Globalist Volume 6 Issue 3

Volume 6 Issue 3

ctglobalist.com

The Cape Town

Globalist U C T’s st udent int er nat ional af fairs mag a z i n e

Animalia

Animals in the 21 Century st

1

The Cape Town Globalist

us & pakistan

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e’pap

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animal testing

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madagascar

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mussel snacks

18% do not have proper

20% do not have proper

95% do not have stocked

92% do not have

access to electricity

laboratories

2

access to water

stocked libraries

90% do not have stocked computer centres

17% do not have

sports facilities

september 2011

Contents

Editor-in-Chief Anneke Rautenbach Content Editors Amy Thornton Tonbara Ekiyor Louis Pienaar Omogolo Taunyane Layout Editor Nic Botha Photo Editor Sarah Thomas Marketing Jawad Haider Finance Heike Victor Events & Distribution Sean Parker Carissa Cupido Contributors Rob Attwell Gregory Bakker Francois Bekker Adam Bertscher Jacob Claassens Arjun DÜrr Kimon de Greef Prof Charles Griffiths Matthias Kroenke Lori-Rae van Laren Stuart MacDonald Sofia Monteiro Carla Petersen Gareth Smit Helen Sullivan Ehrard Vermaak Hannah Walker Cover image: Tess Metcalf The Cape Town Globalist is published four times a year by students at the University of Cape Town. Any opinions expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the Cape Town Globalist, the publication sponsors, the University of Cape Town, or Global21.

If you are interested in getting involved with the CTG in any capacity, please email ctglobalist@gmail.com The Cape Town Globalist

Appetisers

Animalia

6

News bites

16

From roost to roast

Tidbits you may have missed

We visit Lazena free range chicken farm

Global coversations

19

Blooming jellyfish

Q&A with David Benatar

The population increase affecting our oceans

20

The island of Dr Moreau

8 9

Armchair Globalist The debt crisis made clear

News 10

Keep your friends close What the discovery of Bin Laden reveals about the US and Pakistan’s “friendship”

12

When in China

13

14

Google, Bing and censorship laws

What does ACHM (Animals Containing Human Material) research really mean?

22

How much is that doggy in the window?

China and its animals

24

Madagascar beyond the big screen

The threat to this unique and vulnerable island

Mind the gap The truth about gap year “volunteering” agencies in South Africa

e’Pap The “miracle food” that HIV/Aids and TB patients are not receiving

Contributions 26

27

Opinions: Zoecracy Mother Nature knocks on democracy’s door

Global21 Contributions from the yale Globalist and sydney Globalist

Science and Philosophy 28

Saltwater snacks

29

Our animal friends

Kimon de Greef revists the mussel Stuart MacDonald ponders on the hierachy of life-forms

Curtain Call 30

Top dogs and fat cats A not-so-modest proposal by Jacob Claasens 3

The Cape Town Globalist is a member of

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Network of International Affairs Magazines 5 LANGUAGES www.global21online.org 5 CONTINENTS

11 UNIVERSITIES 245 000 STUDENTS

Yale University • University of Toronto • University of Sydney • Hebrew University • Institut de Sciences Politiques • London School of Economics • Peking University • University of Cape Town • University of South Australia • Oxford University • Ibmec University 4

september 2011

Editorial Welcome to our creature feature

Image by James Honnibol

I

n 2008, the Spanish government shocked bullfighting critics worldwide when it extended its basic human rights to great apes. Was this a breakthrough for the very concept of humanity, or just a bit of PC silliness? Either way, this is how things start: the abolition of slavery, the end of Apartheid...

The theme ‘animals’ may seem like a novelty: squirrels waterskiing (‘how ‘bout that’), seals balancing balls on their noses, that kind of thing. Or, perhaps you fear this edition will be a pamphlet for vegetarianism, or a blind denouncement of the use of animals for research, despite the obvious benefits for our race.

Rather, this is meant as a challenge: a challenge to consider the voiceless.

Are animals more than the animated vegetables to which most of today’s anthropocentric discourse limits them? Does their lack of rationality justify the way we treat them, or is the line we draw an arbitrary one? When it comes to being a torture victim, does it really make a difference to which species you belong? These are some of the questions we discuss in our Q&A with Dr David Benatar, ethicist and author of Better Never to Have Been.

Is ‘animal welfare’ a concept only the wealthy West can afford? We take to the streets of China where you can buy a starfish or seahorse sosatie, or pick your turtle dinner from a tank.

We also consider the label ‘free range’ in South Africa – one which seems to absolve the buyer of all sin. Is it all it’s cracked up to be?

As children we pick the wings off flies and put frozen bumblebees on leashes, because we can. It makes me wonder whether we’re the demi-gods we profess to be, or whether our power lies merely in our potential for cruelty – in our ability to be alchemists with the bodies of other creatures. We take a look at the benefits and potential costs of ACHM (Animals Containing Human Material) research. Human necessity will drive us to the edge of playing God – human curiosity will push us over. In the words of Bart Simpson: ‘God Shmod. I want my monkey man!’

But, as we learn from the evolutionary hotspot, Madagascar, we got this far in the food chain because of our tendency to play, and our tendency to fight. And being the monkeys that we are, we continue to fight.

In the past three months we’ve witnessed the president of the United States hold his breath as Navy SEALs shoot the al-Qaeda chief first in the chest and then in the head, reporting ‘Geronimo EKIA – enemy killed in action.’ In a fit of calculated rage, Norwegian Anders Behring Breivik killed 91 people, first in an Oslo car bomb and then in a shooting rampage at a nearby youth camp. In the UK’s capital, angry residents faced off against police in a turn of events that gives new meaning to ‘the fire of London.’ As for the world financial crisis, our satirist expresses it most eloquently: ‘Debt ceilings are being smashed by executives leaping out of windows, and every slight upturn is followed by cautions that next month you may find yourself living out of your neighbour’s Corolla, or bucket, depending on your circumstances.’

Nature is red in tooth and claw, but then again, so is culture.

It’s easy to be overwhelmed by it all, and I am reminded of a quote in John Irving’s A Prayer for Owen Meany: ‘Newspapers are a bad habit, the reading equivalent of junk food. What happens to me is that I seize upon an issue in the news – the issue is the moral/philosophical, political/intellectual equivalent of a cheeseburger with everything on it; but for the duration of my interest in it, all my other interests are consumed by it, and whatever appetites and capacities I may have had for detachment and reflection are suddenly subordinate to this cheeseburger in my life!’

We hope that the Globalist is able to offer you the healthy detachment and reflection that you crave. Sit back and consume in a most relaxed manner – but remember to consider the cheeseburger on your plate.

Happy reading,

Anneke Rautenbach

Editor-in-Chief

The Cape Town Globalist

5

News bites The haunted Horn suffers on

Athens’ riot-dog, named Loukanikos (which means ‘Sausage’), made it onto the BBC News whilst proudly protesting against Greece’s austerity measures. The mutt has been seen at every protest in the city for the past two years where he can be found mingling with protestors and barking at police. Through his protest, he has made Athenians aware that he is anti-homophobic, anti-police injustice and now anti-austerity. To voice his stance, Loukanikos even has his own website, aptly called Rebel Dog.

A drought in the already-blighted Horn of Africa has caused despair in what is called the worst humanitarian disaster in recent times.

Figures predict that in total 11 million people are in threat of starvation, with two thousand starving to death every day. The area worst hit by the drought is controlled by al-Shabaab, an Islamist group linked to terrorist organisations.

Antagonism toward al-Shabaab from the international leadership, combined with the attention of the Western world on its own political calamities, has prevented aid from reaching the area, and the disaster continues unabated.

Protests in Malawi turn violent

In Malawi, anti-government demonstrations against fuel shortages and repressive legislation passed by parliament turned violent. In the northern town of Mzuzu, eight protesters were killed and forty-four injured by security police.

The protest movement consists of social activists, human rights groups and religious organisations and has thus far demonstrated peacefully, but youths ostensibly on the side of the movement have acted more violently, attacking shops and small businesses, as well as banks.

The prospect of further violence is exacerbated by supporters of President Bingu wa Mutharika’s Democratic Progressive Party driving through Blantyre in party vehicles, waving machetes and intimidating demonstrators.

6

sentient s

Dog days aren’t over

40

the percentage of fish consumed now raised on aquafarms

56 billion

number of animals killed for meat, dairy and egg industries annually, not including aquatic animals

176

age at which oldest recorded tortoise, Harriet, died

6

number of shark attack fatalities worldwide in 2010

SA offers Swaziland controversial bailout South Africa has granted the bankrupt Swaziland a R2.4 billion bail-out after the latter’s request to the IMF was rejected. The decision was met with severe criticism, as the money is being granted to an absolute monarchy where political parties are banned and most of the population live in dire poverty while King Swati reigns in luxury. Swaziland saw unprecedented public protests from pro-democracy supporters earlier in 2011. Swaziland is also the country with the highest HIV prevalence in the world. The South African government has stated that political reform is implicit in the deal, but specific conditions are at the time of writing yet to be clarified.

Norwegian massacre tragedy

At least 91 youths were killed during the Norway attacks in late July. 32-year-old Anders Behring Breivik moved through the summer camp organised by Norway’s ruling Labour Party, shooting at any of the teenagers within his range, killing 84. The attack occurred hours after a bomb in Oslo killed at least 7. Breivik was charged with both accounts. The motivation behind the attacks remain unclear, but Breivik’s right-wing fundamentalist Christian orientation led most to believe that the attack was inspired by anti-multiculturalist sentiments. The attacks appear as an anomaly in the relatively peaceful country, yet may be part of the larger anti-Islamic currents growing stronger in Europe.

september 2011

appetisers appetisers

statistics

145

Libyan turnover

the number of new species discovered in the Greater Mekong Region in Asia last year

0

number of prawns harmed during the filming of District Nine

200,000

glasses of milk a cow can give in its lifetime

70

kilometres an hour - the speed at which an ostrich can run

Chile flares up against poor standards of education

Chilean teenagers stood up for their future in a number of protests demanding better government schooling in August. Campaigners argued that richer private schools boosted those students into an elite upper class, while those left to languish in ill-equipped and underfunded government schools had few opportunities after school. The protests began on the 4th of August with students banging kitchenware – a traditional Chilean form of protest.

