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It’s interesting to me that we frame a lot of issues as costing money.

Unhoused folk cost money to house.

Disabled folk cost money, too.

Immigrants cost money.

Trans folk cost money.

Nobody ever says, “Hey, how much does Jeff Bezos cost?” “How much does it cost us to have Elon Musk around, hoarding his money?” “What’s it costing us to have all these fabulously wealthy people?”

It’s costing us a lot more than we ever talk about. Not just because their hoarding of wealth takes that money out of circulation and contributes directly to poverty and the spiralling cost to human beings everywhere.

Also because things are being framed in this way, because we are being forced to think of ourselves and others in terms of cartoon dollar symbols.

That is not a natural state of affairs for humans, it is not something that is morally defensible, and it is something that eats away at each of us in different ways depending on our position vis à vis wealth.

You are never too expensive to deserve to live.

Clear your mind here

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Rainbow Whimsy’s Beltane altar, 2017. Also, my familiar Loki Treecat being all sorts of cute.

Please don’t remove caption. Please reblog and tag!

skunkbear

On April 26, 1986, a power surge caused an explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant near Pripyat, Ukraine. A large quantity of radioactive material was released.

On May 2, 1986, the Soviet government established a “Zone of Alienation” or “Exclusion Zone” around Chernobyl – a thousand square miles of “radioactive wasteland.” All humans were evacuated. The town of Pripyat was completely abandoned.

But the animals didn’t leave. And a new study, published this month in Current Biology, suggests they are doing fine. “None of our three hypotheses postulating radiation damage to large mammal populations at Chernobyl were supported by the empirical evidence,” says Jim Beasley, one of the researchers.

In fact, some of the populations have grown. These photos (mostly taken by Valeriy Yurko) come from the Belarusian side of the Exclusion Zone, and area called the Polessye State Radioecological Reserve. Kingfisher, elk, boar, baby spotted eagles, wild ponies, moose, rabbits, and wolves all make their home in the park. In some ways, human presence is worse for wildlife than a nuclear disaster.

Image credits:

1986 Chernobyl - ZUFAROV/AFP/Getty Images

Wildlife photos - Valeriy Yurko/Polessye State Radioecological Reserve

Ponies in winter - SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP/Getty Images