Until there is a global awakening to the plight of the world’s wildlife great and small, land and aquatic, legged, winged, finned, or rooted, civilization will remain on course for a head-on collision with its apathy, greed, and lack of compassion. As civilizations emerged they distanced themselves from the natural world, as though the further removed form it, the more civilized it became. It can be seen in its dwellings, its attire, its diet, and its treatment of its surroundings and the beings living in it. As civilizations grew over millennia and recent centuries, the natural world was able to sustain its effects. There is no doubt that the population today and its effects upon the natural world have reached a critical point. When the very existence of the world’s iconic species is threatened, when the killing, not to mention treatment, of millions upon millions of animals for consumption is the unquestioned norm, when whales and bees disappear it is time to say enough. It has long been the accepted assumption that man holds dominion over the environment. Perhaps it stems from biblical ideology, but such reference would be a perversion of the intended meaning. If one believes in biblical tenants of creation, it would be a very disturbed person who would harm, torture, and disregard the existence of any of the Creator’s children be it man or beast. And as it stands today, the world is filled with disturbed individuals who torture and kill for pleasure and profit. Sport hunters, wildlife traffickers, and food industry companies are a population that has no respect or regard for the life the beautiful creatures that try in vain to share the planet with humans. But, they are a small number compared to those who have love and compassion in their hearts. They are vastly outnumbered. They, however, are part of the greedy, power hungry, individualistic, minority that has ruled these civilizations for centuries. They are the exploiters. The exploiters run the world for the consumers, the largest segment of the population. Excuse the moralist and insulting words that may follow, but they are used for effect to make the point more poignant. This large population of consumers is basically slugs following the sugar trails laid out before them from marketing and advertising. They mindlessly are taken where the exploiters lead them. Society has been conditioned and trained not to ask questions, but to accept that everything is ok, to entrust in the leadership that is empowered by other exploiters. The situation is so grim that stories such as Love Canal that made headlines decades ago, are being repeated and on a larger scale with fracking and those people who are trying to protect their water and surroundings are considered the enemy. Those who profit from the exploitation of the environment and natural resources have no regard for life- human, animal, or plant. Everything is seen for its monetary value and is to be exploited at any cost. I have no name for a third segment of the population, so it can be defined for what they are not; they are not exploiters or mindless consumers. For too long the exploiters and consumers have held sway in the world. For thousands of years there have been others, those who lived apart either in principle or in physicality from the society they felt was wrong for the world. The sadhus of India, the Essenes of the middle-east, Thoreau, and countless others from around the world believed in the very things that are being discussed in these pages. But there is a difference now. The difference is then the world was large enough to put up with it, now it is not and we are at the precipice of a critical situation. The saving of the species will not just come from people fighting on the front lines to save habitats and stop poaching. There are not enough people to do that. The greatest victory will come when the consciousness of the world is changed, when respect and love is given to all creatures great and small, legged, winged, finned, and rooted. This consciousness is not going to be ushered in by any government or from any corporation. It is going to be ushered in by those who have already become enlightened in heart and mind to such things. It is up to each person to spread that way of thinking to those who have been sleepwalking through life. Not everyone will be open to change. Not everyone is open to love of wildlife. And no single consensus should be expected. But if one by one we teach what it is we know, there is a chance that the next time someone goes to order extra bacon they will remember what you showed them, or they will read the ingredients to but palm oil free products etc. The awakening needs to come fast and strong for there is not much time- there are too many species threatened and not enough places left for them to hide. - Steve Smith
Posted on: Thu, 21 Nov 2013 00:46:48 +0000