means you, myrkul.
Some of the following material is derived from posts I have written in the past, but I think it will have greater effect if I merge it together here with a few edits and additions. Please read it through thoroughly.
Ever heard of the Spotted Owl and the controversy surrounding it? What was all that about?
The Spotted Owl is a top level predator in the northwest. It was declared an umbrella species (otherwise known as a keystone or flagship species), and listed as endangered. The timber industry had an issue with this. Here's why. The purpose of listing the Spotted Owl as an umbrella species was because in order to preserve the Spotted Owl population, the old growth forests in the northwest would have to be preserved as well. That meant the timber industry would not be allowed to harvest existing old growth forests.
Why are old growth forests important? Because they offer what are called ecosystem services. Secondary growth forests do not offer all those ecosystem services, nor at the same level that the old growth forests do. And that's it in a nutshell. It has been demonstrated that the Spotted Owl can live in secondary growth forests, but it cannot viably breed in secondary growth forests.
Thus, species such as the Spotted Owl are declared umbrella species to act as a protective umbrella for their respective environments as a way to protect those environments in perpetuity, because once they're all gone, the possibility of regaining all those ecosystem services that those ecosystems provide is pretty much nil.
Biodiversity, it's very definition, implies diversity, which arises from the existence of thousands, tens of thousands of species within any given ecosystem. This then results in the ecosystem being able to provide its services, known collectively as ecosystem services. The goal is to protect biodiversity by protecting ecosystems. A general technique for doing so is to declare a top level species within its respective ecosystem as endangered (because it is endangered or will become extinct if its ecosystem is destroyed) as an umbrella species. The ecosystem is then preserved under the umbrella of the umbrella species. This protects biodiversity.
Myrkul provided an example of relocating the Scimitar Oryx to a Texan hunting preserve as an example of species preservation, but it is not a case of protecting biodiversity.
As long as we don't disrupt natural ecosystems, they will provide everything listed below:
- Freshwater supply and flood control - Generation and maintenance of soils - Ocean flood protection - Natural pest control - Amelioration of the weather - The cycling of nutrients - Pollination of plants
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, published in 2005, breaks it down like this:
Supporting Services:
- Nutrient cycling - Soil formation - Primary production - Preservation of genetic resources
Regulating services:
- Climate amelioration - Flood control - Agricultural pest control - Water purification
Provisioning services:
- Food - Timber and fiber - Fresh water - Fuel
Cultural services:
- Esthetic - Spiritual - Educational - Recreational
Other disruptive effects to the ecosystem services enumerated above include harvesting resources (collateral damage), toxic waste, atmospheric pollution, garbage waste, over harvesting (fish), pesticides, noise, etc.
What disrupts the above?
Reduction in the number of top level predators. Top level predators, such as raptors, wolves, cats, etc. regulate the ecosystem by preventing overgrazing of vegetation, which plays a role in providing habitat to the smaller organisms, all the way down to the microscopic level, which in turn plays a role in nutrient cycling, water purification, soil formation, etc. In other words, top level predators ultimately affect the health of the entire ecosystem. This process, where top level species affect the environment as a cascading effect are known collectively as trophic cascades.
As an example, let's examine the case of wolves. Numerous species of wolves were eradicated in the twentieth century (by cattle ranchers, incidentally). As it turns out, it was determined that they played a role within the dynamics of the ecosystems. Their elimination resulted in a deleterious effect on the ecosystem services, due to the removal of a trophic cascade effect.
When in the presence of wolves, ungulates generally do not browse in riparian zones. Riparian zones are the areas of rich vegetation along the banks of streams, creeks and rivers. The reason ungulates do not browse in such areas when wolves are present is because their escape route is hindered by the slopes of the river bank, the body of water itself, and the denser vegetation. When wolves are removed, ungulates in general decimate the vegetation in these riparian zones, which in turn results in habitat loss for numerous species, typically beginning with rodents, and cascading all the way down to the microscopic level, where numerous species exist within the soil. This loss of habitat within the riparian zones results in a huge loss of ecosystem services, including nutrient cycling, soil formation, flood control and water purification
Edge effects are another disrupting process to ecosystems and the ecosystem services they provide. Typically, property ownership is the cause. The fracturing of an ecosystem disrupts its viability, by inhibiting migration, reducing territorial area needed by top level predators (see above), and this ultimately reduces biodiversity, which reduces genetic information, a resource required for medicine, material science, engineering, computer science, etc.