The students have succeeded in having the disliked education minister fired and coercing the government into earmarking $4 billion for school improvement.

The Cape Town Globalist

On August 21, rebel forces stormed the Libyan capital, Tripoli, taking over major areas of the city. In the week following, conflict between rebels and loyalists culminated in the storming of Col. Gaddafi’s compound, bringing his 42year regime to a close. The leader has fled and at the time of writing, the search for him continues. Negotiations about a transitional government have been offered through his spokesperson, on the condition that rebels declare an immediate ceasefire. In other parts of the Arab World, unrest continues. Ali Abdul Saleh, the wounded ex-ruler of Yemen, has fled to Saudi Arabia, and his demise seems to be a matter of time. In Syria, Bashar Assad’s crackdown has led to the death of an estimated 1800 civilians, and his rule is showing little signs of weakness.

Murdochgate Media giant News Corp., with mogul Rupert Murdoch at its head, faced a humiliating scandal in July. Employees of the company’s tabloid paper, News of the World, were found to have engaged in bribing police and hacking the phones of celebrities, the Royal Family, victims of the 7/7 attacks and others. The scandal spread to affect Murdoch himself, who was submitted to a public enquiry regarding the corporation’s suspect ethical behaviour. The scandal forced Murdoch to withdraw the controversial bid for BskyB, the UK’s largest media network, which would have resulted in one of the greatest media conglomerates in the world.

London runs riot

Following the death of a Tottenham local criminal, Mark Duggan, at the hands of the Metropolitan Police, the streets of London witnessed another wave of mass public protest.

In a wide economic spectrum of neighbourhoods, Londoners trashed shops and fought the police. The motivation behind the unrest is unclear, seeming to many as pure vandalism.

Other possibilities include complaints about police injustice and the austerity measures imposed by David Cameron’s Tory government.

Malaria nipped in the bud

In the drive to eliminate Malaria, scientists have begun an offensive on mosquito fertility. More specifically, researchers from Imperial College London have produced sterile male mosquitoes with the hope of releasing them into the wild. Since female mosquitoes only mate once in their lifetime (and store the sperm in order to fertilize future ovum), if a female unwittingly mates with a sterile male, she will live all her days never producing offspring.

In Africa alone, over 20% of all infant mortality is as a result of this mosquito-borne parasite.

francois bekker, louis pienaar, anneke rautenbach & Amy thornton

Photographs courtesy of wikimedia commons Statistics courtesy of www.factsaboutanimals.net PETA.org & news24.com

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Q&A

appetisers

with

Dr David Benatar

The Cape Town Globalist has taken a tread of faith - or was it reason - into the lion’s den: the office of Dr Benatar, head of the Philosophy Department at UCT. Dr Benatar, somewhat of an enigma on campus, is also a man who remembers all his students and author of Better Not To Have Been - his philosophical argument for anti-natalism. He welcomed Adam Bertscher to his office to discuss life, death, and whether it’s all really worth it.

Your anti-natalist argument – the idea that bringing a child into this world is morally problematic - extends to all sentient beings.

What is sentience and why is sentience such an important concept in ethics?

It’s the capacity to feel. Some people think that it’s a necessary condition for having moral standing, to be morally considerable, but it’s disputed. I think that if you don’t have sentience you will not be morally considerable.

So for animals that are sentient beings - like cows - how do they fit into modern society, in terms of morality?

I think there are limits on what we may do to sentient beings. I think once you are sentient, you are capable of feeling pleasure and pain and that pain is generally a bad thing to feel.

I think there are certain things, lots of things, that we may not do to animals. I think we may not kill them to satisfy our taste buds. I think that using them in some other ways can be acceptable if it does not harm them. So there may be ways of using animals just as there are ways of using human beings that doesn’t harm them.

So I don’t want to rule out all animal use but I want to rule out animal use that is unjustifiably harmful to animals.

So using horses or oxen to plough a field, would that be using animals unjustifiably?

That is going to depend on empirical questions; on what it feels like for the horse. If a horse has a bit in its mouth, for example, what does that feel like? Is that a very painful and un8

pleasant experience? If it is then I think there is something problematic about using a horse in that way. If, on the other hand, you can harness a horse in another way and it’s not an undue burden, it’s not more than us carrying a suitcase for a little while, then it doesn’t seem to me that it is inappropriate.

What would you say to one who believes that morality is something dependent on culture, and therefore believes we cannot impose our ethical values on others?

I’d I’d say lots of things…It depends on how much convincing the person needs… I don’t really think that most people who make that claim really believe it. The example I often give is that you’re in a torture chamber and you’re strapped down and the walls are sound proofed and there is nothing that you can do to stop your torturer from torturing you. You can’t call for help, and you can’t break loose.

The only thing you could do is offer a moral argument.

If your moral argument would be greeted by a relativistic response from the torturer, saying, “look, you think there is something wrong with this but I don’t think there is anything wrong with this”, I don’t think that most people at that point would say “well, that is interesting, I’ve got nothing more to say”. I think that most people would say nonetheless that there is something problematic with torturing.

Actions can be evaluated. Are there good reasons for an action? Are there good reasons against it? It’s not just about what people feel is ethical..

What is your idea of living a happy and fulfilled life while living in line with strict ethics? How does one live in optimal happiness without stepping on any of the other ethical obligations?

I suppose I’m a little worried about the idea “of living with the optimal amount of happiness”. I’m not sure that one can obtain the optimal amount of happiness. You’d have to calculate what it would be; it would be very difficult. But I think that it is possible to lead a satisfying life and a good life without harming other people, while minimising the harm to other people.

Things are quite complicated. Because the world is such an unjust place and there is so much evil that goes on, it’s impossible to completely disentangle oneself from all of it, but one can either be up to one’s neck in the evil that goes on in the world or you can do what you can to distance yourself from it. I don’t think any of us can completely disentangle ourselves from evil but we can try live a life in which we do not wrongfully harm others and in which we are only very indirectly connected to the harms inflicted by others.

There are lots of things one needs to do.

For example; one should avoid being cruel to animals, and to people, and avoid polluting the environment. There are lots of things one needs to do.

Adam Bertscher

is a third year student majoring in Philosophy and Psychology

september 2011

appetisers appetisers

Debt Crisis!

Worries about the debt of the Eurozone and America have dominated headlines worldwide. If you’re wondering what a debt crisis actually is, or what this crisis means for the rest of the world, then look no further. The Armchair Globalist is here to help.

M

onday the 8th August this year is now known as yet another ‘Black Monday’. Just when we thought the light at the end of the recession tunnel was coming into sight, the global financial situation has cast a dark shadow over the international economy.

In the past, countries such as America were able to borrow money from the global financial market (people, institutions and countries who lend money to governments) with relative ease. This was possible because no one doubted America’s ability to pay back these debts.

However, when the recession of 2008 set in, so did the doubt.

A recession is defined as a decline in GDP (a country’s output) for two or more consecutive quarters of the year.

A recession means low growth. Low growth means high unemployment. If fewer people work, the government’s tax revenue decreases and it is this revenue that is used to pay back debts owed. To make matters worse, countries need to increase government spending during a recession to boost demand and growth. This leaves even less government money to repay creditors. It might even be the case that new loans need to be taken out in order to fund these ‘stimulus packages’.

The global financial markets are currently reacting to the crisis by increasing interest rates on outstanding debt.

This is the only way to encourage creditors to buy countries’ debt, as the returns they will receive on the loans issued are much higher. However, this makes it exceptionally difficult for countries to issue more debt (to fund stimulus packages, for example), especially when they are struggling to pay back their original debt.

What makes the situation in the Eurozone more problematic is their shared currency. When a country has its own currency, a crisis such as the current debt crisis can be rectified. If the value of a country’s currency drops due to their excessive debt, exports to other countries increase (as it is now cheaper to buy this country’s goods) and this boosts the economy. With a shared currency, trade like this is not as feasible. The debt problem has fallen on the shoulders of the European Central Bank and the European Commission who are now forced to offer bailouts to the needy Eurozone countries in order to keep the tide of debt at bay.

Is there a plausible solution to this crisis? Yes, but the solution is neither easy nor likely to be well-received. The American government will essentially need to increase

The Cape Town Globalist

taxes and decrease government spending in order to generate revenue to repay their debts. A government spending cut would mean less money spent on everything from health-care and military to universities and museums.

Combined with an increase in taxes, a budget cut such as this is hardly a recipe for another term in office. Ideally, growth in the economy and output of the USA is needed as this would make the implementation of a tax increase and spending cuts far less painful for the American people. Nevertheless, action is necessary. Already the USA has raised their debt limit by $2.1 trillion and cut their federal spending by $2.4 trillion.

The stronger countries bear the weight of the debt crisis despite most of this debt belonging to other EU countries The grass (or bank notes) is far less green on the other side of the world. The Eurozone’s situation demands a unique answer that is not as obvious as government intervention in the market. A divide has developed between stronger countries in the North EU (such as Germany and the Netherlands) and weaker southern countries (such as Greece and Spain). The stronger countries bear the weight of the debt crisis despite most of this debt belonging to other EU countries. Not only does it seem unfair for Germany to have to take responsibility for debt that is not their own, it is also feared that countries may take advantage of the lack of consequence their actions appear to have. Only time will tell what solution will develop.

Finally, we must ask what the debt crisis means for the rest of the world and for South Africa. There’s a saying in politics: ‘when America sneezes, the whole world catches a cold’. And it seems as though America is experiencing far worse than a bout of sneezing. We are an export nation and if our biggest customers suffer, so do we. It also does not help that Europe and America are large contributors to organisations such as the World Bank and IMF: if they cannot pay back their own debt, how will they finance the debt of the developing world? Generally, the state of the US and EU economy is dampening investor and consumer confidence and we will most certainly be affected. Best be prepared, or else ‘a tissue, a tissue, we all fall down.’ CTG

lori-rae van laren

is a second year student majoring in Politics, Philosophy and Economics.

