Good news everyone!

Off-topic discussions. Be nice. No politics/religions/insults (as on the rest of the forum).
Chuck
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Solomon Islands

Re: Good news everyone!

Post by Chuck »

kevinkk wrote: Mon Dec 19, 2022 2:24 pm American collectors who don't travel have got to have some envy concerning entomology in the EU, we have nothing like the insect shows I see advertised , and our authority figures are more concerned with less scientific matters and close much to us.
There are two factors here, and they are not mutually exclusive. Both have been discussed, at least on the old forums.

Europeans, and even more so, Japanese, exhibit a higher level of culture and specialization than do Americans. Primary factors (according to the social experts) are both linked to urbanization: (1) lack of outdoor and other activities turn focus into things that can be done/ collected indoors, particularly small dwellings, and (2) expendable cash typical of urban systems (i.e., much higher income).

It's not that Americans can't (and some very much do) become highly specialized equals to their EU counterparts, but they have multiple outlets to spend their cash (motorhomes, American football, five televisions, etc.) On another scale, why are there no specialists in Leps in Vanuatu? Because for the most part they have neither the time nor the money to conduct such research; a $100 book is nothing to an American, a $100 to most in Vanuatu is a week's or month's pay.

And, so far as entomology is concerned, yes, EU (and very much so Japan) is more lax in enforcement of laws concerning Lep-related controls. With so many restrictions, compounded by blind enforcement, on US activities, it's no wonder US amateur entomology has lost the interest of the public. And not just entomology- an average tropical fish store in Germany beats even the best stores in USA. And on, and on.

There is though, I believe, still a dramatic difference in US vs. EU & Japan perspective: Give a Japanese $500 to buy Leps, he'll buy ONE that's special; an American will buy 100 specimens at $5 each. That's the McDonald's mentality: more beats better.

Still, all of that is excuses. There is nothing STOPPING any American from purchasing rarities- just have to part with the cash. But one cannot be both cheap and generic, then complain about selection. The market supplies what the the market is willing to pay for.
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kevinkk
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Re: Good news everyone!

Post by kevinkk »

If I get back to Italy, my nephew is serving over there with the Italian military, somewhere, my sister tells me where and it goes in one ear and out
the other, somewhere on the eastern coast, not the regular American base like the one in Napoli- I am going to visit a pet shop, and pay more attention to any insect availability.

Having free lodging in a foreign country is always a plus. I make choices with my disposable income, my last 900 bucks
went for a German made .22, well, it's fun. I could have bought that Ornithoptera book for 300 euros, and had money left over, or I could have started
that case of leaf mimics I've been dreaming about. There were some extenuating circumstances with a new law in Oregon, and that helped make
the decision, do I have more "disposable" income, probably, but like a girlfriend once asked me when we were allocating the budget- "what is extra
money" at the time, it was money not needed for bills and weed, but for most of us, there is no such thing as "extra" money. We need it for the unexpected, no way will I ever get back my investments in my insect collection, the books hold value, but it's going to be my heirs that find that out,
I have bought and sold so many things, only to end up paying more to replace them later on, buy it and keep it- that's the thing to do .I would like a motorcycle..a nice Triumph or Ducati. Maybe later.

More is better, but there ends up being a point where you do need to get into your deep pockets if you want to continue, I'm not certain what my
most expensive collectible is, I have piecemeal items that add up, but 1 item? Maybe that vintage Aurora advertising of the Creature from the Black Lagoon, cost me 250 to get it home.The books run a close second, I paid 200 for Tuskes and Tuttles' moth book, and felt lucky. Insects- my pair
of Goliath procus from Ceram, bought in the states from DR. Limmer, who did the heavy lifting. and there was the stopping point, everything else
is 400 bucks or more, and then there are the species that aren't even offered in the USA.

I'm ok with my 32" led tv. it's all the wall space I have left anyway:)
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