There is a group on the web called animal scam.com. There is a comment made that activists for animal rights have put animals ahead of humans. That such a group would have you eat beans and lettuce if they had their way.
It's a nice diversion to generalize and point fingers in another direction, but there are many animals who don't have a choice to be killed or maimed.
What if a whale fought back? Or for that matter an Orca? Yes, there are cultures that really depend on their existence as a way of life, like the Eskimo. But they are pitted against these mammoths one on one. However, look at Japan. They are one of the richest countries in the world. They have the ability to feed millions. Whale meat is considered a 'delicacy'. Is it needed? No. Does it have documented healing properties? No. Does it cure anything? No.
Well, jobs will be lost. Hmmm... let me see. How many jobs? Thousands? No. Maybe Japan does not have the technology to train people for other jobs. Hmmm....
It really boils down to money and profits. What a person will pay and what can be made from whale meat. Unfortunate but true.
What do you think?
Hmmm... I've seen other examples as well of anti-environmentalists criticizing groups that are trying to defend animals or the environment on the basis that they "think animals are more important than humans". It's a bit telling that this is the worst criticism that can be leveled by such people.
ReplyDeleteI think that a higher sense of responsiblility towards all life forms can only benefit humanity in the long run. And ironically, I feel it can be easily extrapolated that placing human interests above all, to the disadvantage and destruction of other creatures and our environment, eventually leads to a threatened existence for humanity itself.
Daniel, well put. It's what you would call a short term think, rather than a long term think. It's like having one forest with 10,000 trees and 20,000 people. Once the trees are gone, you hurt the environ, unless you are willing to be responsible and work out a sane solution. The solutions are not always easy, but communicated and well thought out will achieve an answer.
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