This is the credo of those right wingers who deny climate change. All they ever say is that taking action would cost jobs and money. They never admit that they might be wrong or that there might be consequences much worse than some lost jobs. It’s all about money, nothing else.
Brilliant strip!BTW non-natural climate change has been earnestly discussed for decades, sorry if you are coming in late. In fact, I used to be a sceptic until a few years ago when I found that the hard science data and conclusions were incontestable. Lately, the carbon marketing Koch Brothers have been investing many dollars to be able to say that there is nothing to worry about, but their highly funded researchers keep coming back with even more conclusive proof for AGW.
Unfortunately, exploitation of others for personal gain seems to be inherent in human nature. When one has been corrupted by money and power, it is compassion that becomes an alien concept.
Rap is at least as old as Gilbert and Sullivan: “This particularly rapid unintelligible patter isn’t usually heard and if it is it doesn’t matter” [Ruddigore, 1887], not to mention Rossini’s “Figaro here, Figaro there…” [The Barber of Seville. 1775].
Same old story. God is dead. He did not give the earth to man to subdue and till. Man is God. Destroy each other in the name of saving the earth.
Again. Same old line satan has been giving for generations, and there is always another generation to take up his banner that man is evil. Sad, really, when there could be so much happiness and joy in following the Savior and not the heathen hypocrites.
To those who frequently post here saying, “It’s a comic strip, folks,” today’s Calvin and Hobbes is a good example of how Bill Watterson sometimes intended to convey deeper meanings, rather than simply providing a little chuckle to start off your day.
I see the spaceship as ever expanding government and it’s filled with government employees. The oceans and atmosphere are the tax base, the economy and peoples lives. After the “aliens” are done, they’s nothing left for the governed.
we pollute our world. still surprised we are still alive. and, every time we clean up the mess, there is an argument on the cause, and the clean up. bp oil spill, exxon valdez, cleveland’s river on fire, katrina, union carbide bhopal, love canal, fukushima, 3 mile island, chernobyl, etc…
The rhyme scheme reminded me a lot of “T’was the night before Christmas when all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse….” etc. etc.
Your roots are showing dog.It is sometimes cited that Blondie had the first rap song, but this sing -song poetry style has been used much throughout musical history and only mildly resembles modern rap and hip-hop. The Last Poets from the 60’s and 70’s laid the ground work for the rap and hip-hop explosion in the 80’s.Check this out…..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6huMALvUZiQ
When I was a kid, I didn’t know how “macabre” was pronounced, so for the longest time this poem made no sense to me. Then, once I learned how macabre was spelled, I went back and read it and finally started to enjoy it.
EXACTLY! Might as well enjoy life, because there is nothing we can do to prevent the cycles the earth has gone through since it came into being. We might delay it a few hundred years, but why bother?
This is exactly why I love C&H the way I do. Watterson saw comics not as a mere form of entertainment for us to pass the time when we’re bored, but real art. It is not often one finds this stuff in a comic strip. Calvin and Hobbes, and today’s strip in particular, is a rare gem. We should all feel very fortunate to have such easy access to it in our lives.
For once, I’d like to read a science fiction story where all war, greed, poverty, hunger and injustice disappear, love, friendship and compassion prevail, and there is peace on earth. Now THERE is a premise that would open up people’s eyes.
Not that I’m saying there is no love in the world. The way I see it, true peace can only be obtained when the majority of humanity sees that peace is no fantasy; it is not an abstract idea. It’s possible to get to that point. People need to know that it really is possible.
And to those who will accuse me of being naive, ignorant, happy-go-lucky, or just plain in denial, I assert that I do understand the intensity of the world’s issues. But I also believe—ardently—that love is stronger than hate. The idea of peace, and the hope that comes with it, can prevail over the harsh reality of war—but only if we open up our minds to this possibility and make way to letting it happen.