Edge effects are a direct result of ecosystem fracturing, which will be defined and discussed. There is a whole cascade of effects and interrelated issues that apply here. They are:
- The importance of wildlife corridors - The dangers of ignorance - Exploitation via corporations - Lack of regulation - Solutions via private enterprise - Habitat loss - Information loss - Bioproductivity loss - Natural capital - Water quality - Trophic cascades - Policies
The list goes on. And on.
The whole substrate upon which humanity, society, and life depend on begin in the soil and water (essentially our planet), as nourished by the incoming sunlight from above.
Here's a thought for you: the very complex systems which naturally occur within the soil and above the soil define everything we have to support ourselves and they define everything we have available to educate ourselves (outside cosmology and related fields). There is more going on here than you think. Humanity thus far has been built from those systems, but humanity itself is also depleting, fracturing (and thus destroying) the very systems which allowed it to come this far.
Edge effects: What are they? Imagine a parcel of land that is fairly large and of a particular shape, mostly undisturbed. Let's say it's unspoiled rainforest. We'll begin with a circle 100 miles in diameter.
The circle: A circle 100 miles in diameter has an edge that is 314 miles long. It's area is a little more than 7,500 miles. The ratio of area/edge is 7,500/314 which equals about 24.
The fractal shape: A fractal shape with an area of 7,500 miles but with a ragged edge that is 1,000 miles long has a ratio of area/edge of 7,500/1,000 which equals 7.5.
Among the two shapes described above, each say being a rainforest ecosystem, the circle will generally be healthier and more viable. What does this mean? The circle, will in general, be richer in all of the following:
- Number of species - Lower extinction rate - More nutrients within the soil - Lesser vulnerability to drought, heat, cold, etc. - More information, complexity and potential knowledge to be discovered within - Greater productivity within: (i.e ability to nourish, support and grow) - Ability to support larger fauna
A circle was used above as an example. One could just as easily substitute a square instead and get similar results. Therefore, consider a square 100 miles on a side. It has a ratio of area/edge of 10,000/400 which equals 25.
Assuming that square contains rainforest (but it could just as easily be another type of ecosystem), let's now fracture it. We'll turn it into a checkerboard of 64 black and white squares. Black are rainforest squares. White are squares burned to remove the trees, and then tilled for agriculture.
Our total area of rainforest within the checkerboard is now half what it was. The original square contained 10,000 square miles of rainforest. It now contains 5,000 square miles of rainforest. But look at the change in rainforest edges. The original square had only 400 miles of rainforest edge. The checkerboard has 1,600 miles of rainforest edge.
And so we can get a sense of the difference between these two extents of land. Recall that the unspoiled square had 10,000 square miles of rainforest and total edges measuring 400 miles with a ratio of 25. Look at the ratio of the fractured checkerboard to get a sense of how less rich its potential is. It's ratio is 5,000/1,600 which equals 3.125.
Compare the two numbers: 25 vs. 3.125.
What are some cases which cause edge effects?
Repurposing of land: Examples include agriculture, urban and suburban sprawl, etc.
Clearcutting: Clearcutting by the timber industry creates edge effects. Make no mistake about it - the ecosystem has been changed, and replanting of trees will not revert the area back to the original ecosystem in a period equal to the time it takes for the newly planted trees to mature. The original forest was an old growth forest, and when the newly planted trees finally mature, the resulting forest will be a secondary growth forest, which does not provide the same environment as the original old growth forest.
