[ExI] bees again

[spike]

From: extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org
[mailto:extropy-chat-bounces at lists.extropy.org] On Behalf Of Anders Sandberg
Sent: Monday, April 15, 2013 11:44 PM
To: extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org
Subject: Re: [ExI] bees again

 

On 16/04/2013 06:55, spike wrote:

 

>>.I had an idea related to my earlier urging you to not buy honey this
year: do buy almonds.  They will cost a lot this year, but my idea is this:
if we go ahead and buy overpriced almonds, then the almond growers will be
more able to borrow capital with their almond groves as surety for the
loans.  If so, they can use the borrowed money to invest in stationary
hives.  Then the almond growers would be less likely to extract honey, which
would reduce risk from neonics in the honey-replacement syrup.


>.Ah, now we have a chance to get into a good, old-fashioned libertarian
rage! Because this won't work, because of... government central planned
economics.

>.I kid you not. Take a look at
http://www.almondboard.com/Handlers/HandlerServices/MarketingOrder/VolumeReg
ulation/Pages/Default.aspx
The Almond Board is controlling the almond production as per a federal
marketing order. They literally take a sizeable chunk of the production from
growers, decide what the optimum price should be to have an "orderly"
market, and sell it to that price.

-- 
>.Anders Sandberg,
 
 
Ja Anders you may be right under ordinary circumstances, but with a
sufficiently low supply of almonds, all bets are off.  I think most of what
you cite above are supports to prevent the price of almonds from dropping
too low.  But clearly the government cannot stop the price from going
arbitrarily high, if the demand is there and the supply sufficiently low.
There is no legal structure to prevent a farmer from selling their products
for whatever the market will bear.
 
The almond growers have a kind of a loose confederation, a co-op of sorts,
where they have even made commercials together, urging the proles to devour
almonds.  Their catch phrase: "A can a week, that's all we ask."  They made
some funny advertisements, almond growers buried up to his neck in almonds,
uttering the catch phrase.
 
But if there are massive almond crop failures, then the price goes crazy and
the co-op breaks down, for anyone who manages to make almonds will toss
their compatriots to the wind and go for maximum profit.
 
If you decide to do your own consumer-level political activism, here's an
idea for you: since almonds will keep for a long time, just go ahead and buy
a bunch of them now, while the price is low.  That way the shelves get
emptied sooner, so that the coming skyrocketing price will happen sooner
because of limited supply.  Then a year from now or more, when regular
almond devourers are missing their favorite snack, you bring out your horded
supply and appear generous indeed.  Give them away next year as Newtonmas
gifts, and perhaps the year after that.  I think almonds have a couple years
shelf life, longer if unopened.  Wrap them with a note inside "Bee kind,
don't buy honey" or something to that effect.
 
There is a transhumanist angle to all this, which I will share later, gotta
run.
 
spike
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