We, as the presiding inhabitants of the earth, are responsible for this. Not one person. Not one political party, one religion, one gender, or one race. Whatever happens, we’re ALL going to have to face the same consequences together. We’re really not that different.
If you actually took the time to read this, thank you for your time and may God bless you.
I admire your ability to assert yourself, but you obviously know precious little on this subject. For example: “The Danes named it Greenland because it was green.” Ever heard of a misnomer? And the medieval warm period you speak of was not nearly as serious as the modern phenomenon commonly known as global climate change or global warming. And while fossil fuel emissions may or may not be the only cause of this occurence, scientific research bulletins have shown a striking relationship between the amount of fossil fuels burned and the freakish rise in worldwide climate. I am not attacking anybody’s opinions and not instigating an argument. These are merely the conclusions I have drawn based on serious research.
I think Last Poets of the Apocalypse came out before Blondie. I think of that as the first Rap album. That kind of whiny, bland sounding music with the revolutionary poetry.
Sooner than that if Romney/Ryan are elected with their extremist right budget as the wealthy will own the seas and skies. People in China will live better than Americans.
It first became a concern with the hole in the ozone layer, back in the late 60s. Of course in those days, the people who were concerned were called “hippy-dippies” by people who didn’t care.
Besides obvious cronyism, I’ve never been able to figure out why the conservative base has been so against green technology. It isn’t going to take over current energy resources for a while, but it would create jobs and would have made America a pioneer in a relatively new area of technology. Since fossil fuels are finite and the world’s population is sky rocketing, renewable resources seem like the only solution. But no . . . all our great American know-how and can-do is going to have to take a back seat in an emerging industry . . . shame. I wonder how many other opportunities we’ll turn our back on and let China run away with?
love reading these discussions, though i rarely comment. how did aliens sucking the earth dry become global warming? to me it is the ceos’ not caring about anybody elses problems.
It’s not the climate change that will get mankind, it is the constant warfare, and planning for war. Eventually, some one, somewhere, will get it into his or her head that they can “win” said war. and billions will be dead, the economy will tank completely, the barter system will become the only way of commerce, and people will live and die where they were born. And the cycle will begin again.
to get in on the “rap” debate:i had always heard that Blondie’s “Rapture” was the first ‘top 40’ hit to include a rap element (which was only at “street” level at the time). i had also heard that “Rappers Delight” by the Sugar Hill Gang was the first wholly ‘rap’ song to chart on ‘top 40’ stations. both were quite a bit different from what ‘rap’ soon became.
it is far-fetched…once they sucked all the air away they wouldn’t hear the humans screaming and the humans wouldn’t hear the loudspeaker. I guess miss wormwood hasn’t covered physics yet…
So the religious side is what? That God made the world to last forever in spite of anything man can do? That He will take over and set it all right when we’ve gone too far?You folks are crazy!Understand that not everyone living on this planet shares your opinion or faith and we aren’t going to sit by and allow you freaks to destroy it just because you think it’s okay.And to those that think that it’ll be war that destroys this planet; you’re probably right. And that war will be fought over the plight of the planet and its inhabitants.I, for one, am calling for a mutiny against the money hungry fascists that only understand black ink over life. Against those that pray (prey?) in the hallowed halls of wall street. At least I’ll be killing (or dieing) for a just cause.
The#1BoiseStateFan over 12 years ago
Make it more far-fetched
BE THIS GUY over 12 years ago
Is Calvin going green on us?
Gigantor over 12 years ago
This is the credo of those right wingers who deny climate change. All they ever say is that taking action would cost jobs and money. They never admit that they might be wrong or that there might be consequences much worse than some lost jobs. It’s all about money, nothing else.
rogue53 over 12 years ago
Sounds like a quote from a Japanese whaling fleet.
Vonne Anton over 12 years ago
It rhymes! The first intergalactic rap! Word!
BE THIS GUY over 12 years ago
Acid rain became a serious problem in the 80s.
torn newspaper over 12 years ago
You know, not being able to breathe is the worst way I would want to die.
