Swordfish ë, Part 1: How Modest Mentors Fish for Agents of Conscience, Surrounded by Tilapia

 

Sunrise in Vermont

We had the pleasure of connecting with Agabas Ayudor a few months ago, all thanks to a wonderful activist from the UK who reached out to me. It's funny how these connections form—perhaps Adam Minter wrote about me, or maybe it was the influence of this blog. This blog, while long-winded and dense, serves as a public record that orbits a solar system not centered around privileged individuals obsessed with egos and real estate values. Instead, it focuses on the best and brightest minds emerging from the Tech Sector in rapidly developing "LDC" Emerging Markets.

Within this vast landscape, there exists a rare breed—the 1 in 1,000 who discerns the manipulation of collective guilt management by entities like the Anti Gray Market Alliance/Planned Obsolescence, Big Shred, and the Charitable Industrial Complex. I'd even throw in a few foreign governments seeking to corral non-OECD markets using Basel Convention rules (we might need a catchy nickname for that). These discerning individuals, the "Swordfish," possess the brilliance or transboundary knowledge to comprehend the intricate topics discussed in this blog.

What sets the Swordfish apart is their potential to shape the future positively. Writing for an audience that values conscience over sheer numbers allows for a more profound impact on the environmental solar system. Sometimes, it's tempting to focus on gaining thousands of followers, but the real influence lies in resonating with agents of conscience.

Recycling Rates and the Inverse "Normal Curve"

What do the wealthiest people in the world have in common with the poorest people in the world?  

The poorest people in the world have the highest recycling rates. They cannot afford to feed their own children, and so the scrap value of a discarded can or bottle is a resource they cannot pass up.

The richest people in the world also have higher recycling rates - but not as high, because they can afford to purchase things that cannot be recycled. The rich have more education, and understand why we need to fund a recycling "system" to preserve resources for future generations.  So we have children's interests in common, but weirdly different children as the wealthy purchase for their own children expensive objects that are nor very recyclable (like Nintendos or X-boxes).

Who recycles, who cares about recycling?

It's an inverse bell curve, or "normal" curve.