9

news news

Keep your friends close...

Hannah Walker explores how the assassination of Osama bin Laden has impacted on the USA and Pakistan’s twisted marriage of convenience.

O

Above

President Obama and his wife Michelle pose with Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.

Image courtesy of wikimedia commons

10

n the 2nd of May this year, a decade long manhunt came to a brutal conclusion in the small Pakistani hill station of Abbottabad. Osama bin Laden was dead; killed by US Navy SEALs only 50 kilometres from the nation’s capital of Islamabad.

While scenes of Americans celebrating in New York’s Times Square were broadcast around the world and politicians congratulated one another on the death of the world’s Most Wanted Man, all eyes were on Pakistan. How had the most recognisable fugitive in the world lived undisturbed in the heart of the country for so long?

Within hours of the news of his death going global, uncomfortable questions were being asked of the Pakistani government. It was becoming increasingly clear that while billions of dollars of American military and humanitarian aid was flooding into the country, elements of the Pakistani elite were almost certainly involved in protecting bin Laden and his family. The revelation that Osama bin Laden had found a safe haven in the country that professed to be America’s biggest ally in the region, is not as great a turning point in the US-Pakistan relationship as it appears. The relationship has been a long one, fraught with deception and double-dealing on both sides.

Since the country’s independence in 1947, the United States recognised its strategic importance in the region

and invested billions of dollars in the country’s military over the next decades. The 1979 burning of the American embassy in Islamabad by Islamists soured relations briefly, but by the end of December the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan had begun.

This unleashed billions of dollars that flowed into the pockets of the Pakistani dictator, General Zia ul-Haq, who used the funds to conduct a covert war against the Soviets.

Much of this funding was redirected to increase the might of an already powerful and nuclear-armed military. Even more of it was channelled into Islamist Mujahideen organisations that were fighting in Afghanistan. These groups were the nascent Taliban and would later use the arms given to them to wage war on American troops after 2001.

Throughout the 1990s, Pakistan publicly supported the Taliban regime for strategic reasons, including undermining its long-time rival India’s influence in the Middle East.

The September 11th attacks in 2001 meant that Pakistan had to denounce its ally in order to avoid conflict with the United States.

However, as the Americans sought to remove al-Qaeda and the Taliban from their strongholds in Afghanistan, the Pakistani military publically supported efforts to defeat them, yet simultaneously allowed key figures to slip across the border into the safety of Pakistan’s lawless,

september 2011

news

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mountainous border regions.

The Pakistani government, although duplicitous in its dealings with its Western allies to an almost absurd degree, has had to contend with the needs for an extremely young populace that has watched American drone planes kill scores of Pakistani civilians on an almost weekly basis as they hunt for terror targets. The majority of Pakistanis have been hardened against the West in the past decade and increasingly expect their government to stand up to American domination.

Nowhere was this clearer than in the protests and flag burnings that followed the arrest of Raymond Davis in January. The American shot dead two Pakistanis on the streets of Lahore in an incident that he claimed was selfdefence. However, as sketchy details emerged it became clear that Davis was a private contractor working for the CIA, adding to a sense among the Pakistani public that the American government’s clandestine operations in the country were becoming more and more pernicious.

The American government demanded his immediate release, claiming he had diplomatic immunity. When Pakistan refused to release him, the American government issued statements through the US House Armed Services Committee that urged the Pakistani government to reconsider his diplomatic immunity. This amounted to a veiled

The Cape Town Globalist

threat as it was this committee that would be considering US funding, amounting to $2 billion, to the Pakistani military in the coming months. Davis was eventually released following the payment of a form of ‘blood money’ to various family members of the dead men.

2011 has been a landmark year for US-Pakistani relations, not because it has in any real way spelled a change in the way the two countries have related to one another, but

American drone planes kill scores of Pakistani civilians on an almost weekly basis as they hunt for terror targets because the Davis incident and the discovery of Osama bin Laden in Abbottabad has brought the numerous contradictions of the relationship under scrutiny. Now that the inner workings of a broken relationship have been revealed to the public at large, it seems likely that popular demand in both countries will lead to change in their interactions.

A drop in military aid to Pakistan is already in the works, but how else the relationship will change in the coming months remains to be seen. CTG

Hannah Walker is doing a MA in Public Policy and Administration

11

news news

When in China, do as the Chinese tell you After the graceful withdrawal of Google China’s censored search service, the information-hungry Chinese are supplied with a new ration: Microsoft Bing. Carla Petersen investigates.

T

he power to withhold information has long been recognised as a tool of dominance and influence.

When Google branched into China, they were fully aware of the constraints on the freedom of information in this highly regulated society. As of last year, Google China has retracted its censored search services and has since been shadowed by Microsoft Bing – now a leading Chinese search engine, with search results in English.

Google’s aim has always been to democratise and publicise information, making it more easily accessible. About four years after its launch, in July 2009, it had been estimated that Google China’s internet users was at about 338 million. In line with Chinese government policy, Google China functioned under strict censorship laws. Topics

what does China know or suspect that the rest of the world doesn’t?

Image courtesy of geekpapa.blogspot.com

Carla Peterson

is a third year student majoring in English and Art History.

12

such as the famous 5th June 1989 ‘Tank Man’, an unknown Chinese man who placed himself in front of military tanks in a non-violent demonstration of government protest, were banned from internet searches. Should the Chinese public search for something such as ‘the Tank Man’, or any topic outside the censorship, they were met with DNS errors such as ‘In accordance with local laws, regulations and policies, part of the search result is not shown’.

This year, Google did not push to be the leading search engine in China. In line with their form of state, the Chinese government did not curb their insistence on control of public information. Controversy followed when Google China, specifically their product Gmail, was hacked. Although the hacking of e-mail information is a common global phenomenon, some of the Gmail accounts that were infiltrated belonged to human rights organisations critical of China. While Google did not officially accuse the Chinese government to be behind this online attack, there were subsequent rumours of this as the case.

‘We have decided we are no longer willing to continue censoring our results on Google.cn, and so over the next few weeks we will be discussing with the Chinese government the basis on which we could operate an unfiltered search engine within the law, if at all,’ commented David Drummond, Corporate Development and Chief Legal Officer on GoogleBlog. ‘We recognise that this may well mean having to shut down Google.cn, and potentially our offices in China.’

The question for discussion lies not in why Google China disbanded, or why China has refused to democratise its information supply. Rather, what does China know or suspect that the rest of the world doesn’t? Censoring the powerful tool of information grants its controller complete access to shape reality. In a playground as open as the internet, the Chinese government has complete reign over how fact is presented to their public, allowing them to shape, alter, reconstruct or even construct realities with no duty to the truth.

Although the Chinese government may be discredited for their political ethos, without passing social or political judgment it could be said that the Chinese state produces far greater economic successes than the West. Is it possible that the Chinese government’s control in the strict censorship of information would help to marry China’s ideas with their political and economic development? What is it about the control of information that affects the total outcome of a state?

These rhetorical questions are in themselves examples of questions about the kind of reality created by the media – a reality that may just be a product of a social construction. The power of information roots itself in all the spheres of human life and productivity. Perhaps what separates Microsoft Bing and Google are their visions and definitions of information – Google’s unwillingness to part with its philosophy of open information and its potential.

It will be interesting to observe the development of Microsoft Bing in China, both how it is received and how it is maintained. CTG

september 2011

Mind the gap

news news

The idea of travelling overseas to volunteer has obvious charm, but do these gap-year programmes help anyone beyond those who charge thousands of dollars to run them? Helen Sullivan investigates a local project offered by one such ‘volunteer travel company’.

F

or about R20 000 a head—not including flights, food, or a return airport transfer -- volunteers are invited by an organisation called ‘i-to-i’ to spend six weeks on Cape Town’s Muizenberg beach and teach underprivileged children how to surf.

It sounds worthwhile and fun: it’s run with a primary school in Capricorn township and enrols children in the surf school as a reward for good behaviour. It collects and delivers the children, feeds them peanut butter sandwiches, provides them with wetsuits and employs a lifeguard to watch over their safety. Or so it claims.

The reality, says one American student who utilised the programme, is very different.

Kayla Pincus, due to start college in September, signed up with i-to-i earlier this year. Horrified by her experience, she detailed the neglect and chaos that she found.

‘The surf school had virtually no structure. Often there was more than double the number of volunteers than there were students,’ said Pincus. The project had taken on more volunteers than it could deal with, she thought, because each of them was paying ‘a boat load of money’ to be there.

‘Instead of the money going to the disintegrating wetsuits or the meals that were supposed to be included daily along with the surf lesson, the owner of the surf school did not give us enough money to buy the kids enough bread or jam to have half a jam sandwich… we had to either watch the kids physically fight over food or split the sandwiches in quarters.’

As for the process of selecting children, Kayla had nothing better to say.

‘We got in a van and drove around Capricorn picking up generally random kids standing on the street. I wouldn’t call them homeless... but I’m pretty sure not all of them attended school.’

There was no lifeguard employed by the project, and virtually no support for the volunteers, despite 24-hour support having been promised, she said.

Many of her observations were confirmed by someone involved in a legitimate surf school in the area—who asked not to be named—and who has seen programmes like i-to-i come and go.

‘The projects are not being run properly, and it’s really sad,’ he said. According to our source, those running projects like this are the owners of guesthouses, using the volunteers’ fees to pay off their mortgages. i-to-i’s surf school project manager was said to be away on a Christian missionary course in Hawaii for most of Pincus’s volunteer stint—and in any event, said the surfing school operator, ‘she can’t even surf ’ (but has ‘just

The Cape Town Globalist

bought two houses in Muizenberg’).

