Odious comparisons XII - The minority of well-being

Image: Foto Gratis

One day I noted a fact that caused me some irritation, namely, that if only the very wealthy continue to enjoy the natural scenery and outdoor sports, there would not be problems of sustainability in natural areas, nor resource predation, nor wear, contamination or uncontrolled erosion.

This statement is somewhat disturbing and undemocratic, I know, but I am sorry to admit that it is true. Let me explain: Originally, there were few true mountaineers, hikers, climbers, skiers, very few. Most people had very little available leisure time and fewer resources for which, at the time, were real adventures. Only a small group of vocational and nature lovers made the effort to enjoy grateful natural resorts. Then there were the minority of well-being. Those had more leisure time, and amenities and were the first to practice leisure tourism and discover that the beaches were good for something more than fishing, and the skis could be used not only to get from one town to another on the mountain.

Fortunately, years of progress have facilitated the emergence of a middle class with more money and some free time. Thus the leisure industry in the landscape emerged and everything else, including the environmental impact. The apartments populated coast lines, the mountains were invaded, mussels disappeared from beaches and trash piled in the roadsides. So regulations became necessary, the laws of coastline, preserves and closures (until public-spiritedness once finally comes out). All this was not necessary when a few privileged enjoyed it. It's the democratization that brings progress, luckily for all.

It is not a question of classes; it is a matter of numbers.

Odious Comparisons XI - Bread is bread and wine, wine

I have an image etched in my memory. I remember a great jar of aluminum with two large blades that slowly, were removing a colored liquid halfway between cream and white bone.

I also have an odor in the memory, but I can not describe it, unlike the images, but if I were to have it in front of me now I would recognize it: the smell of fresh milk. I remember the warm heat emanating from the vessel, that I, as a child, perched on tiptoe, and I noticed in the air with my lips and nose. That was when I accompanied my mother in summer at a farm for milk.

And then ceased to be milk, bread ceased to be bread, and eggs were no longer eggs but become shells with yolks full of nutrients inside.

Remember that time? Those who are very young may not. But it's not my case. I recall with anger that day my mother said we could not boil the milk at home, we had to buy it in plastic bags instead (yes, great industrial design error) or later, tetra-bricks. Milk was no longer milk and entered into a process of dehumanization. Under the guise of the ultra-pasteurization (the only method to make it drinkable, apparently), a gradual decomposition of the rich liquid in its many components began, removing all until it was little more than a serum. Have you seen how translucent is skimmed milk? Yes, at the same price, or greater than before. Meanwhile, in parallel, dozens of products arose stealing part of its flavor, cheeses, creams, cottage cheese, etc. The process was so cruel that this same milk, without a soul, at one point so lean and naked, has gradually been re-enriched with who knows what concoctions: acids, vitamins, vegetables or fish protein.

Odious Comparisons X – Dubbed version

Sometimes I find myself in the circumstance of having to choose between going to the cinema to watch a movie in original version, and another dubbed film. My choice is easy. The dubbed version. Always.
It seems not to be chic, or more trendy not wanting to see the movie in its original soundtrack, hearing the actors with their real voices. However I want to relax in the movies. I do not pay a ticket to work. To me it is a completely unnecessary focus effort. I can not watch what the actors say (do not misunderstand me, I speak English, but still an effort for me that prevents me from enjoying the film), if there are subtitles. I'm inevitably looking at them (and often I have little time to read) and I miss the images, gestures. It's almost like reading a script.

Some will say then, that the version I see is not genuine. I deny it categorically. Fortunately, we have in this country some superb translators (although criticized in a previous post) and dubbing actors and actresses, in my view, that do not let the final product miss a touch of drama. It is different, you claim? Well, different from what? Different from the version that the director had in mind? The editor’s version? Or maybe the Studios final version? Perhaps the dubbing changes it somehow, but I see no harm to the result, which ultimately is the result of a large group of people with creative talents.

From here my emphatic salute to the dubbing actors and actresses in the country and their wonderful work.

Odious comparisons IX – Rule of the People

This is what democracy means, etymologically at least. I do not want to debate whether it actually happens so in practice, because we could spend months to reach any conclusion in this regard.

But I wanted to comment on democracy. Although it is taboo to speak critically of democracy, because we all know the alternative systems that have proved most unfair and even cruel, I think it is useful to note the things that could be improved.

