TRAP
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| Synecdoche New York, Poster, 2008 (source)
On August 5th, 2010, 33 miners were trapped inside of the Copapó Gold mine in Chile after a structural collapse. Separated from the world of surface dwellers for two whole months, the Copapó miners lived through a backwards version of Plato’s allegory of the cave, the main divergence, that these captives had lived a lifetime in the light of the sun (which more closely approximates Plato’s cave) prior to their imprisonment underground and in shadows. Isolated from familiar social infrastructure, these miners began to re-create the institutions of life on the surface 2,300 feet underground. Servicing a total population of 33, these institutions relied on the unique mental and physical faculties of the individual trapped men, rather than on bricks and mortar. Luis Alberto Urzúa became the governmental arm, organizing the miners and mapping and coordinating the rescue efforts with the team at the surface. The oldest miner, Mario Gomez took on the role of the church, organizing a small subterranean chapel and shrine. Yonni Barios, who had taken a six month nursing course 15 years prior, became the head of health services, monitoring the health and well-being of the miners. Mario Sepúlveda, dubbed “Super Mario” for his spunk and energy, became the head of entertainment, hosting videos that were the main link between the miners and an adoring public on the surface. Ariel Ticona became the telecommunications specialist, maintaining the complex communications network.
A microcosm of 21st century society, the miniaturized version of civilization produced an encouraging level of health and sanity in the survivors. In The Republic, Plato argues that admitted into the light, the cave dweller will eventually adjust to the brightness of the sun. In this Chilean epic, adjustment to the dark is achieved by manufacturing a subterranean sun—a shadow of a sun. All that is missing for this micro-civilization to come full circle, is for one of the miners to take on the role of miner and to trap himself even deeper inside the network of caverns. The miners were perhaps not isolated long enough for this third tier of civilization to blossom, and all 33 miners ascended to the light, and to safety, on October 13th 2010, in reasonably good health.
E. Sean Bailey
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“The Plumber Protects the Health of the Nation” (source)
Prior to the American Presidential election in 2008, “Joe the Plumber” famously expressed fears that Barack Obama’s proposed tax reforms would interfere with the average citizen’s ability to realize the American Dream, and would redistribute income to “spread the wealth around”. At the time, Obama attempted to assuage the plumber’s fears, arguing that what he was proposing would in fact serve the greater good. Rather than limit progress, Obama claimed he was looking to distribute wealth and opportunity to all Americans.
Sometimes however, as plumbers like Joe well understand, equal distribution is not always desirable. Take noxious sewer gas for instance. When it comes to a building’s waterworks, maintaining a clear divide is essential. The same pipes that carry wastewater into sewer systems are also capable of delivering pungent and potentially dangerous sewer gas into buildings. In order to remedy this issue, the p-trap was developed in the latter part of the 19th century. P-traps create a liquid seal between sewers and habitable spaces with the help of a p-shaped pipe which prevents any gaseous exchange between the two types of spaces. Without the p-trap, and it’s particular form of containment, buildings would be unsafe and unpleasant places. Perhaps stopping the equal distribution of sewer gas is something that both “Joe the Plumber” and Obama can both agree on.
Erandi de Silva
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