According to i-to-i, just over half of the R20 000 per volunteer is paid into South Africa, 40% of which goes to the project. This is apparently used for ‘paying surf staff, lifeguard, buses and (...) [for] peanut butter sandwiches’.

The other 60% of this part of the fee is, according to i-to-i’s response, ‘dedicated to providing support for volunteers in the country.’

Asked to comment on the allegations about its surf project, i-to-i’s in-country co-ordinator Allison Bell-Leask, referred The Globalist to the project manager—then twice refused to provide that person’s name or contact details for ‘privacy reasons’.‘We do not give out their contact details so that they can continue to focus on the project work, which of course is their priority,’ she said.

those running projects like this are the owners of guesthouses, using the volunteers’ fees to pay off their mortgages.

According to the surf-school operator who had been observing i-to-i, there are volunteer agencies doing good work with children at the same beach, among them Projects Abroad and Aviva. The contrast between the level of information provided by Projects Abroad and Aviva on their websites, and that given out by i-to-i, is startling. (See www.projects-abroad.org; www.aviva-sa.co.za and www.ito-i.com/volunteer.) i-to-i’s answers under the heading ‘Who Really Benefits?’ are vague: ‘…the local community or environment will benefit greatly and so will you ... Volunteer projects clearly benefit from the contribution and enthusiasm of our volunteers....’

One of the benefits, says i-to-i, is ‘Experience of Western Culture’, which ‘…helps to break down preconceived perceptions of Western travellers and forms a deep-rooted and meaningful unison between different cultures.’

But a ‘deep-rooted and meaningful unison’ does not seem the likely outcome of the surf project. In fact, for the volunteers and the children with whom they work, six weeks with i-to-i is more likely to reinforce perceptions of the way in which some South Africans feel they can treat those poorer and younger than they are—in the name of doing good. CTG

Helen Sullivan

is doing a BA(Hons) in English.

13

news

A spoon full of e’Pap makes the medicine go down The hunger crisis in Southern Africa exacerbates epidemics like Aids and TB because the medication doesn’t work without adequate nutrition. It seems that e’Pap, a nutritional maize meal, is nothing short of ‘miracle food’ – but is the South African government paying attention? Thandeka Cochrane investigates.

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n Swaziland, Aids patients have resorted to eating cow dung mixed with water. These patients are not quelling hunger pangs; they are saving their own lives.

ARVs don’t work on an empty stomach. The drugs need to be absorbed through the digestive process, which requires something to digest in the first place. No matter what your illness, if you don’t have the right kind of food, you won’t survive.

Nutrition is the white elephant in the room of medication. Clinics and hospitals all over Africa provide patients with ARVs and TB medication, but ensuring that these patients have at least one proper nutritional meal a day is not part of the agenda.

“the magic food which helps our patients recuperate forcefully.”

Image courtesy of wikimedia commons

Thandeka Cochrane

is doing occasional studies, focusing on History

14

Eleven years ago, an innovative South African social entrepreneur developed a solution to the nutrition crisis.

He created a maize meal pap with all the necessary micronutrients for a complete diet. The pap itself does not require cooking, just water, milk, maas or yoghurt, making it the perfect nutritional solution for people in areas without electricity. e’Pap is a nutrient dense food which addresses the ‘hidden hunger’ in the human body, the need for minerals and nutrients which are absorbable by the body, rather than just a ‘full-feeling’. It focuses on providing people with micro-nutrients, rather than just macro-nutrients, which is the focus of most feeding schemes.

“People have forgotten what food is about,” states the e’Pap founder. e’Pap was specifically designed to maximise ‘bio available nutrient density’. What this means is that, unlike the majority of supplements, e’Pap’s added nutrients and minerals are designed to mimic their natural form so that the body can recognise them and thus process them.

Most supplements are hyper-concentrated, and because they are not consumed as part of a meal and are not bio-identical, the body does not digest them properly, leaving most of the nutrient value of the supplement to be excreted.

This is clearly a smart product - and it works. “e’Pap saves lives. If you have e’Pap, you live. If you don’t, you die,” says an activist working with an AIDS NGO in Mozambique. She sends shipments of e’Pap to Mozambique every month and the difference is clear: those getting the e’Pap can live on ARVs, but when the shipments stop coming the people start dying.

A Mozambican local speaks of e’Pap as “the magic food which helps our patients recuperate forcefully.” Indeed, strong toxic drugs such as TB medication cannot actually be taken by people who are malnourished. If you are malnourished and take TB medication it makes you feel incredibly nauseous and you tend to throw up the medication you’ve just taken. This is one of the reasons why many people on TB medication and even ARVs stop taking their pills. e’Pap is persistently accompanied by words such as ‘miracle’ and ‘magic food’ by those who receive it, yet it has gained very little recognition in South Africa. In their home country, the founders of e’Pap have had to fight for even the smallest bit of government attention.

Despite obvious success, e’Pap cannot be found in government clinics where it can be most effective. “You are never a prophet in your own country,” is the crestfallen response from the founders. The determination of the founders to remain clean seems to have hindered their growth.

A company member speaks of how people buy into the concept very quickly, but when they realise that e’Pap is not willing to play any political games or offer any ‘kickbacks’, they are suddenly confronted with a confounding wall of stagnant bureaucracy. The e’Pap company has lost a number of tender battles on grounds that seem wholly inexplicable and efforts to market the product elsewhere in Africa have also failed. e’Pap has proven its brilliance. It is a cheap, accessible, effective solution for the hungry and the sick. Yet, the wonder product has not taken off as the company fails to land tenders. The founders of e’Pap are aware of their dilemma.

Sticking to their anti-kickback principles is praiseworthy.

However, every time they lose a tender, possibly thousands lose out on basic human rights. CTG

september 2011

Animalia From roost to roast images by gareth smit & text by francois bekker

Blooming Jellyfish! by rob attwell

The Island of Dr Moreau by ehrard vermaak

How much is that doggy in the window? by sofia monteiro

Madagascar by francois bekker

The Cape Town Globalist

15

F

rom outside you can hear a cacophony of tiny squawks; a distinct chemical odour lingers in the warm air. These are the sounds of a coop of 11 000 two-day-old chicks: 13 per drinker, 62 per feeder, 14 per square metre. Compared with the 29 per square metre, which is the policy of the big boys who play the battery game – these are the most humane conditions that a chicken business can afford. We have arrived at Lazena Free Range chicken farm in the hills of Gordons Bay.

After two weeks, if the weather is not too wintry, these hatchlings get to roam outside for a portion of the day – the hallmark of being a ‘free range’ chicken. But this is just part of being recognised as a free range farm – perhaps the most significant difference is in the foodstuff that these lucky cluckers get to consume. Free range chickens get all-vegetarian nutritional flakes and pellets, specifically balanced in accordance with the maturity of the fledgling, as opposed to other farms who add extra ingredients, such as the compressed feathers and blood of their ancestors.

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september 2011

Animalia

Furthermore, no hormones are used and no routine antibiotics are administered. The vast majority of free range chickens are air-dried and sold fresh, as opposed to the now-infamous IQF process (pumping brine into the carcasses for extra weight and shine) used by battery plants.

One hundred and six of the 15-dayold chicks had ‘expired’, a feat that our guide described as ‘awesome’. Indeed, after the five-week cycle that it takes to rear fresh eggs into fully-grown KFC dinners, a mortality rate of 5% is something to be proud of in this industry.

The Cape Town Globalist

17

Animalia

Considering the 280ml of water the mature chickens consume daily (and remember this is multiplied by the thousands) and the 80 000l used every day to keep the abattoir clean, one begins to realise the magnitude of this operation. Lazena alone manages to kill 14 chickens per minute.

That’s 6500 per day. But for real scale, one need only look at the national market leaders who effectively cull 100 000 birds per hour.

On site at Lazena the tasty bits are spiced, wrapped, weighed, labelled and priced in accordance with the customers’ request (Pick ‘n Pay, amongst others). In addition, the removed entrails such as stomachs, livers, cavity linings and intestines are cleaned and sold en mass to ‘lower income populations’. At the end of the day, very little goes to waste -- if you ignore the veritable river of blood and feathers running out the back entrance.

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september 2011

Blooming Jellyfish!

animals Animalia

Global Warming is getting them hot! Rob Atwell investigates the environmental and economic effects of the jellyfish Baby Bloom.

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n July 2010, the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) warned beach-goers in Milnerton and Blouberg of a potentially dangerous jellyfish bloom.

A ‘bloom’ refers to a jellyfish swarm. These blooms have been occurring all over the world with increasing frequency in the past decade or so. This is because of a massive increase the global jellyfish population. This growth is not limited to a single type; rather, the planet is seeing a rapid population increase right across the species spectrum.

The jellyfish were bobbing around Table Bay, when north-westerly winds shifted them in the direction of Milnerton and Blouberg beaches. NSRI spokesman, Craig Lambinon, said, ‘Bathers and surfers should be aware of this phenomenon and be cautious along this stretch of coast.’ Fortunately, nobody was harmed in this particular jellyfish incident. However, the rest of the world has not been so lucky.

The seas around Japan have become infested with a species of giant jellyfish called the Noruma jellyfish. An adult individual from this species can grow up to 6.5 feet (2 metres) and weigh about 220 kilograms.

These behemoths have caused havoc in the Japanese fishing industry. The most dramatic example occurred in 2009, when a trawler capsized whilst trying to haul in a net full of Norumas. The more common, and increasingly frequent, occurrence is the utter ruination of a catch when a single Noruma is caught up in the net. The fish are killed by the toxic stinging received by the gelatinous giant in their midst. The stinging renders the catch inedible because the fish flesh itself becomes toxic. So, the jellyfish are effectively preventing Japanese diners from enjoying their sashimi.

On the other side of the world, in Scotland, the global jellyfish population increase forced the Torness nuclear power station to shut down. Like the Fukushima nuclear reactor in Japan, Torness uses sea water in its cooling system. In June 2011, both reactors at the power station had to be shut down after thousands of jellyfish were sucked into the cooling system, effectively clogging it up.

