Hitting The Meat Wall – A Conversation
A conversation between me and my fellow meat patriot, P. Sundae.
me: america’s porn industry: paying for america’s war industry
is it possible for us to become a porn-based economy?
P. Sundae: do you ever think about the things that are wasteful to produce and try to distinguish them from the things that aren’t?
for example, food is a productive use of resources
but is soda?
me: but cheetos are not
it’s a hard question
P. Sundae: are we wealthier for producing coca cola?
me: the solution: hold a farmer’s market in your escalade
P. Sundae: as a nation, yes, as a world, no
me: interesting point
I’m interested in when we will hit the meat wall
when the worldwide demand for meat is simply greater than what the world can produce (without killing humans)
P. Sundae: haha, is that real?
me: I just made up the term “the meat wall”
P. Sundae: i’m going back to school to write a dissertation on the meat wall
me: but yes, there is the prospect of meat becoming super-expensive because of the exponentially growing demand of several emerging economies (china esp.)
the solution: moon cows
P. Sundae: haha
me: we’ll use the space elevator to bring the meat back from the lunar beef domes
P. Sundae: lol
you’re killing me here
no, don’t kill me
you just want my meat
the space elevator. ha
me: I love the space elevator
P. Sundae: you should turn “space elevator” into a sexual term
Dirty Sanchez, The Superman, The Cleveland Steamer, The Space Elevator
me: it could work
although “The Railgun” might be better
P. Sundae: lol
April 18, 2008 at 6:26 pm
How could manufacturing soda not be making us richer? I mean, why would people buy it if it didn’t make them better off? Sure, it makes you fat and offers nearly no nutritional value and rots your teeth and destroys your bones. And sure maybe we could turn all that corn syrup into beef feed or something instead. But it’s delicious! Every time I drink a coke, which is not often, I think, “Man, this shit is not good for me.” Which means that it’s sugary nectariciousness must have a very high value indeed. If pre-Subway Jared loves the taste of Mountain Dew mixed with Root Beer so much that he’s willing to have his weight expressed in metric tonnes, God bless him. I find his priorities insane, but what the fuck ever.
April 22, 2008 at 2:10 am
Yes, I agree, we should base our economies on whether fat people are addicted to something.
April 25, 2008 at 8:16 am
So instead we should…outlaw soda, garnish all money that fat people were going to spend on soda, and use it to expand the government’s power to waste money even more frivolously than the fat people were going to?
I’m being a dick, of course, and I know that’s not even what you meant. But I still don’t see why the joys of maximum tastebud satisfaction, transitory though they may be, don’t count for anything. In fact, I suspect that a single one of this blog’s beloved steaks requires much, more corn input than does a two-liter bottle of any carbonated beverage, to say nothing of the pasture land and animal murder involved. If we’re apportioning food-production resources based purely on nutritional efficiency without regard for consumer preferences…
April 27, 2008 at 4:25 pm
Meat, of course, is one of the least efficient uses of food resources there is. We should all eat much less of it, which is kind of the point of this blog: only eat good meat. Otherwise we’ll all be paying $100 for an overcooked Porterhouse at Outback.
I love coke. I’d prefer it not be outlawed. But I think Todd’s point was that, if it came down to it, it’s not the best use of those resources. Fortunately it is not yet close to “coming down to it”, although the fact that Costco is rationing rice is a bit disturbing.
I concede the point that American Capitalism, which I cherish & support, is not based on those particular rational thoughts. If it was, no one would be stupid enough to make or buy “Diet Coke With Vitamins”.