I Might Be Wrong

I Might Be Wrong

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I Might Be Wrong
I Might Be Wrong
To Help Control Invasive Species, Let's Recognize That People With Exotic Pets Are Douchebags
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To Help Control Invasive Species, Let's Recognize That People With Exotic Pets Are Douchebags

There are less harmful ways to signal that you lack a personality

Jeff Maurer's avatar
Jeff Maurer
Sep 07, 2023
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I Might Be Wrong
I Might Be Wrong
To Help Control Invasive Species, Let's Recognize That People With Exotic Pets Are Douchebags
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A scene from the show Peep Show.

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Invasive species are a huge problem. So says a report from the UN that the Washington Post calls “major”. Let’s table the question of whether any UN report can be “major”; my suspicion is that few people have their world rocked by UN reports, and where I am, stores are open and life is carrying on as usual despite this “major” report. But that’s beside the point; the point is that invasive species are causing major trouble.

According to the report, invasive species cost the world at least $423 billion a year. To give you a sense of how much money that is: If you laid 423 billion dollar bills end-to-end, you’d say “fuck this” and give up well before you reached the 423 billionth dollar (especially if it’s windy). Invasive species impose costs by destroying crops, spreading diseases, and just generally being a pain in the taint. For example: Zebra mussels are clogging water intake pipes in the Great Lakes. Basically, zebra mussels are having the same effect on Upper Midwest water pipes that cheese-based food products are having on Upper Midwest arteries.

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