This is not an isolated incident, jellyfish are being sucked up by nuclear reactor cooling systems in Israel and Japan as well.

Box jellyfish are considered to be one of the most dangerous animal species on the planet. A sting from one of these little monsters can kill within two minutes and is considered to be the most painful way to die.

Like other species of jellyfish, their numbers are increasing drastically and they are being found in waters where they don’t usually hang out. Box jellies, just a few years ago, were confined to the reefs in tropical northern Australia. Now they are all over the Pacific, threatening the

The Cape Town Globalist

viability of tourism for many top destinations. Thailand is one example, Hawaii another.

Dr Josep-Maria Gili, a leading jellyfish expert at the Institute of Marine Sciences in Barcelona, told reporters that the drastic rise in jellyfish numbers, and their increasingly frequent appearances in coastal waters, is a message ‘the sea is sending us.’

‘It says “look how badly you are treating me,”’ he added.

Scientists have concluded the population increase is the result of global warming, as well as too much human involvement in the oceans.

Global warming is raising sea temperatures. Slight increases in global oceanic temperatures have prompted a breeding frenzy amongst the squishy invertebrates. Evidently, warmer seas make jellyfish frisky.

Oceanic pollution levels have risen over the past couple of years. This has taken place all over the world. However, the massive economic development taking place in India and China has led to especially high pollution levels the Indian and Pacific oceans.

Evidently, warmer seas make jellyfish frisky.

Oceanic pollution promotes the growth of the microscopic plankton that the majority of jellyfish species feed on. So, not only are there more jellyfish because of increased breeding, there are more jellyfish because their food supplies are increasing, which supports their ever growing population.

Overfishing is another crucial factor contributing to the upsurge in the global jellyfish population, as it leads to a massive reduction in the jellyfishes’ natural predators.

These predators include tuna, swordfish, certain shark species, triggerfish and sea turtles. Tuna in particular is being fished at a spectacular rate. Another way overfishing helps jellyfish is that, in addition to removing predators, it also removes the competition for food sources.

Several solutions to the jellyfish problem are currently being debated by scientists. The most obvious is simply to cut down the overfishing of their predators, especially tuna. The rapid population increase has highlighted the need to introduce regulatory measures for oceanic pollution.

Japanese scientists, however, have taken a more commercial approach: grinding up the jellyfish and turning them into cosmetics, antibacterial medicine and even icecream. CTG

Image of box jellyfish courtesy of Professsor Charles Griffiths

Rob Attwell

is a third year student majoring in Economic History and English

19 19

Animals Animalia

The Island of Dr Moreau

Will the genetic hybridisation of humans and animals disintegrate into the disaster of Wells’ sci-fi thriller? Ehrard Vermaak reports on Animals Containing Human Material (ACHM) research.

I

n 1896, famed science fiction writer HG Wells wrote about an unknown island in the year 2010, home to the eccentric scientist, Dr Moreau. What makes him so special? Well, not only is his island inhabited by the native people and animals, but also by a genetic mixture of the two.

splicing animal and human genes sounds much worse than testing animals for cosmetics.

‘I have almost achieved perfection you see,’ says the good doctor, ‘of a divine creature that is pure, harmonious, absolutely incapable of any malice, and if in my tinkering I have fallen short of the human form by the snout, claw or hoof, it really is of no great importance. I am closer than you could possibly imagine, sir.’

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It seems old HG wasn’t so far off in his imaginings of 2010.

A recent study has been published by the UK’s Academy of Medical sciences, examining the use of animals containing human material (ACHM) in biomedical research.

According to this report, the academy identified a number of morally sensitive areas such as reproduction, and creating visual characteristics ‘perceived as uniquely human’ when experimenting with ACHM. Thoughtfully enough, the study calls for additional oversight to ensure that the science can flourish within clearly defined ethical boundaries, and with public support.

This of course is good news, so that all the Drs Moreau and Frankenstein are kept at bay. However, it may come as a shock to those who didn’t even realise that animals were being used for these biomedical experiments. Let’s be frank here, splicing animal and human genes sounds much worse than testing animals for cosmetics.

september 2011

animals Animalia

If you do a bit of reading, however, you’ll learn that this is nothing new. People have been using animals to comprehend our own deficiencies since before Mr Wells himself.

According to the study, new understanding of how the body functions and reacts to disease is becoming available thanks to the sophistication of the techniques that combine human genetic information with animals. These techniques are already widely used to refine research methods, creating animal models that better represent the human condition. They are also used and developed to produce new drugs in an effort to lead the fight against life-changing conditions like HIV and cancer.

Why then the sudden concern, if it has been going on for so long? ‘This is a complex research area and there should be ongoing dialogue between scientists, regulators and the wider public to address emerging

ACHM is widely used for a whole spectrum of scientific endeavours, from neuroscience to immunology. The reason is that some human biological functions and diseases cannot be accurately modelled in cell cultures or virtual simulation. Human testing is considered unethical for certain experiments. Genetically modified animals are really the next best thing – but only where the individual cells are studied within a context of a whole animal with appropriate developmental and physiological processes.

...reports of animal modification to create characteristics perceived as uniquely human, such as facial shape, skin texture... and even speech. issues,’ says Professor Martin Bobrow, chair of the UK’s Academy of Medical sciences. He expresses concerns over the emergence of ethical problems concerning the rapid pace at which the science is developing. ‘Our report recommends that the Home office puts in place a national expert body, within the existing stringent system of animal research regulation, to provide specific advice on sensitive types of ACHM research.’

The particular experiments of which Bobrow speaks are not the ones that merely use animals for research, but the more ‘Animal Farm-like’ ones: modification of the animal brain that could potentially lead to human-like ‘cerebral’ function, experiments which might even lead to fertilisation of human eggs or sperm in an animal. If that excites only the Australian sheep farmers among us, consider this: the study includes reports of animal modification to create characteristics perceived as uniquely human, such as facial shape, skin texture... and even speech.

Before you start replaying scenes from the Species movies in your head, let me remind you that results of this part of the research are at least a few years away. However,

Examples include: • Mice carrying human genes are widely used to study many diseases, including neurological

and anxiety disorders, osteoporosis and cancer.

• Goats which have a human gene incorporated

in their genome are used to produce a human protein which is used to treat blood clotting

disorders.

• Mice implanted with sections of a human

tumour are used in cancer research to study how cancers develop and spread, and to test new drugs and therapies.

• Introducing human stem cells into rats can

provide an opportunity to study the human brain’s potential for repairing the damage

caused by a stroke.

• Mice which have their immune systems or

livers reconstituted with human cells are used

to study diseases such as HIV or hepatitis.

With such big emphasis on regulation and open public channels, what is the public’s opinion? The study reports that the general UK public supported ‘ACHM research conducted to improve human health or combat disease’.

However, there is definitely a flipside to this coin.

One reader on pharmatimes.com, who also reported on the study, writes ‘maybe [it’s a possibility] for the creation of unknown diseases…it’s a worry’. Another says ‘I believe this will be a great benefit to all mankind with some accidents and problems that will occur along the way’. As for the animals, they remain of course voiceless.

People will debate whether it’s good or bad, but the study seems to heed the warning of Edward Prendick, who escapes Moreau’s island when the beast-men return to their animalistic ways: ‘The study of nature makes a man at last as remorseless as nature.’ CTG

Images courtesy of understandinganimalresearch. org.uk

Ehrard Vermaak is doing a BA(Hons) in Media Theory and Practice

The Cape Town Globalist

21

Animals Animalia

How much is that doggy in the window?

Sofia Monteiro takes a look at what China’s food says about its attitudes towards animals.

I

n the hutongs (street markets), and monumental shopping centres, from Guangzhou in south China to Beijing, the custom of food photography is the same. Brashly lit and laminated onto the wall of each restaurant I entered, an animal, recognisable in its entirety, was displayed on a plate, occasionally adorned with a tutu of lettuce.

Guangdong region is famous for eating anything and everything. ‘SARS did start here for a reason,’ one my fellow travellers commented sardonically.

has the influx and exchange of ideas with the West impacted on Chinese attitudes toward animals?

Here you can buy almost anything on a stick - scorpions, seahorses and starfish included. In restaurants, chicken dishes arrive with the heads proudly perched as decoration. To my somewhat sheltered Western aesthetic, this in itself seemed like an unapologetic display of violence – the identity of the animal I was about to eat was simply too clear for comfort.

However, food at home is so euphemistically presented in neat plastic packaging that it makes it easy to be hypocritical. It is easier to support animal welfare while cutting into chicken schnitzel for supper. We are so removed from what we eat and where it comes from that we 22

probably wouldn’t notice if next time the beef mince was in fact ‘soylent green’.

The Chinese are diametrically opposite in this respect.

While I found it unnerving to watch tanks of depressed looking frogs, turtles, octopus and squid morosely waiting to be ordered, they prefer ‘freshness’ to the degree that it is desirable to choose food from live tanks.

As I anthropomorphised the seafood in front of me, I thought how awful it was to delay their inevitable death in these less than optimal conditions. However, the resident economist in me sidelined this empathy. Every day millions of fish are caught, killed and thrown out if they don’t sell within the requisite period. This obsession with freshness could be reducing potential wastage.

Traditionally, the Chinese have not been recognized for exemplary treatment of animals. But has the influx and exchange of ideas with the West impacted on Chinese attitudes toward animals? China’s immense presence in the global economy has increasingly exposed its citizens to ideas of animal welfare as well as the international food industry. The latter, unfortunately, is evident by a KFC/McDonalds generic on every third block. But perhaps that is just a casualty of joining the global village.

Though many may argue that animal welfare is merely a Western ideal, it seems this is not enough of an argument. This brand of cultural relativism allows for no limits to morality, as unacceptable actions are reduced simply to ‘culture’ - alleviating one’s responsibility of addressing the issue.

september 2011

animals Animalia

Despite the efforts of animal rights organisations and lobbies in China, the absence of regulation is striking. In 2004, the government suspended passing legislation that would mandate the protection of animals being transported and slaughtered. They argued that it was impractical, unenforceable and would negatively affect business.

