National Bullshit Hour

In the tradition of Earth Hour - an initiative of WWF-Australia held on Saturday March 31, during which more than 2 million Sydney residents turned off their electric lights and appliances between 7.30 and 8.30pm to show their support and generate publicity for the cause of saving energy - I propose a National Bullshit Hour be held in every Australian town and city, especially Canberra, at least once a year ... preferably far more frequently. The 10.2% drop in energy use recorded during Earth Hour translated to 24.86 metric tonnes of carbon dioxide that was not deposited into the atmosphere. Just imagine how much bullshit could be avoided if everyone in Australia just stopped talking for one hour.

While there has never been a serious academic study into the amount of bullshit generated by Australians every day, there seems little doubt that it runs into the tens of thousands of kBs' (kilobullshits - see appendix). Of course, as a nation the United States currently generates far more bullshit than any other country, but on a per-capita basis it seems reasonably likely that Australians, particularly politicians, business consultants, talk-back radio hosts and current affairs anchor-people, generate at least as much, if not more Bullshit than Americans.

John Howard has repeatedly defended his government's stance not to ratify the Bullshit Protocol, saying that any forced reduction in bullshit emissions could prove damaging to Australian industry, but he has failed to consider the potentially devastating long term consequences of over-production of bullshit. Although invisible, bullshit remains in the atmosphere for years, eating away at the all-important credibility layer. Considering Australia's already thin and fragile credibility layer, any further depletion of credibility could have dire consequences for the future of our children! But it is not just the responsibility of Government to reduce bullshit emissions, everyone has their part to play, from leaders of commerce and industry, right down to ordinary everyday Australians, we all need to do our bit to limit bullshit and preserve whatever precious little credibility we have left.

The National Bullshit Hour will help raise awareness of the issue of over-production of bullshit, and will result in actual, tangible reductions in bullshit emissions, if only for 1 hour. While this represents only a relatively minor reduction in annual bullshit, it’s a start, and will be especially relevant in the lead-up to this year’s federal election.

Appendix:
Metric measurements of Bullshit

1cBs: 1 centibullshit
100cBs = 1Bs
1000Bs = 1 kBs (kilobullshit)
1000kBs = 1 metric LoS (load of shit)