Lou,
Must most everything be opposed? You mean, besides the things you’re opposing?
Ouch! I guess there is a bit of hypocrisy in all of us. I have seen Barney rubbing off on you a bit, but now I detect some David Moriarty creeping in as well! Though I share some of the populist concerns about your profession, I respect the value of the education. Being able to debate all points of view of an issue with apparent conviction while pounding the table as needed are very useful skills.
Actually, I mostly only oppose things that affect me directly and can't avoid, primarily top-down government laws and policies which, if I willingly or unknowingly violate will land me in jail. Examples: I don't care if the Masters or the Tour bifurcate the rules on balls and implements, but it would cause me concern if I was prevented from playing my favorite presently conforming ball. I don't care if NY and VA pay Amazon's corporate blackmail; I do care if the federal government attempts to impose laws prohibiting competition between the states. I am ok if an unbiased, apolitical evaluation determines that an insect is critical to the environment thus preventing the use of the habitat, provided that private property owners are then compensated fairly for what is a taking for the public good.
As to the fly study,
. Real First World problems in my estimation. I spent countless hours during the hot Ohio summers pulling milkweed from soybean fields to improve the yields. Not long ago, I think while playing golf, someone noted that the Monarch butterflies were starting to migrate and that because they had planted these large, noxious weeds, huge numbers were expected at the site, Apparently, milkweed attracts Monarchs, and though they are beautiful and highly valued by some, I felt no remorse for my past activity which helped a large, economically sensitive family pay-off a small farm through a lifetime of hard work.