But is the Chinese government’s attitude reflected by the general public? Recent research suggests otherwise.

The International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) commissioned a survey in 2005 to determine the Chinese public’s attitude toward animal rights. Their responses were surprising in that they virtually mirrored those of the British public with the majority of the population believing they had a moral duty to reduce animal suffering.

Train Hsu, member of the Republic of China Students’ Association (ROCSA) says, ‘Chinese people eat anything that walks. But I think the reason is more due to famine and starvation from times of war. We must keep in mind that the Chinese population is vast, and a meal at times can be scarce. I know there’s a particular conspiracy about eating dogs, for example. Eating dogs nowadays may just be a lasting ripple from the past, or a dish which has since become a delicacy.’

As China’s economy thrives, the younger generation – typically better educated and more cosmopolitan than their parents – reflect a growing culture of concern for the rights and welfare of animals. Despite this, the correlation of these attitudes with the actual ethical treatment of animals is harder to establish.

But take a moment to reflect – it is worth noting that animal welfare was introduced in 1911 in the United Kingdom, with the passing of the first Protection of Animals Act. This happened once the country had already sorted out priority sectors such as effective health systems, unemployment and economic growth. At the same time, the UK did not have the technology to exploit animals to the extent that we do today, such as battery farming and the

use of synthetic hormones.

China is a fast growing, developing nation with all the accompanying priorities, but neglecting to address animal welfare in the name of the economy is too familiar an excuse. The Chinese government’s exemption from the Kyoto protocol as a ‘developing’ nation means that today they are the biggest global producers of carbon emissions.

By extension, any number of moral and environmental harms, such as war or infanticide could be legitimised in the name of ‘development’. Modern economic growth cannot be considered in an ethical vacuum. We need to consider our priorities and values as a global community and steer our development in a mutually beneficial direction – animals included.

‘Save the adorable fluffy panda’ is a lot easier to campaign than ‘save the endangered lizard’ Western society is increasingly concerned with animal rights, evident in the number of mega-celebrities taking up the cause. But when the West extends this concern to China, it typically focuses on ‘exotic’ mammals such as bears, dogs and dolphins, highlighting our bias in favour of mammals, and our neglect of other kinds of animals. ‘Save the adorable fluffy panda’ is a lot easier to campaign than ‘save the endangered lizard’.

So the next time you click ‘Like’ on your favourite Facebook Cause, pause to ponder our odd propensity to be more concerned with the welfare of the ‘exotic’, or the victims of unusual eating habits, than we are with the meat on our own plates. CTG

Images courtesy of wikimedia commons

Sofia Monteiro

is a second year student majoring in Psychology and Economics

The Cape Town Globalist

23

Madagascar

Animals Animalia

...beyond the big screen

Francois Bekker explores the trials and tribulations of this unique and vulnerable island.

A

recent DreamWorks Animation production, featuring voiceovers by the likes of Ben Stiller and Chris Rock, delved into the mysteries of a largely forgotten protuberance of rock off the coast of South East Africa.

The film depicted strange creatures and outlandish landscapes, a world of lemurs and baobabs that is seldom conjured up when considering our natural heritage.

Indeed, it is a set of living creatures and plants decidedly foreign to the highly celebrated Big Five territory of the island’s larger neighbour to the West.

more than 80% of the wildlife exists nowhere else on Earth Around one hundred and fifty million years ago, tectonic plate movement forced a chunk of the supercontinent Gondwanaland to split off. What is now referred to as the former Madagascar-Antarctica-India landmass later split into its three namesakes, leaving Madagascar isolated as a separate site for evolutionary development. This all 24

happened before the advent of monkeys, and so they never made it to those forests. According to current theories, however, lemurs reached Madagascar by ‘floating vessels’ and proliferated as dominant tree dwellers.

Elsewhere on the planet, monkeys and lemurs competed for resources, and monkeys secured lemur extinction as a product of their more playful nature, meaning that they were more competitive and violent. Thus, the more serene lemurs lost out in the long run – except for those on the exiled island of Madagascar.

Being the crafty and curious creatures humans are, we invented guidable ‘floating vessels’, and before long came across this island, where more than 80% of the wildlife exists nowhere else on Earth. Interestingly, the first human colonisers were not from nearby Africa as one might expect, but from Indonesia, all the way across the vast Indian Ocean. Setting up camp, the humans soon started culling off these inimitable creatures and destroying the habitat for the sake of our own survival. Fortunately, the Madagascan government (once such a thing was established) eventually stepped in and set up conservation laws in specific regions of the island and surrounding outcrops, requiring one to have a permit to visit.

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animals Animalia

Now, herein rests some of the beauty and the irony of the tale thus far: Initially, the lemurs were saved from the monkeys and apes by chance – by tectonic plate movement or floating debris. Now, the primate lineage has evolved far enough, that the lemurs are being saved by the monkeys’ and apes’ descendants!

Unfortunately the tale goes further.

Madagascar has recently become almost synonymous with laughable politics. The most recent two presidents were (as simplified by the media) an ice-cream baron and a radio DJ. In the last decade there have been two major bouts of political unrest, the first even being classified in 2002 as a ‘low-grade civil war.’

In the drive for economic prosperity, the glorious natural heritage has been relegated to the last priority. The government has declared a massive industrial free zone with the hopes of enticing foreign investment, to such a degree that the consulate general released a document discussing the ‘more than 30 000 square kilometres of available land not (yet) exploited’. In 2005 merely 4% of the GDP was rooted in mining; the estimate for 2012 is 30%. In 2009 a scandal arose regarding a massive illegal industry in Madagascan rosewood, involving, amongst others, the Gibson guitar company. But, perhaps most pertinent is the proposed deal between the Madagascan government and the massive South Korean conglomerate, Daewoo Logistics.

First unveiled in 2008, an agreement made between former president Marc Ravalomanana and Daewoo aimed to lease out 1,9 million hectares of land – very near half the arable land on the island – in order to grow maize crops for export back to Korea. This is staggering when compared to the parsimonious 6 million ha of land protected for biodiversity conservation purposes. Madagascar being touted as the ‘crossroad between Asia and Africa’, Daewoo was to get this land free of charge, merely by offering the locals physical labour.

In an effort to gain popular support in 2009, current president Andry Rajoelinaz simply said that such a huge

decision needs ‘some consultation with the people’ and ‘at this hour’ the deal is off. This appears to be cause for celebration, as this deal would surely have led to the degradation (read ‘destruction’) of much of this island’s unique ecosystems. One may argue, however, that the reasoning behind halting the deal rather misses the point.

One concern is the lingering stench of neo-colonialism: people having their land taken away by wealthy foreign powers ‘in exchange’ for hard labour. Perhaps a more pertinent matter is the fact that Africa is experiencing food crises, and the deal revolves around Korea taking home food crops grown on African soil.

Africa is experiencing food crises, and the deal revolves around Korea taking home food crops grown on African soil There is, however, a bigger issue at hand. The proposed deal with Daewoo Logistics will surely result in irreversible damage to our natural heritage. As history suggests, we monkeys (and especially those with money) tend to win at the end of the day, and in this instance it seems it would be premature to assume the deal won’t reappear in some other from.

To let this happen – to let Madagascar be pillaged, and miss what our generation holds in the balance – will be a shameful symbol of today’s rampant and short-sighted anthropocentrism. To quote Lord David Attenborough: “It is astonishing how easy it is for a species to disappear and be exterminated as human beings take over more and more of the natural world. But there is hope. We understand more about ecology and ecosystems, more about what needs to be done to protect the natural world. And I certainly hope that we take those lessons to heart in Madagascar , to save its wonderful wildlife, for it is indeed an island of marvels.” CTG

Images courtesy of wikimedia commons

Francois bekker

is majoring in Psychology and Anthropology.

The Cape Town Globalist

25

opinions opinion

Zoecracy

Mother Nature knocks on democracy’s door With conservation of the natural environment becoming an increasingly urgent concern of international bodies, a change is needed in our system of democracy. Arjun DÜrr and Matthias Kroenke put forward their proposal.

G

iven the current rate of destruction of the natural environment by humankind, one begins to wonder what the answers are.

Environmental concerns are inextricably linked to social and economic developmental processes. Therefore, we argue that a reconstruction of the relationship between sustainability and government will culminate in a topdown, institutionalised form of eco-governance: zoecracy.

Zoecracy stems from the Greek words: zoe ‘life’ and kratos ‘power’ and means the ‘rule of life’.

The case for protecting the environment is indisputable: action must be taken. If the need is so obvious, why haven’t we already done something? In a competitive world of states vying for power and trade, and politicians striving for votes, too few are willing to be the first to sacrifice their power.

So, it is possible for us to shelve our selfishness when we need to.

Arjun Dürr

is majoring in Spanish, Social Anthroplogy and Politics.

Matthias Kroenke is majoring in Politics, EGS and French.

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Unfortunately, many eco-friendly laws diminish trade advantages mainly because green technologies are more expensive. This leads to understanding, in part, why the Kyoto Protocol failed to pin down the heavyweights: America is unwilling to legislate green initiatives to the detriment of her trade if China isn’t willing to do the same.

Similarly, in the present recession, voters care more about employment than the earth. Hence, a tragedy of the commons ensues for protecting the planet. Furthermore, is the vision of environmental change combined with the rule of law (rather than civil society organisations) unrealistic if politicians are such a shrewd bunch?

Before you cynically answer ‘yes’, let us draw an analogy to a similar fight: slavery. Slavery has existed in various forms throughout human history. As far back as 800 BCE, tribes related to the modern day San were coerced into labour by ancient Libyan kingdoms. The first protests against slavery were issued as late as 1688 by Dutch Quakers and faced a firmly established norm. Despite such entrenched attitudes, in 1807 the Slave Trade Act banned slavery throughout the British Empire.