Roads: Going back to the circle example, if a road is placed through the center, then an edge effect is created. Depending on the type of road and how busy it is, the effect is dramatic. Essentially, you end up with two areas, each half the area of the original circle, and each area having an edge length not much less than the original circle. This is one of the reasons (among many) why there is such opposition to the idea of drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. It's not just the idea of potential damage from oil spills (which is real), but the road systems which would need to be built to access the enterprise.
Fences: Land left in its natural state, but fenced, also creates an edge effect. A very damaging example would be the fence proposed along the U.S./Mexico border by certain politicians.
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So, in conclusion, owning natural resources, except for pure conservation motives ala the actions conducted by the likes of Doug Thompkins or Yvon Chouinard, land owners do change (i.e. "improve") their land, which means, in general, a decrease in ecosystem services provided to the surrounding region, and thus, is indeed theft from those who never owned the land in the first place. "Improvements" such as irrigating the desert, allowing them to plant food crops for hundreds, even thousands of people? You mean theft like that? Those are some "improvements" among many types of "improvements". Among those agricultural "improvements" you have mentioned, many are rather horrific, many are neutral, and some are beneficial, when total net value is summed.
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No, I'm saying that owning natural resources does not steal them from those who never had them to begin with.
This is where you're provably wrong. Have you forgotten your lessons on ecosystem services? Owning land does not necessarily exempt you from decimating the land to the point that the geographical regions outside the boundaries of the parcel suffer. Just as a drink of water from an owner's parcel makes a tiny dent in the landowner's resources, so does a change to the landowner's land make a tiny dent in the ecosystem beyond it. But in fact, there are regulations and stipulations which define what one can and cannot do on their land, because ownership is never exactly what you think it is in a world of nations. If you disagree, then you don't understand what ownership is within a state. However, those regulations and stipulations aren't necessarily adequate - fault the governing bodies which enforce those regulations and stipulations. So, in conclusion, owning natural resources, except for pure conservation motives ala the actions conducted by the likes of Doug Thompkins or Yvon Chouinard, land owners do change (i.e. "improve") their land, which means, in general, a decrease in ecosystem services provided to the surrounding region, and thus, is indeed theft from those who never owned the land in the first place.
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Congratulations, you earn a speedy ticket to my ignore list.
I can't wait until you've ignored every person who doesn't hold your views.
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Though I wonder why uniformity trumps fairness.
Fairness cannot exist without uniform application. I see, so we should make the speed limits in all the US states the same? Otherwise they're not fair, right? Wow. What a weak comeback. I doubt one freeway will feel that it got unfair treatment as opposed to another freeway. It's not the freeway, but the motorist that gets unfair treatment. What will get a man fined in one state (going, say, 75mph), or in one section of a state, will not get another man in trouble at all. That is not uniform, and so, not fair, am I right? Not really. Both encounter the same speed limit on the same highway. Therefore, all speed limits everywhere should be exactly the same, in order to be fair to all motorists.
No, not really. But all motorists should get equal treatment regarding emergency response should they get in an accident on some particular highway. For example, if Alice and Bob are in a head on collision on highway X.
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Though I wonder why uniformity trumps fairness.
Fairness cannot exist without uniform application. I see, so we should make the speed limits in all the US states the same? Otherwise they're not fair, right? Wow. What a weak comeback. I doubt one freeway will feel that it got unfair treatment as opposed to another freeway.
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I'm going to guess, without even looking, that the post directly above mine has nothing to do with freedom...
I'm going to point out (as opposed to guessing) that the above post has nothing to do with freedom. Edit: Well, Not as bad as usual. I stand corrected.
Though I wonder why uniformity trumps fairness.
Fairness cannot exist without uniform application.
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A uniform set of laws guaranteeing rights to protection of everyone regardless of their wealth, such that everyone may go about their business and recreation reasonably and comfortably.
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This isn't a matter of opinion. it's fact. You're treating a person with rights as though they had none, and were in fact, an animal, incapable of thought. No matter how you shy from this realization, that's exactly what you're doing, abusing them.
