Antarctica

Like the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, which the CIA World Factbook lists because it is operating by regions and countries, and not simply countries (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ay.html), Antarctica should not really be in this catalogue; but as these oceans are vital to the political, economic and military strategies of all the world’s powers, they merit, indeed require inclusion…

Like me, you may well find it both strange and fascinating that the CIA has a web-site on which it presents its version of the whole-wide-world, but it does, and it is actually extremely useful, providing a pre-tourism guide in the manner of Lonely Planet or Trip Advisor, but without the negative commentaries of the disappointed or the hyperbolic schmaltz of those who can't wait to return. It is, of course, the world seen through the kaleidoscope of a spy agency that also operates as the undercover militia of its nation's economic imperialism and regional control-mania, so one reads the CIApedia CIArcumspectly. But then, so one does with the BBC, which is entirely funded by the British government, though of course it cannot be called "state media" in the way that one might accuse the Russian or Angolan or Venezuelan.

The Antarctic has no native population, because there is nowhere to live - the visiting scientific researchers inhabit temporary homes and therefore do not count. From this we can provide a pure and pristine portrait of what the planet will be like, of what a human-free planet will be like, should global warming do what it is predicted to do, somewhere in the next ten thousand years. It will be a very beautiful planet, peaceful and serene, a place of infinite natural beauty, inhabited by wildlife whose skins will never become coats, whose tusks will never become mantlepiece clocks or ear-rings, whose heads will never hang on walls like claret jugs. It will be cold, yes, but it will be a planet whose eco-system is self-balancing, and therefore will return to natural evolutionary cycles, enabling the strongest to survive, failed species to become defunct, new species to emerge. For those who truly wish to save the planet, as they claim to wish to save the planet, the Antarctic provides the finest argument in favour of global warming.

And what is more, Antarctica belongs to no one, but is governed by a utopian international treaty signed by 46 countries, representing the large majority of the world’s population, which commits them to sustaining Antarctica as "a peaceful, free and demilitarized place of international cooperation and scientific research, open to all, with a minimum of human development." You see, world peace is achievable - provided there are no people. What will happen when the first of the 46 discovers oil, and the other 45 all want it, remains to be predictable. What is already happening to destroy it (pesticide residue in seabird guano, plastic waste floating out of the southern oceans, ice-cap melting caused by ozone depletion &c) can be read in more detail by clicking here.

And while we wait for Utopia to be reduced to reality, take a look at some more of these amazing photographs by alex cornell  (the one at the top of the page is his as well)

You can find David Prashker at:
http://theargamanpress.com/
http://davidprashker.com/
http://davidprashker.net/
https://www.facebook.com/TheArgamanPress
http://davidprashkersprivatecollection.blogspot.com
http://davidprashkerssongsandpoems.blogspot.com
http://davidprashkersbookofdays.blogspot.com/
http://davidprashkersartgallery.blogspot.com/

Copyright © 2015 David Prashker

All rights reserved

The Argaman Press