ChrissyT over 12 years ago
Please make way for the intergalactic highway. All related documents are on Alpha Centauri.
MiepR over 12 years ago
Climate change prediction from 1847:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/blog/2011/jun/20/george-perkins-marsh-climate-speech
MiepR over 12 years ago
With regards to the meter, what this reminds me of is Dr. Seuss.
Tyrnn over 12 years ago
I learned how to pronounce ‘Macabre’ from this strip.
Mihir Asher over 12 years ago
I wonder if James Cameron got inspired from this strip…
Vonne Anton over 12 years ago
Will check…Billy Joel’s “Scenes From an Italian Restaurant” struck me as the first rap. Perhaps wrong…
Ottodesu over 12 years ago
I think that that Blondie song about the Man From Mars is called “Rapture”.
Ottodesu over 12 years ago
Brilliant strip!BTW non-natural climate change has been earnestly discussed for decades, sorry if you are coming in late. In fact, I used to be a sceptic until a few years ago when I found that the hard science data and conclusions were incontestable. Lately, the carbon marketing Koch Brothers have been investing many dollars to be able to say that there is nothing to worry about, but their highly funded researchers keep coming back with even more conclusive proof for AGW.
GROG Premium Member over 12 years ago
I’d say Calvin’s been watching “V”.
Sciatic over 12 years ago
Hobbes is right, it is just too realistic. Where is spaceman spiff when you need him
rentier over 12 years ago
A good, warning and wakening story and I like the Rap!
orinoco womble over 12 years ago
Antonin Chekov was aware of the effects of deforestation on climate change before the 1890’s as we read in Dr Astrov’s soliloquy in Uncle Vanya.
Packer12 over 12 years ago
Must be from the planet OBAMA!!
Phapada over 12 years ago
celebrate Mather Day’s In Thailand .. wish all Mom very happy …
rentier over 12 years ago
We don’t need aliens to ruin the world, we do it ourselves!
Hobbes Premium Member over 12 years ago
Unfortunately, exploitation of others for personal gain seems to be inherent in human nature. When one has been corrupted by money and power, it is compassion that becomes an alien concept.
Hobbes Premium Member over 12 years ago
Click here: Peanuts (September 6, 1960)
anobium625 over 12 years ago
Rap is at least as old as Gilbert and Sullivan: “This particularly rapid unintelligible patter isn’t usually heard and if it is it doesn’t matter” [Ruddigore, 1887], not to mention Rossini’s “Figaro here, Figaro there…” [The Barber of Seville. 1775].
Hobbes Premium Member over 12 years ago
Click here: Peanuts (September 9, 1960)
wwward1948 over 12 years ago
Same old story. God is dead. He did not give the earth to man to subdue and till. Man is God. Destroy each other in the name of saving the earth.
Again. Same old line satan has been giving for generations, and there is always another generation to take up his banner that man is evil. Sad, really, when there could be so much happiness and joy in following the Savior and not the heathen hypocrites.
Hobbes Premium Member over 12 years ago
To those who frequently post here saying, “It’s a comic strip, folks,” today’s Calvin and Hobbes is a good example of how Bill Watterson sometimes intended to convey deeper meanings, rather than simply providing a little chuckle to start off your day.
KdF Premium Member over 12 years ago
It was called “Rapture”, Yes it was the first RAP song.
Irish_Mike over 12 years ago
I see the spaceship as ever expanding government and it’s filled with government employees. The oceans and atmosphere are the tax base, the economy and peoples lives. After the “aliens” are done, they’s nothing left for the governed.
peachyanddanny over 12 years ago
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VptOUWC-Itc
vwdualnomand over 12 years ago
we pollute our world. still surprised we are still alive. and, every time we clean up the mess, there is an argument on the cause, and the clean up. bp oil spill, exxon valdez, cleveland’s river on fire, katrina, union carbide bhopal, love canal, fukushima, 3 mile island, chernobyl, etc…
rolleg over 12 years ago
The rhyme scheme reminded me a lot of “T’was the night before Christmas when all through the house not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse….” etc. etc.