That's the second time you've done that. Instead of trying to differentiate treatment of people and children from treatment of animals, for the most part, you should consider that animals are capable of feeling pain and suffering, and various types of thoughts. I think it demonstrates a deficiency in your thinking, and to some extent, disqualifies you from discussion. Better to think that animals also deserve to be treated well. Anyway, your arguments are rather weak. First, be very clear on the exact offense you claim MoonShadow is engaging in (slicing out a child's eyeballs, whipping a child with a belt, patting a child on the bottom, etc.). Second, since you're such a man of action, please share the times you've intervened to disrupt violent actions.
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Everything seems to be outlined already, except for that unfortunate escalation earlier in the thread where you said you would use deadly force as soon as Myrkul started yelling at you in public.
Revised= Myrkul: "Hey! Quit beating that kid!" Aggressor: /keeps beating kid Myrkul: "Stop!" /bodily interposes himself between victim and aggressor Aggressor: /pushes past Myrkul, keeps beating kid Myrkul: "I said stop, god damnit!" /lays hands on the aggressor, likely a grab from behind to stop the kid's beating Aggressor: /whirls around, backs up to draw gun, shoots Myrkul, goes to prison for claiming "self-defense" is justified against people who try to stop child abuse
All false. Not once have I heard mention the severity of the kid beating. It makes all the difference in the world, as the world is not black and white. All we have here is talk.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYbwZQ-QnMYPalms starting sweating at :32. Closed the video at :54. Only 1:50 in length and I couldn't view it any longer. Heart still beating. FirstAscent is my first ignore (only kidding ![Grin](https://bitcointalk.org/Smileys/default/grin.gif) ). Any more videos like that submitted and I'm closing this thread. ![Roll Eyes](https://bitcointalk.org/Smileys/default/rolleyes.gif) You missed the 1:10 mark. Give it another go. Eat my toe tar! Yes. Certainly. The first video link I posted, you'll need to be watching at the 2:06 mark. For your convenience, I have provided the youtube link right at the 2:06 mark: https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=tlIQzWnxOLI#t=125s
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AnCap is inherently unstable, would immediately fail, and could never last....
Agreed. Then why come it lasted 1000 years in Ireland? Could you please restate that? I don't understand your word usage. Awww, isn't it cute? Then let's try this, asshat: Explain why it lasted 100 years in Ireland. I assume you're asking me the question because you'd like me to answer it. Yet you call me asshat. Please try again.
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AnCap is inherently unstable, would immediately fail, and could never last....
Agreed. Then why come it lasted 1000 years in Ireland? Could you please restate that? I don't understand your word usage.
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AnCap is inherently unstable, would immediately fail, and could never last....
Agreed.
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People who signed a voluntary contract to work or face mutilation would either work or be mutilated. Vs. people who signed no contract, pay mandatory taxes or face death for resisting. Seems legit. Incorrect. Do not use the infrastructure in the country demanding taxes and you don't need to pay taxes. Of course it's impossible to not use the infrastructure if you are actually in the country. So simply go somewhere else. Your argument does not have the teeth you think it does.
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYbwZQ-QnMYPalms starting sweating at :32. Closed the video at :54. Only 1:50 in length and I couldn't view it any longer. Heart still beating. FirstAscent is my first ignore (only kidding ![Grin](https://bitcointalk.org/Smileys/default/grin.gif) ). Any more videos like that submitted and I'm closing this thread. ![Roll Eyes](https://bitcointalk.org/Smileys/default/rolleyes.gif) You missed the 1:10 mark. Give it another go.
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"It is not voluntary to not murder, plunder, rape, excessive pollute and conspiracy for my demise, period. "
"It is mandatory to refrain from murdering, plundering, raping, polluting excessively, and conspiring to cause my death."
Basically, the NAP.
