Debussy and Topsoil
In his article on experimental vertical farming, WIRED's Brandon Keim quotes Columbia University professor Dickson Despommier at length about technique. Despommier is a good spokesperson, tossing around exciting ideas, and questioning some basic assumptions about agriculture. But then he throws music into the culture clash. The connection between Debussy and arable land, you ask?
The entire agricultural revolution that got us to this point -- it's always been horizontal farming; always been the good earth, the wonderful crops, the wonderful process. Look at Currier and Ives prints, the pastoral painters, the wonderful melodies by Debussy ... we've been brainwashed from that point to now! But there's a subset of people who don't think this is crazy at all, based on the alarming disappearance of topsoil. The craziness aspect is proposed by people who don't want to change.
Yes, a paradigm shift! Down with linear musical thinking! The opiate of the biomasses! Debussy is dead!