6turtle9 over 12 years ago
Your roots are showing dog.It is sometimes cited that Blondie had the first rap song, but this sing -song poetry style has been used much throughout musical history and only mildly resembles modern rap and hip-hop. The Last Poets from the 60’s and 70’s laid the ground work for the rap and hip-hop explosion in the 80’s.Check this out…..http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6huMALvUZiQ
bluegirl285 over 12 years ago
When I was a kid, I didn’t know how “macabre” was pronounced, so for the longest time this poem made no sense to me. Then, once I learned how macabre was spelled, I went back and read it and finally started to enjoy it.
rkorny over 12 years ago
WOW!!!!
dahawk over 12 years ago
EXACTLY! Might as well enjoy life, because there is nothing we can do to prevent the cycles the earth has gone through since it came into being. We might delay it a few hundred years, but why bother?
Stephen Gilberg over 12 years ago
They said it in English and not sperm whale song?
CrazyIrishOperaGirl over 12 years ago
This is exactly why I love C&H the way I do. Watterson saw comics not as a mere form of entertainment for us to pass the time when we’re bored, but real art. It is not often one finds this stuff in a comic strip. Calvin and Hobbes, and today’s strip in particular, is a rare gem. We should all feel very fortunate to have such easy access to it in our lives.
CrazyIrishOperaGirl over 12 years ago
For once, I’d like to read a science fiction story where all war, greed, poverty, hunger and injustice disappear, love, friendship and compassion prevail, and there is peace on earth. Now THERE is a premise that would open up people’s eyes.
Not that I’m saying there is no love in the world. The way I see it, true peace can only be obtained when the majority of humanity sees that peace is no fantasy; it is not an abstract idea. It’s possible to get to that point. People need to know that it really is possible.
And to those who will accuse me of being naive, ignorant, happy-go-lucky, or just plain in denial, I assert that I do understand the intensity of the world’s issues. But I also believe—ardently—that love is stronger than hate. The idea of peace, and the hope that comes with it, can prevail over the harsh reality of war—but only if we open up our minds to this possibility and make way to letting it happen.
We, as the presiding inhabitants of the earth, are responsible for this. Not one person. Not one political party, one religion, one gender, or one race. Whatever happens, we’re ALL going to have to face the same consequences together. We’re really not that different.
If you actually took the time to read this, thank you for your time and may God bless you.
CrazyIrishOperaGirl over 12 years ago
I admire your ability to assert yourself, but you obviously know precious little on this subject. For example: “The Danes named it Greenland because it was green.” Ever heard of a misnomer? And the medieval warm period you speak of was not nearly as serious as the modern phenomenon commonly known as global climate change or global warming. And while fossil fuel emissions may or may not be the only cause of this occurence, scientific research bulletins have shown a striking relationship between the amount of fossil fuels burned and the freakish rise in worldwide climate. I am not attacking anybody’s opinions and not instigating an argument. These are merely the conclusions I have drawn based on serious research.
Sandy Shore over 12 years ago
I thought I knew how to pronounce macabre — sort of like mc cahhb? — but I don’t pronounce job as jahhb. : / :)
Number Three over 12 years ago
I like it, Hobbes!
I love the art too.
xxx
MysteryCat over 12 years ago
“We have met the enemy and it is us.”
Habogee over 12 years ago
I think Last Poets of the Apocalypse came out before Blondie. I think of that as the first Rap album. That kind of whiny, bland sounding music with the revolutionary poetry.
alviebird over 12 years ago
Yep, son, we have met the enemy and he is us.
