Heard about the Florida Bear Hunt on the news this morning.
This is the stuff that gets my blood boiling. I have no problem with the bear hunt. Not my thing. In general, I find hunting big game animals is a sick hobby… Grab a blade and fight hand to hand if you want to get down and dirty with the beast.
I do understand the need for the cull. Just like wolves up North. You have to do this to keep kids and pets safe. The article linked at the bottom by National Geographic is very balanced and does not get excited either way.
The double standard to me: Why do we jump all over people who kill a lion overseas?
Our culture has decided that lions in Africa are a value asset to that continent… And thus should be saved.
What if you are a homeowner in Africa and Lions are walking around and eating your trash and killing your dogs? Doesn’t it seem silly that we demand that Africans live in a zoo? How can you be a farmer on the prairie in Africa when you have to worry about being in before dark… Predators eating your domesticated livestock… And elephants eating your crops. You cant! Thus, we keep these people in the stoneage. Actually, its more of a twisted “you cant kill that” stoneage. I know I am making this very simplistic. Thats is not me being naive. Its for demonstration purposes to those who have never thought about it. Watch some documentaries on farmers on the edge of the Serengeti. Hyenas eat everything and Elephants are bastards.
In the United States, we blew away every predator that looked at us funny for the last 300 years. The results? A VERY habitable environment. Europe… Ha… They nuked everything a 1000 years ago! That story about St. Peter driving out the snakes always makes everyone feel good. Lets be real… Ireland killed snakes for a long, long time.. And presto. No snakes. Wheres the lamenting about lack of indiginouse predators in Ireland?
Nobody thinks twice about how we got “civilized” when passing moral judgments onto other societies. Maybe the Africans should be calling for the end of our Black Bear hunts… As their future generations will never get to see the native North American Black Bear.
Word of the day:
Ethnocentrism is the belief of superiority is one’s personal ethnic group, but it can also develop from racial or religious differences. Ethnocentric individuals believe that they are better than other individuals for reasons based solely on their heritage.
Think differently. Have a little global empathy.
Next rant is likely about kids digging covering themselves in mercury and shortening their lives just to get your precious metals for your cell phone.
#firstworldproblems
#bearhunt #florida
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/10/151023-black-bear-hunt-florida-animals-conservation/
Main header photo stolen from an Alaskan website about a bunch of bears that are being put down for being to domesticated.