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Just one click to the author's name reveals these titles: https://www.spectator.co.uk/author/matt-ridley/ https://www.spectator.co.uk/author/matt-ridley/ >The

Just one click to the author's name reveals these titles: https://www.spectator.co.uk/author/matt-ridley/ https://www.spectator.co.uk/author/matt-ridley/ >The most dangerous thing about the Amazon fires is the apocalyptic rhetoric >Ignore the global warming hysteria: hurricanes are not getting worse >The eradication of South Georgia’s rats proves we can do anything >Wind turbines are neither clean nor green and they provide zero global energy >The world is getting greener. Why does no one want to know? And my personal favorite: >How hunting and shooting help wildlife – and not just in Africa Bloody brilliant, let me tell you.

riazrizvi 7y ago
He should do a suggestion box for new pieces... ‘The plucky resilience of poor children who still drink tap water in Flint, Michigan’, ‘Why we are better off without polar bears’, ‘Are snow capped mountains really all that?’...
- booleandilemma 7y ago
  The number of homeless is increasing, but so is the number of humans in general.
  - Sawamara 7y ago
    "Productivity is up and wages might stagnate - but here's why its actually a good thing"
cm2187 7y ago
I haven’t read those articles but I can think of a few good points behind many of those titles. It appeared the Amazon fires weren’t worse than any other year, wind turbines have lots of challenges that make them pretty much unsuitable as a primary source of energy at scale, as for hunting, it seems counter intuitive but it is often what supports financially many natural reserves, which happen to also require population control.
- Sawamara 7y ago
  They do reveal a pattern that is equivalent to ignoring the canaries in a coalmine. The Amazon's fires are crucial this year not because there was not burning previously, but because once the ecosystems collapse, there is no regaining the rainforest. And of course it will happen, anyone who thinks otherwise is either ignorant, stupid, or plainly paid to ignore it. Wind? There is a difference between it being not good enough to be a primary source vs "providing zero energy", and the list goes on. The hunting of endangered species is a gross practice that is a natural extension of the colonialist history of the West. When rich whites go to shoot animals who are not capable of defending themselves, no one should kid itself that yeah, there are alternatives to that horrid practice - and meanwhile, illegal hunting continues to eat up entire species, so the whole talk about hunting conserving the population is simply not true when taken in its actual context. And we completely ignored the times when the ruling class goes to countries, shoots animals unlawfully, and gets away with it. Examples: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/11/donald-trump-jr-mongolia-rare-endangered-sheep-permit https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/11/donald-trump... https://dailynewshungary.com/deputy-pm-semjens-swedish-hunt-scandal-worsening/ https://dailynewshungary.com/deputy-pm-semjens-swedish-hunt-... And we could continue with more historic examples, like this piece of art right here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithsonian%E2%80%93Roosevelt_African_Expedition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithsonian%E2%80%93Roosevelt_... Makes my skin crawl.
purple-again 7y ago
Those titles are not damning at all. You can’t think of a single way that hunting and shooting wildlife helps wildlife? Of course he’s not referring to the actual animals shot and killed but the population of wildlife holistically.
- mcguire 7y ago
  Appropriate hunting and other wildlife management are helping wildlife, given that the only other alternative is extinction. But it's still a weird definition of "help". And I would argue that, if you look at it holistically, in many cases it is little more than a temporary holding action.
deleted 7y ago
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riazrizvi 7y ago

He should do a suggestion box for new pieces... ‘The plucky resilience of poor children who still drink tap water in Flint, Michigan’, ‘Why we are better off without polar bears’, ‘Are snow capped mountains really all that?’...

booleandilemma 7y ago
The number of homeless is increasing, but so is the number of humans in general.
- Sawamara 7y ago
  "Productivity is up and wages might stagnate - but here's why its actually a good thing"

cm2187 7y ago

I haven’t read those articles but I can think of a few good points behind many of those titles. It appeared the Amazon fires weren’t worse than any other year, wind turbines have lots of challenges that make them pretty much unsuitable as a primary source of energy at scale, as for hunting, it seems counter intuitive but it is often what supports financially many natural reserves, which happen to also require population control.

Sawamara 7y ago
They do reveal a pattern that is equivalent to ignoring the canaries in a coalmine. The Amazon's fires are crucial this year not because there was not burning previously, but because once the ecosystems collapse, there is no regaining the rainforest. And of course it will happen, anyone who thinks otherwise is either ignorant, stupid, or plainly paid to ignore it. Wind? There is a difference between it being not good enough to be a primary source vs "providing zero energy", and the list goes on. The hunting of endangered species is a gross practice that is a natural extension of the colonialist history of the West. When rich whites go to shoot animals who are not capable of defending themselves, no one should kid itself that yeah, there are alternatives to that horrid practice - and meanwhile, illegal hunting continues to eat up entire species, so the whole talk about hunting conserving the population is simply not true when taken in its actual context. And we completely ignored the times when the ruling class goes to countries, shoots animals unlawfully, and gets away with it. Examples: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/11/donald-trump-jr-mongolia-rare-endangered-sheep-permit https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/dec/11/donald-trump... https://dailynewshungary.com/deputy-pm-semjens-swedish-hunt-scandal-worsening/ https://dailynewshungary.com/deputy-pm-semjens-swedish-hunt-... And we could continue with more historic examples, like this piece of art right here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithsonian%E2%80%93Roosevelt_African_Expedition https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smithsonian%E2%80%93Roosevelt_... Makes my skin crawl.

purple-again 7y ago

Those titles are not damning at all. You can’t think of a single way that hunting and shooting wildlife helps wildlife? Of course he’s not referring to the actual animals shot and killed but the population of wildlife holistically.

mcguire 7y ago
Appropriate hunting and other wildlife management are helping wildlife, given that the only other alternative is extinction. But it's still a weird definition of "help". And I would argue that, if you look at it holistically, in many cases it is little more than a temporary holding action.

deleted 7y ago

[deleted]