This movement is comparable to today’s fight to protect the earth because it convinced humankind to set aside short-term practical concerns for labour, in favour of the

more important issue of morality, or in our case, the prosperity of future generations. This was possible because enough information was available to enough people: firstly, to judge that slavery was immoral and, secondly, to contribute to a groundswell of support for abolition.

This change in opinion was so complete and so thorough that today there are few people who would suggest practicality trumps morality in the case of slavery. So, it is possible for us to shelve our selfishness when we need to.

Environmentalism is creeping further into our consciousness. Green issues have begun to appear foremost on the agendas of the G8 and United Nations. Surely, as awareness grows and our mindsets actually change, it should be a natural progression for multilateral environmental action to become effective, rather than the toothlessness it has been prone to. Once a norm is established, it is coherent that environmental protection should take root in the day-to-day governance of nations. This leads us to the idea of ‘zoecracy’ as a viable political system.

Zoecracy is not only about the interpretation and implementation of sustainable development principles, but also about addressing the ignorance towards structural barriers that prevent the tangible manifestation of local, national and international actions toward sustainability.

Thus, we have intervention on a higher level, which requires a comparatively more environmentally aware society as its foundation.

As envisioned, zoecracy would function by allocating a 34% representation in parliament to a panel of legislative judges that have environmental expertise to advocate for or against proposed legislation out of concern for its effect on the environment.

Zoecracy, therefore, not only ensures a blocking minority, but, more importantly, provides a way of implementing environmental laws within a democratic system that gives mother nature, in effect, a vote.

Although the world system might well have changed by the time humans have learnt to prioritise the planet, the kinds of states is which zoecracy would be most feasible would be advanced democracies, such as present-day Germany.

More than replacing people with trees in parliament, zoecracy strives to replace short-term ‘quick fixes’ with long-term solutions and current destruction with future sustainability in an endeavour to galvanise the imperative changes our ever-modernising world is in need of. CTG

september 2011

Global21

Can we afford ourselves?

B

ack to Work: Innovation, Investment, and International Open Markets was the theme of an economics conference in Washington, D.C. sponsored by the Bertelsmann Foundation and the Financial Times.

Through Global21’s partnership with Bertelsmann’s online organization, FutureChallenges, two Yalies were able to attend the conference as journalists.

Nearly 90 percent of Nigeria’s agricultural output comes from inefficient small family farms, according to the World Bank. Most farmers have no access to modern inputs such as irrigation or fertilizers, and most do not even grow enough food to feed their own families. According to UNICEF, 91 million Nigerians are considered “food insecure”.

The Managing Director of the World Bank and Nigeria’s former Finance Minister, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, stated at the Bertelsmann Foundation that the recent hike in food prices worldwide will likely effect Africa worse than ever before. According to Okonio-Iweala, demographics and supply issues are to blame.

“Population is rising and demand is increasing,” she bluntly stated in the panel discussion. Africa’s population of 770 million has increased seven fold since 1990 and is projected to reach 2 billion by 2050 (Center of Popula-

tion and Development). With particularly poor harvests recently, agricultural producers are having a hard time keeping up with the growing demand of food. There simply is not enough food produced to meet the demand of the growing populations, especially in Africa, China, and India.

Some of the decrease in agricultural production is likely due to climate change. Okonjo-Iweala points out that “black swan” incidences such as droughts during rainy seasons occur more often and are having greater impacts than ever before. “In the 1980s, there were on average 150 natural disasters a year. Now, it is over 300 natural disasters every year”, she pointed out.

Another factor the former finance minister mentioned was the growing trend of producing food for fuel. Competition with biofuels may also contribute to the surge in food prices around the world. Using corn for biofuels such as ethanol creates an increased demand and raises prices on the grain market. In 2011, American farmers have sold corn to the market for the highest prices in history, just over US $7 per bushel. Biofuels create a stronger correlation between energy prices and food prices, and when energy prices rise – so will the cost of food. G21

Image courtesy of Erin Schutte

Erin Schutte

is a writer for the yale Globalist.

Death of the third world

T

he President of the World Bank, Robert Zoellick, proclaimed in 2009 that the term ‘Third World’ was dead: “We are now in a new, fast-evolving, multipolar world economy, where north, south, east and west are points on a compass, not economic destinies.”

His announcement could not have come at a more appropriate time. The rich West was mired in the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, a slump from which it is only now beginning to clamber out. Meanwhile, China’s economy was growing at a breathtaking nine per cent per annum, with India not far behind on six per cent. More significantly, this year or the next, the share of global output produced by the industrialised nations will fall below 50 percent for the first time in centuries.

The world’s centre of economic gravity is shifting. The impoverished majority of humanity is rapidly catching up to the ageing West, both in terms of income and levels of technology. The rise of the BRICs (Brazil, Russia, India and China) occupies so much commentary that it has almost become a truism. But the story doesn’t end there. Southeast Asia and Latin America have quietly made huge in-

roads into poverty in the last decade. Even Sub-Saharan Africa, long derided as a basket-case by development economists, far outpaced the rich world on income growth during the 2000s.

Two questions are rapidly emerging. First, does the term ‘Third World’ still have any meaning in the early 21st century? And second, what does this tectonic shift mean for how we in the West think of our global leadership?

The answer to the first question is an increasingly obvious ‘no’. A linguistic hangover from the Cold War (when ‘First World’ meant the West, ‘Second World’ meant the nations of the Communist Bloc and ‘Third World’ meant those who were unaligned), the term ‘Third World’ is still commonly used in everyday speech. The phrase conjures images of grinding poverty, backwardness and destitution, alongside a faint sense of derision.

However, the world to which it applies is fast disappearing.

Read the rest of this article at: www.perspectivist.com/ economics/death-of-the-third-world G21

Image courtesy of wikimedia commons

CONOR WALSH

is a writer for the sydney Globalist.

CTG

The Cape Town Globalist

27 27

science science

Saltwater snacks When it comes to green vegetarianism, some pragmatism is in order.

Kimon de Greef rethinks the mussel.

I

n terms of ‘animal’, mussels don’t seem like much: no face, no limbs, no brain. No personality.

A mussel exists attached to a rock and spawns periodically. It feeds by filtering particles from the water column, grows larger, and dies. And that’s about it.

Yet, mussels are animals. They start life as miniscule, swimming larvae and obtain food energy by eating -- not by photosynthesis, as plants do. A creature (as opposed to a germ, fungus or a bunch of roses) is able to move around and unable to produce food on its own, both characteristics which mussels have. Nevertheless, mussels challenge our preconceptions of what animals are, leading to some rather interesting questions, not least of all about what we should and should not eat.

getting your muscles from mussels may prove to be an environmentally friendly alternative to strict vegetarianism

Image courtesy of wikimedia commons

Kimon de Greef

holds an Honours degree in Zoology and is a mussel man

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For one thing, they may make you rethink strict vegetarianism. Troubling as it might be to substitute a blackand-white distinction (eating plants, not eating animals) with a grey one, getting your muscles from mussels may prove to be an environmentally friendly alternative to strict vegetarianism or veganism.

There are many reasons for a human not to eat other animals. Factory farming causes many animals to suffer terribly. Because a lot of us feel a kinship with other animals – including, strangely enough, pugs – the knowledge of actually harming and killing something in order to chew on it can be enough of a deterrent.

Buying meat is also bad for the environment as the industry generates giant volumes of greenhouse gases.

Socio-economically, it is argued that meat eating is wasteful of food which could be put to better use: most animals we eat require 10 - 20 kg of grain just to gain 1 kg of bodyweight.

But sadly, the alternatives to carnivory come with ethical and environmental problems of their own. Eating farmed crops implicates you in the transformation of natural habitats to monocultured fields. This further implicates

you in the deaths of thousands of insects, birds and rodents – sometimes even leopards (a single pear farmer in the Cedarberg recently told me he’s shot three during the past ten years.) The pollution of waterways by fertilisers is another major problem, and supplementing your protein intake with imported soya beans and lentils rapidly raises your carbon footprint.

A mussel leaps to the rescue. With no complex nervous system to speak of, it feels no pain and cannot comprehend its existence in even a rudimentary way. As a marine filter feeder it requires no food to grow – only plankton, which is super-abundant in South Africa’s waters. And, as an added benefit, just about every mussel you ever encounter on our coastline will be an invasive species, meaning that harvesting them has pretty much zero impact on ‘natural’ ecosystems.

Mussels are what scientists call ‘ecosystem engineers’.

When a dense mussel bed spreads over bare rock, a million sheltered little spaces are created in the gaps between the shells. All sorts of things live here: worms, sea lice, small fish, prawns, limpets and baby crabs. A mussel bed, on a micro scale, is a world of its own.

Mussel sex might not be the kind that sells, but it’s compelling nonetheless. Mussels, like many marine animals, are ‘broadcast spawners’, meaning that, come mating season, they release their eggs and sperm in vast clouds.

Following this a process of completely random fertilisation takes place. There is no mate choice, and ‘parents’ are joined together by mere chance. Every spawning mussel mates with millions of others all at once. Try hard as you like, but there really is no analogy.

Incidentally, when you eat mussels you’re eating mostly gonads. The best time to harvest is just before they spawn -- that way, with every shell you get a lovely, juicy mouthful.

Mussels bend our heads about what animals are: they are sedentary, simple and unthinking. Yet, these creatures are remarkably successful (with near-global distribution and unbelievably high numbers) and influential at ecosystem-level scales.

And you could eat one for free this evening, and not feel bad at all. CTG * Harvesting mussels requires a permit, which can be obtained from your nearest post office for under R100

september 2011

Our Animal Friends?

philosophy

Stuart MacDonald considers our ethical responsibilities toward the voiceless subjects of scientific research

O

ne needs only to read through Genesis to understand the prevailing trend of anthropocentrism in most of today’s major religions and socio-political ideologies.