Yup: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Non-aggression_principleSo you did understand what I said, quite playing games and state your case or go home. Oh, you're an idiot. My case is stated in the OP. If you didn't watch the video, watch it, or fuck off. I don't have time to debate with morons. I was responding to the helpful rewording of your gibberish. If you have a case, feel free to state it. Your "video", is just some guy talking. He says things like "the leading authority on ancient Ireland" but gives no citation (4:40 I finally get my first citation of a Professor but it was only about the Jurists). Also, what is funny is that the society they are talking about is a two-class gentry system. He doesn't mentioned the "non-landed" people and where their place was. HAHAHAHA. I bet they had a great place and many rights and equal standing in the courts. I love how he emphasizes that is was a completely private and "THERE WAS NO OTHER JUDGES". I bet is was completely fair and just and your standing in the community didn't affect the outcomes. Also, if you thought you had a case against me, you would bring your sureties (paid thugs basically) and could "seize" me and proclaim your suit, also I am considered a debtor to you until proven credit-worthy. I could go on. He makes two minutes of value statements against a centralized government at the end. Also, there was only one citation in the whole video. I haven't even watched the video, nor will I bother, and myrkul will claim that my comment thus has no value, but still, let me say this: The video, as you describe it, as exactly the kind of junk by which the anarchists and libertarians build their case. This rubbish, and rubbish like it, is the foundation upon which their 'critical thinking' is built upon.
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I remember watching that video a couple of years ago and it made me very uneasy. What he's doing is class 4 climbing, but with extreme exposure. Exposure doesn't just mean height. Exposure means all the open air around you. In this guy's case, he has open air underneath him, to both sides, and even in front of him. Imagine climbing inside a vertical chimney. Air is underneath you, but not all around you. Climb a vertical face, and you don't have all that air to both sides or in front of you. However, the vertical face is like something pushing you out, which can be scary. Climbing a vertical arete (an outside corner) offers more exposure. He's free solo climbing class 4 though, which means vertical and as difficult as climbing a ladder. It means that technically, any reasonably physically fit person can do it. Class 5 climbing requires special knowledge of how to hold on to the climbing surface, where one employs special techniques, such as smearing, toe jams, foot jams, finger jams, fist jams, liebacks, stemming, crimping, underclings, and edging. Regarding edging, imagine gluing a silver dollar to a wall and using the edge of the coin to stand on 1,000 feet up. Alex Honnold in Yosemite: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tlIQzWnxOLISome guys like to do it fast (this guy is no longer with us): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYbwZQ-QnMY
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He's not gaining power by being allowed to bargain for slave labor.
I don't think you quite understand at least one of those terms you used. I don't think my answer was in reply to a remotely grammatically correct sentence, but I don't bother with petty statements like yours. Let's try again, then. Care to explain how a slave can bargain for the price of his labor? Oh man. I really didn't understand what you meant at first. Now I simply see your inability to find a meaningful response to what I said, so instead you try and twist literal meanings out of words and make false assumptions about the class and position of a person doing bargaining. If you have a point, find it and say it.
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I would ask you whether or not someone who is unable to produce enough value to sustain even their own lives is entitled to the products of those who are able to sustain their own lives? Do you believe a market wage till tend to be unfairly decoupled from a workers marginal revenue product in a free market society?
If a worker accepts employment in which he does not receive a high enough wage to sustain himself, then he's an idiot. A worker should only accept employment in which he receives a high enough wage to sustain himself. If all workers do this, it creates a natural minimum wage floor. The minimum wage floor gives the job seeker some bargaining power, in a sense. No, it removes the ability to bargain. There's a difference. Exactly. Taking away the option to charge less for his services doesn't give the seeker doesn't get bargaining power -- on the contrary, such a policy takes his power away. But you can't expect sociopathic FirstAsshat to understand this simple fact. He's not gaining power by being allowed to bargain for slave labor. I don't think you quite understand at least one of those terms you used. I don't think my answer was in reply to a remotely grammatically correct sentence, but I don't bother with petty statements like yours.
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