Outlaws and idleness

Yesterday, I went for one last long(ish) run in preparation for the High Coast 43k race on Saturday. Taking it mostly slow, I did however throw in 4 km of fast trail running in a 4:22 min/km pace just to remind myself of how much coordination and strength that it takes to race like that through the forest. Waking up this morning, I can definitely feel yesterday's run so I better brace myself for Sunday. Otherwise, the last few days have been incredible with crisp autumn air and magic mist over the lake.

In the real world, the Trump administration continues its assault on the institutions of multilateralism, hastening the cuts to WHO funding while imposing sanctions on different officials of the International Criminal Court, including blocking the private assets of its chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda. I guess this says a lot, not only about how unwilling the US is to accept that it is not above the law but also how much it specifically fears an unbiased inquiry into the war crimes committed by all sides, including the US, in Afghanistan.

Meanwhile, in Germany, a university is offering an “idleness grant” on the assumption that human activity is intrinsically unsustainable. In my articles, I have often pointed out that ecological footprint analysis is based on precisely this premise, i.e. that the best would be for humans not to exist, and that it thereby ignores the broader trajectory of technological evolution. As such, I am not surprised that the organizers of the grant find it contradictory that “society promotes sustainability while simultaneously valuing success”. Oh, how I wish these people would watch some StarTrek and get a better appreciation of our historical situation and what is at stake.