 

Odious Comparisons VIII - Censorship

The discussion on the act of censorship is as old and as endless as civilization (I do not know if our civilization will end, but if so, will coincide with that of censorship). From those who practice it shamelessly, to those who fight it in all its forms, discussions take so many shades and hues as the nature of what is censored.

Many like to censor content that is not intended for them, just a few like that contents aimed at them is censored, and none, that I know, wants to be censored in front of the rest. It is clear that the issue has a significant degree of subjectivity. But should censorship be a universal principle, managed and directed without arbitrary discretion?

I do not want to get deeper into this, because then we start with moral digressions, which are worth more to a book than to a post. I will only say that it seems necessary to some extent a degree of censorship on information they receive, for example, children: it is more practical to get a child not touching the bleach at all, than ensuring that he understands the chemical properties of liquid and the harm they could cause if swallowed. It happens that on entering that crack, we step into a world of cases and exceptions of the type: “this category of people is not ready for this kind of information.”

Should a company allow the free flow of information that threatens its stability? I do not only refer to Chinese preventing Google crumbling remains of its Communist foundations, but also books or pamphlets with doctrines that promote controversial issues such as racism, holy war, mass murder or cannibalism. The question does not seem so clear, right? The simple answer is: yes, those issues "I" consider objectionable should be censored. It happens that the "I" are normally "others."

Personally, I do not like "others" decide what I can get to know or not. But, of course, "I" as an individual I have more discretion before I join the "we" of the social mass that I belong to. Then I become a little silly, a little less tolerant, and slightly more susceptible to propaganda. Perhaps what's best to "me" is not what is best for "us." Or for "you", when separately taken. Is it?

Odious comparisons VII - The Bank of all

This is how some financial institutions like to call themselves in their advertising. In order to reach more audiences, you know.

However, after the events of recent years, it seems that we should make it effective. Make them become the Bank of all indeed. Yeah, yeah, although it seems that I'm cursing, I'm talking about making public entities out of banks.

Let me give my reasons. It is proven that financial provide a basic service, a public service, because we all need it. The offer of this service may not be somewhat discretionary, it must be guaranteed. What is the advantage of a competitive free market when we can not afford that natural selection puts aside the worst players in the sector (i.e. government aid has to be given to banks, so they do not burst)? What efficiencies does it provide when the only possible outcome is generating profits or generating even greater profits?

If the most notorious results of this private sector are achievements such as: new product R&D (subprime mortgages, ninja, etc. valued at notional risk), cost efficiencies (stratospheric bonus for managers, shielded salaries with outrageous premiums) and contribution to society (when companies need credit at most, they refuse to give it), where's the advantage?

Oh, right, if you intervene and nationalize banks, all capital would flee the country, so soon. I was not bearing in mind that government administration inefficiencies are more scary than the irresponsibility of some private companies. I think the one and only paradigm shift we will see, when most transactions are online, is the creation of the Google Bank and Currency.

Odious Comparisons VI - The virtue of the marginal ones

As regular comics reader (or graphic novels, however you want to call them), there is something I've alternately suffered and enjoyed for my life.

As consumer of a product that has lived mostly in the cultural marginalization (we can not say it's just mainstream culture, at least in this country) I have suffered, too often, the drawbacks of being part of a small market, unstable and fragile with little demand, namely: low quality published issues or high prices, poor choice of titles, long waits for publications, cancellations of collections, difficulty in finding them in stores, and inability to socialize with the subject (unless it was with the few fans like me, once recognized as such, are regarded with the esteem after having received misunderstanding and sidelong glances.)

Image: Francesco Marino / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Similarly, these drawbacks are motivated by the same reasons that make this hobby something infinitely enjoyable. The lack of interest that we raise as a group of readers, permeable minds, never made it too interesting for the shredder. The homogenizing marketing and institutional machines, as well as the censorship and interest groups (collective moral, governmental, corporate publishers) hardly affected us (at least not as they did with literature, cinema, and others).

For that reason, I had the pleasure of reading comics on topics that although they could be treated equally well in other media, would never have the chance. I have experienced personal authors; I sucked their creativity with less restriction, and enjoyed more experimental ways of telling things.

So, if I have to suffer that my preferences as a consumer are not part of the mainstream, I must admit they would have little interest for me if it were otherwise. I would like affectionately greet those who truly suffer/enjoy this still being a marginal world, those who try to live from it: authors, publishers, and booksellers. Courage, courage.

