Saturday, September 1, 2012

Why Must The World Be So Cruel?

About 1,000 dolphins are now dying annually in Taiji, Japan. That is still too many, but think about the millions of sharks that are still being killed each year. The death toll for them hasn't decreased at all, and it's because people don't care. Also, there are thousands of dogs each and every year being abused, killed, and spending their whole lives in shelters (I praise everyone who rescues dogs and doesn't buy!). The world is filled with too much cruelty, and I don't understand it. Why do some people have to be so inhumane, so heartless? Why can't everyone just leave the poor animals alone and let them live their lives? They have just as much of a right to live here as us humans do. To be honest, I think when it comes to most situations, the "humans" shouldn't even be classified as humans. But then again, I guess that's what makes us humans. The power and ability to rule everything, both bigger and smaller than us. If we can effortlessly slaughter the largest animal on the planet (the blue whale, of course) nearly to extinction, then we can do anything. But without weapons, we are nothing. If we weren't intelligent enough to create weapons as we do, we would have died off long ago. We're smart, but that's about our only advantage. We are tiny and insignificant without weapons. Sometimes, I feel ashamed to be human.

3 comments:

  1. Part of growing up involves coming to the realization that many people are cruel and insensitive. Mark Twain put it well in "What is Man". So many human actions (all according to Twain) feed self-interest. It's unfortunate, but this is how the world is:(

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  2. You demonstrate remarkable sensitivity for one so young. The world is a place filled with much misery and suffering, but it's also filled with beauty and kindness.

    You are advantaged, not just because of your wonderful family, but because you see suffering so clearly and feel strongly enough to do something about it. An unfortunate malaise in our culture grips people; they generally feel powerless in the face of suffering, yet we wield greater power here, thanks to freedom hard-won through popular struggle, than anywhere else in the world.

    I'm proud of your dedication and empathy, so I'll tell you a little secret about activism: everything you do, including sending emails to Congresspersons, signing petitions, and hosting your blog really does make an enormous difference. You don't always hear about the difference through what you might call official channels (television media, etc.), because they, like all institutions, are beholden to ideals you probably don't share.

    For a good discussion on conservation efforts over the past thirty years on whales, see here. A broader and more significant change is cultural over the past fifty years; in the 1950s, you heard virtually nothing about environmental concerns. In the 1960s and 1970s, a sea change happened due to popular activism, out of which came movements that further civilized the country. Nowadays, people acknowledge the plight of dolphins and whales, mainly because large groups of activists wrote articles, protested, shut down hunting operations, and the like. Before these movements, you heard virtually zero about marine conservation.

    Of course, there's still an enormous amount of work to do, but we should take success where we can. So keep the dialogue going. Keep on telling people about it.

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  3. People like you will make a difference. Keep it up!

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