As IF Times

link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stone_Soup

There’s a classic old European fable about stone soup. Different cultures have their own iterations on the idea, but the essential story is as follows:

Some travelers come to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty cooking pot. Upon their arrival, the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food stores with the very hungry travelers. Then the travelers go to a stream and fill the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire. One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what they are doing. The travelers answer that they are making “stone soup”, which tastes wonderful and which they would be delighted to share with the villager, although it still needs a little bit of garnish, which they are missing, to improve the flavor.

The villager, who anticipates enjoying a share of the soup, does not mind parting with a few carrots, so these are added to the soup. Another villager walks by, inquiring about the pot, and the travelers again mention their stone soup which has not yet reached its full potential. More and more villagers walk by, each adding another ingredient, like potatoes, onions, cabbages, peas, celery, tomatoes, sweetcorn, meat (like chicken, pork and beef ), milk, butter, salt and pepper. Finally, the stone (being inedible) is removed from the pot, and a delicious and nourishing pot of soup is enjoyed by travelers and villagers alike. Although the travelers have thus tricked the villagers into sharing their food with them, they have successfully transformed it into a tasty meal which they share with the donors.

The way the story is spun according to Wikipedia, it seems as if the tale is all about sharing.  In fact, the story is more about the naivete of people once they are convinced of an idea, and the entrenchment of that idea once others confirm that view.  It struck me that this is an apt parable for what’s been happening over the past 2 plus years in (mainly) western societies.

Recall that a ‘deadly virus’ had emerged which was a grave threat to civilization.  A simple 2 week period of sequestering would resolve this; then four weeks, then masks; then vaccines for the elderly; then for kids, then travel restrictions; then job curtailment, then fines, etc etc etc. Lo and behold, the people are convinced that the figurative soup is wonderful.

We should all understand why history repeats, or at least rhymes, over periods of human history.  People don’t change and the same formulas work over and over again.  There will always be purveyors of stone soup, but sadly there are even more people willing to consume it. It’s too bad that the lessons of history can only be seen with clarity in hindsight.

link:  https://www.forbes.com/sites/arielcohen/2021/01/11/bill-gates-backed-climate-solution-gains-traction-but-concerns-linger/?sh=34f89544793b

A few generations ago, a television comedy show was produced entitled The Beverly Hillbillies. The show centered on the lives of a hillbilly family who had struck it rich following an oil discovery and were convinced to move to Beverly Hills.

Only in hindsight do we realize just how original and funny those old sitcoms were.  In one of the episodes, Jed Clampett, the patriarch, wanted to enact a plan to clear away the constant smog that settled around Los Angeles (even at that time).  He proposed to his banker, Milburn Drysdale, that some enormous fans be erected on the hills to blow all the smog away.  Here was a guy who wanted to use his new found wealth to do good for others and he had a simple, if wacky idea to do so.

I’m reminded of this episode because of revelations that Bill Gates, he of erstwhile Microsoft wealth and now a world expert on vaccines, will finance what amounts to be a big sunshade to block out the sun’s harmful rays, because, you know, global warming. While I am of the view that you can’t accomplish great things without taking big chances, many of Gate’s adventures post Microsoft are eccentric at best, crazed at worst.  In the case of the mythical Jed Clampett or the real life magnate Andrew Carnegie, a billionaire before it became trendy, their efforts to improve the condition of mankind didn’t involve harming others…and they did it with their own money.

Bill Gate’s record has not been so benign.  The Microsoft loot allowed him to create the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation which ostensibly funds humanitarian issues. The influence of his pool of money is multiplied many times over by roping naïve governments to also throw in their tax dollars to really juice up a venture.  While his intentions are admirable, the actual effects of his initiatives, notably vaccine implementations have resulted in unforeseen setbacks not reported in the mainstream news.  Despite this, governments worldwide still consider Gates an authority on vaccine implementation as observed by 2 years of Covid disarray.

Another quixotic venture is the funding of an experiment to try to block out the sun’s harmful rays.  This sounds like another one of those “well it seemed like a good idea at the time” things which will likely lead to a multitude of unforeseen harmful effects; you don’t need to be a college dropout to figure that out.  In this case the ripple effects will create havoc for hundreds of millions of innocent citizens just minding their own business.

When regular people think of some great hare brained scheme, most will die from underfunding and the progenitors labeled nuts.  When people like Gates have an idea, his money will buy the ears of people with infinite money, ie governments, who will then pronounce him a visionary as if he was Leonardo Da Vinci.   Sort of like the novel, 50 Shades Of Grey; the only reason the man in the novel is attractive is because he’s wealthy… otherwise he would just be a run of the mill sexual predator.

Of course Gates is not alone in foisting his vision upon others. For some reason, when people pass a threshold of unimaginable wealth, their inner Doctor Evil percolates to the surface and they expect to move mankind around like pieces on a chessboard.  Suddenly they are convinced that they have a vision beyond that which the average person can comprehend.  Unlike despots in the past who depended on military might to impose their vision of the world, modern oligarchs use stock options.   Invariably there’s always a financial bonanza to be had by being on the right side of any large scale government program.  Just ask Al Gore. Instead of being threatened by death as in the old world, people are now encouraged to fall in line by something worse; the fear of relative poverty by not participating.

As for useful ideas, why not create means by which you can tow icebergs to the desert to create more arable land? Why not build land bridges to link all the continents? Why not shoot all waste into space? Lots of room out there; and if not doable, let’s just dump it on the moon. Give me a call Bill, I’ve got a ton of great ideas.