(Thank you, Walt Kelly.)
cosman over 12 years ago
This’ll speak the prounciation of the word http://www.howjsay.com/index.php?word=macabre&submit=Submit
Spyderred over 12 years ago
Sooner than that if Romney/Ryan are elected with their extremist right budget as the wealthy will own the seas and skies. People in China will live better than Americans.
juliea1983 over 12 years ago
Kind of reminds me of the DNC. We thrive, you die!
ratlum over 12 years ago
I like science fiction .But know its time to bring in Spaceman Spiff.
Rickapolis over 12 years ago
I was hoping that the aliens were going to clean it all up and return it to us like new.
orinoco womble over 12 years ago
It first became a concern with the hole in the ozone layer, back in the late 60s. Of course in those days, the people who were concerned were called “hippy-dippies” by people who didn’t care.
mistercatworks over 12 years ago
Doesn’t “macabre” rhyme with “jobr”?
Sandy Shore over 12 years ago
It was an artistic choice.
BluePumpkin over 12 years ago
Besides obvious cronyism, I’ve never been able to figure out why the conservative base has been so against green technology. It isn’t going to take over current energy resources for a while, but it would create jobs and would have made America a pioneer in a relatively new area of technology. Since fossil fuels are finite and the world’s population is sky rocketing, renewable resources seem like the only solution. But no . . . all our great American know-how and can-do is going to have to take a back seat in an emerging industry . . . shame. I wonder how many other opportunities we’ll turn our back on and let China run away with?
GROG Premium Member over 12 years ago
I thought the first rap song was Aerosmith’s Walk This Way.
beentheredonethat over 12 years ago
love reading these discussions, though i rarely comment. how did aliens sucking the earth dry become global warming? to me it is the ceos’ not caring about anybody elses problems.
calvinsfriend110 over 12 years ago
I would give that story an A+.
yuggib over 12 years ago
It’s not the climate change that will get mankind, it is the constant warfare, and planning for war. Eventually, some one, somewhere, will get it into his or her head that they can “win” said war. and billions will be dead, the economy will tank completely, the barter system will become the only way of commerce, and people will live and die where they were born. And the cycle will begin again.
38lowell over 12 years ago
He accidentally predicted the future years ago!Today, 85% of all the fresh water in the US is polluted!
yyyguy over 12 years ago
to get in on the “rap” debate:i had always heard that Blondie’s “Rapture” was the first ‘top 40’ hit to include a rap element (which was only at “street” level at the time). i had also heard that “Rappers Delight” by the Sugar Hill Gang was the first wholly ‘rap’ song to chart on ‘top 40’ stations. both were quite a bit different from what ‘rap’ soon became.
PatrickTheGreat over 12 years ago
it is far-fetched…once they sucked all the air away they wouldn’t hear the humans screaming and the humans wouldn’t hear the loudspeaker. I guess miss wormwood hasn’t covered physics yet…
Commentator over 12 years ago
How depressing today’s strip turned into another argument about global warming.
Hobbes Premium Member over 12 years ago
@Commentator: Maybe tomorrow’s strip will lead to a discussion of global cooling, and everything will average out. :>)
wroady over 12 years ago
Awesome, two thumbs up!!
Vonne Anton over 12 years ago
You know what cracks me up? A joke about intergalactic rap turned into a serious discussion of rap music. THAT cracks me up! Man…are we bored or what?
Kupcho over 12 years ago
So the religious side is what? That God made the world to last forever in spite of anything man can do? That He will take over and set it all right when we’ve gone too far?You folks are crazy!Understand that not everyone living on this planet shares your opinion or faith and we aren’t going to sit by and allow you freaks to destroy it just because you think it’s okay.And to those that think that it’ll be war that destroys this planet; you’re probably right. And that war will be fought over the plight of the planet and its inhabitants.I, for one, am calling for a mutiny against the money hungry fascists that only understand black ink over life. Against those that pray (prey?) in the hallowed halls of wall street. At least I’ll be killing (or dieing) for a just cause.