Pig Fish

Posted on July 20, 2004 in Creatures Reading Social Justice

It’s politics Tuesday!

The question is greed good? Are Hummers sacred cows of the free market? Should we allow companies to grow unregulated and devour everything in sight? A scientific study comparing wild salmon with super-sized genetically engineered salmon suggests that under conditions of shortage, the Greed is Good crowd could end America.

There could be a metaphor in this:

Engineered fish became aggressive over food — in fact they grew larger than [nonengineered] fish given a sufficient diet. Meanwhile the nonengineered salmon in mixed tanks suffered in size compared with their counterparts in tanks without the super salmon. Under low-ration conditions, wild salmon alone in tanks survived and even put on weight. But tanks containing either mixed or engineered-only populations ultimately experienced population crashes and total extinctions, apparently because of malnutrition or cannibalism.*

This is why we yell at people who drive Hummers. They are the pig fish in the mixed tank who will cause us all to perish.

See page 28 of the August Scientific American.

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* Scientists cautioned that the study might not reflect conditions in complex natural ecosystems. Rest assured that this will be used as wiggle room by the wRong as we get closer and closer to catastrophe.