According to Christianity, the rest of the universe exists in relation to humanity. Hinduism treats the sacred cow with much respect and dignity, but this merely returns a favour to the creature which almost single-handedly ensured human survival.

There are exceptions of course, chiefly Buddhism: some sects refuse to deal with even the most difficult problems created by natural pests.

However, the general slant is evident: humans have the freedom to decide what is best for ‘our animal friends’.

Animal Rights groups now protect the livelihood of other species of the Animal Kingdom, but when it comes to weighing our own well-being against those of ‘lesser’ species, we tend to stumble, sometimes deliberately. Though killing animals for food is arguably justifiable, scientific experimentation presents us with a sliding scale regarding what is acceptable.

Daily routines in many biological labs include the breeding of ‘knockout mice’: mice that are deliberately missing certain genes, affecting their ability to live. Some are injected with drugs, infected with disease, or surgically dissected in order to gain information that may benefit humans.

The ‘sliding scale’ is however dependent on many factors. For example, Drosophila melanogaster (also known as the fruit fly) is indispensable to the history of genetic research, yet one rarely questions the ‘torture’ and ‘indiscriminate killings’ of insects -- especially since the goal of much medical research is to kill viruses, bacteria, nematodes, flukes and mosquitoes.

However, research can only go so far on such simple beings, which share almost no physiological traits with humans. One has to start somewhere. Mice, being the smallest, the most readily available and traditionally a bit of nuisance, were thus nominated as the de facto playthings of sadistic biologists. The question is: ‘why should we care?’ If we gave them life for the explicit purpose of taking it away, surely it becomes a zero-sum game in terms of the effects on mouse populations?

It is true that, according to the principle of the conservation of matter, we are only really transforming existing particles, molecules and cells from one state to another.

However, when we change cells from dormant to living and dispose of them when we’re done, they tend to accu-

The Cape Town Globalist

mulate in not-so-nice ways. For example, the disintegration of pharmaceutically-treated mice can lead to drugs leaking into groundwater, and pose potential dangers for the animals and humans affected.

And from an ethical point of view? Unlike viruses, bacteria, and plants, animals have sensory receptors that allow them to feel pain. So, technically, what is being done to them can be likened to torture. Where does it leave our subjects when we play God with their lives in order to extend our own? Exactly how far do our responsibilities reach?

are some life-forms more valuable and/or disposable than others? And if so, what makes them so?

Opinions vary, but tend to be less forgiving the more complex and conscious the animal in question. You are unlikely to find a large number of people agreeing to monkeys being put on exercise wheels, injected with drugs, and then checked for time of death: they are neither as physiologically dispensable given their gestation and maturation time, nor as ethically dispensable because of the pain and suffering they are able to feel.

It is a real ontological conundrum: are some life-forms more valuable and/or disposable than others? And if so, what makes them so? Consciousness or lack thereof? Ability to feel pain? Physiological qualities such as gestation time, maturation time, upkeep or complexity?

Then there are humans themselves: if our goal is to increase the livelihood of humans, why not limit our studies to human ‘victims’? That way no unsuspecting or un-consenting animal gets hurt. There are even more problems with this, one of which is the fact that we are no longer pitting certain animals against each other in terms of worth, but someone somewhere is deciding which humans can justifiably be sacrificed over others. The MK-ULTRA programme is one example of such a procedure that has actually taken place, and there have been rumours of others.

The general consensus seems to be “do only as much harm and create only as much waste as is necessary”, but this does little to clear the general ambiguity when it comes to prioritising human needs over those of other animals. After all, precisely which things in terms of scientific research should be deemed ‘necessary’? CTG

Image courtesy of understandinganimalresearch. org.uk

stuart macdonald

is doing a MSc in Mathematics

29

curtain call

TOP DOG$&

FATCAT$

A not-so-modest proposal by Jacob Claassens.

T

he recent and ongoing spasms of the unfathomable financial systems have left us with many things to muse at. Joe Bloggs looks at his investments in US treasury bonds and bites his nails, as do the Chinese, who are already down to gnawing their elbows.

Debt ceilings are being smashed by executives leaping out of windows, and every slight upturn is followed by cautions that next month you may find yourself living out of your neighbour’s Corolla, or bucket, depending on your circumstances.

The only person who would understand this mess would probably owns real estate on the moon. ‘Supply and demand? Screw your degree. Supply mortgage marginal trading hostile takeover debt default $400 trillion dollar buyout bank collapse demand? Would you like stimulus package with that?’

Photos in newspapers of old men with their heads

Of course, say the board, we gave the top job to a conch. Next time we’ll find a clam.

Image by Gregory Bakker

Jacob Claassens

is majoring in Film Production and History

30

cast down trudging into courtrooms flanked by crack legal teams are all that one has to look forward to, besides hot mothers. All the J. Arthur Browns (Fidentia), Kenneth Lays (Enron) and Bernie Madoffs (2008 Ponzi scheme) of the world give us little satisfaction.

These guys at the top of the pyramid are the ones we need to see crying in court. That being said, hire me. I have a plan. You are the only ones who have money anymore.

Don’t act like your assets are frozen. Just give me ten percent of your daughter’s trust fund and a villa by the Sea of Tranquility. I would call you, but your phones are tapped.

Listen closely.

Who caused this mess? Surely not us? We invented the wheel. We watch talkshows. We laugh at animals. We are good people. We need a scapegoat.

Literally, a goat. You see, when Hansie blamed the devil, he had got it all wrong. The judge was probably an atheist. In a very literal reading Hansie’s original statement, we can assume a red and hoofed man offered him some bad advice. No such thing exists as far as we know. What then to blame?

The solution is simple: Animals. The buck stops…with the buck.

Quasi-hypothetical situation: A large multinational energy corporation owes the Nigerian people millions in payouts over an oil spill. A real PR nightmare. A CEO is held to an enquiry in front of a legislative body. The CEO is a Conch. Otherwise known as “Shell.” After some lively debate and some stonewalling on Shell’s part, the benches are overcome with a rabid frenzy. Why won’t the Conch answer?

On the advice of the Conch’s lawyers, the speaker of parliament holds the shell up to his ear to hear the shell’s testimony. There is a great silence. All eyes on the shell.

The speaker hears in his ear the distant roar of the sea. He is reminded of a childhood spent hovering over rock pools.

He sheds a single tear. The conch is passed around from MP to MP and the company is eventually vindicated as each is convinced that the Conch does actually care about the spill.

Worst case scenario? There is a scientist that reminds parliament that all they are hearing is the blood rushing in their own ears. After the Conch is almost trampled to death in the ensuing chaos there is a court case that continues for ten years where the conch is continually mistaken for either an ashtray or paperweight and refuses (or is plainly unable) to answer questions from the prosecution.

It is eventually jailed. The fallout is of course limited and general crisis is averted. Were things going to go wrong?

Of course, say the board, we gave the top job to a conch.

Next time we’ll find a clam.

The blame can be further diversified. The whole board of directors could be representatives from the animal kingdom, with human advisors. This is generally recommended if the rot in your organisation runs deep. Will the animals be taken seriously? If you have any doubts about your proxy executives not being taken seriously it is best to utilise the distant cousin, the chimpanzee. As science keeps proving, there is really not much of a difference between us and them and by them I mean us.

Our cousins are probably ten years away from moving into human settlements. This will be possible through the cheap prices of real estate made possible by the coming pop of the housing bubble. Housing so cheap your monkey will want to move out! CTG

september 2011

is recruiting

The Cape Town

Globalist

Team 2012

U C T’s st udent int er nat ional af fairs mag a z i n e

Journalists

Layout Editor

Our writers are creative and curious, hardworking, resourceful and intuitive.

Future Pulitzer prize-winners are also welcome to apply. In exchange for words, we give you a byline and experience.

We need someone with experience in Adobe InDesign and a can-do attitude, to make this smart magazine look even smarter. It involves sourcing original imagery, long nights and creative fulfilment.

Content Editors

Web Editor

As a content editor you have to have a flair for the English language and eyes like a hawk.

Content editing involves more than just correcting spelling and grammar – it also involves recognising gaps in a story, following up on shady facts and coaching writers through their articles. Furthermore, you need to be on the lookout for interesting content ideas.

Do you have web editing skills? If so, you can help us improve our website and run it.

You would also be in charge of liasing with Global21 and uploading our articles onto their blog, The Perspectivist.

Marketing & Distribution Manager It will be your job to make The Globalist brand as visible as possible. It would involve organising and marketing events and launches, running our Facebook page, e-mailing our mailing list and making sure our wonderful product is strategically distributed.

Finance Manager Money has been our biggest obstacle thus far. If you understand money better than we do and can help us look for it (we’ve been looking on trees), then please apply. We need someone with experience in accounting to manage our budget, process payments and liase with debtors and creditors. Creativity, innovation and a positive attitude will go far. The work is hard but can be extremely rewarding.

You get paid nothing. You have to work hard. But in return you attain self-fulfillment, and you make the world a better place.

Apply to: ctglobalist@gmail.com Please attach a CV and a motivational letter. Journalists please include a sample of your writing. Closing date for applications is Friday, September 23 The Cape Town Globalist

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The Centre for Film and Media Studies congratulates the Cape Town Globalist on this issue

• Film and the Environment • Environmental Documentary • Wildlife Documentary

If you care about animals and the environment, you’d be interested to know that the Centre for Film and Media Studies offers the following postgraduate courses:

The Centre also offers Honours programmes in the following:

At the Honours and MA level, the Media Theory and Practice programme allows students to specialise in:

• Film Studies

• Media Research

• Television Drama: Theory and Practice

• Journalism

• Rhetoric

• Documentary

• Political Communication

• Advertising, Branding and New Media

• Media Theory and Practice

New courses starting in 2012 include:

The Engaged Camera, convened by Paul Weinberg Creative Non-Fiction, to be taught by Antony Altbeker, Justin Fox and André Wiesner Crisis Communications

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For a full list of courses, visit the Centre’s website, www.cfms.uct.ac.za

september 2011