Odious Comparisons V – Unopinionated

Sometimes that existing need among us to rule on everything and everybody irritates me. It seems that, if you have no opinion on an issue that arises in a conversation, you are breaching a well-established social convention. And this convention makes us all able to enter any discussion and being a great amateur.

Do not misunderstand me, is good and very necessary for people to have their own opinions, and their own discretion, and to have dialogue and exchange of ideas that enrich us all. That's where the problem lies, in the ownership of ideas, I mean. How difficult it is to cultivate truly own opinions! There is so much information, so much data, and so many events that overwhelm us daily, how does one go about analyzing in detail, balancing between the two sides of the scale and value enough points of view?

Odious comparisons IV - Pirates and rankings

A few months ago several news came up referring to the outcry being raised in the audiovisual industry and copyright in general, due to the high level of piracy in the country. Various studies quantify the impact of these practices in several ways, showing how Spain is ahead of EU countries in this regard.

Comparisons are odious aren’t they? Especially when from the data, readings and interpretations are made. Such as those leading to say that in Spain there is very little respect for the law, or for intellectual property rights, or there are some congenital and abundant evil rascals, higher than in neighboring countries. Therein lies the problem, in the multiple interpretations, often based on biased evidence.

Usually, the data are agnostic; it is people that read those who must put their brains to make something useful out of them. I will be biased myself now. I played around with the numbers presented above. If I show you this other comparative related to the topic, isn’t the reading different?

Well, you can not yet know because I do not state the variables, but I can anticipate that they also relate to trends in digital piracy. Spain is no longer the "worst" case.

Odious Comparisons III - The major reform

The time is coming... The time of cure, the time when the great reform, the labor reform will take place and solve all our problems. Will be employers and unions, will be the government, will be the International Monetary Fund and the European Community, or the general strike, the ones with the honor of articulating such a tremendous turnaround in the economy of Spain?

As I mentioned in a previous post, an economic crisis is complex, and pretending to have the key solutions seems naive, but something must be done, even if it is just running in the halls up and down screaming uncontrollably. It would be good, though, to remember the story from the beginning (and summarised, in a way I can understand). Please correct me if I'm totally wrong:

 Image: Foto Gratis

Once upon a time, there was a financial system, very little regulated one and eager to grow, as dictated by the laws of good practice. Thanks to the feverish and constructive minds of some of its members and with the connivance of those that relax during good times, such as some governments, insurers and risk rating companies, they found a good balloon to pump on growth.

Odious Comparisons II – Even Whiter

Can we do even whiter? Since I have the use of reason, and since I started watching television and advertising, many years ago, I follow with interest the progress of whiteness.

Often creativity of some advertisements is criticised, especially that of some detergent ads. In my childish imagination I thought at first that advertising should tell us about products and give us rational arguments for us to value whether or not to buy them. I soon discovered that ads do much more, they tell us (or we pretend to tell) who we are, who we like to be, and even more, why we are who we are. How pretentious!

But the advertisement of the detergent which washes whiter than the rest was neither one nor the other. On the one hand, we are mainly talking about the properties of a product, i.e. a detergent soap which washed cloth whiter, but at the same time we plunged into a maze of illogic and irrationality that transcends generations.

Odious Comparisons I - The exact end of economic crisis in Spain

The current economic crisis greatly concerns the most of us. That's why it seems that every day signs of recovery are searched for, no matter where, as if we expected the desired discharge from a nasty disease.

The root causes and its consequences are no doubt complex, making it very difficult for us to know what measures will relieve us from it, and if they do, when  will that happen. Nevertheless, the urgency is great, and this urgency forces us to seek signs of change under the stones.

Exciting data emerged a few days ago in Spain, which were given considerable publicity, namely that the Spanish GDP quarterly change had become positive (one quarter GDP had grown compared to the previous quarter by an estimated 0.1%, instead of decreasing). With this in mind, we could claim being technically out of recession (a period in which economic activity declines in a country).

Odious Comparisons

These posts underscore some way of seeing things from different points of view. Like a phototrap with multiple cameras to capture the animal at different angles. Comparisons are often odious when you put in one of the parties shoes but become even more so when they are biased or interested. I am neither impartial nor disinterested, but I still like to think it twice.

We have to compare apples to apples, but even so, should we compare green apples with red ones? The homeland with the imported ones? The raw with the cooked?