It seems lately I am “not allowed” to care about anything without someone saying I care about the wrong thing or that I must also make it clear that I care about something else more.
I am not allowed to care about the death of Cecil the lion unless I have already made it clear that I care more about aborted babies or police brutality or the death penalty.
Some don’t want me to say that #blacklivesmatter unless I also say #alllivesmatter.
We are not supposed to celebrate Caitlyn Jenner’s courage because soldiers (or someone else) are more courageous.
Etc., etc., ad nauseam.
How is it that all of a sudden compassion, caring and courage have all become competitive sports? Something to be won at the expense of others? Has it come to this? Are all our best qualities now just another thing to use against one another? Is empathy about the “right” things, people and situations now just a way to say “I WIN!”. How sad.
Perhaps, just perhaps, courage, empathy, compassion and the rest of our virtues are not a competition at all. Perhaps, like love, they are not an apple pie with only so many slices to go around. Perhaps, as we voice our care and concern, our admiration and respect, these things do not diminish but rather multiply. Maybe we could all try to recognize that just because someone says one thing is tragic (for example, the death of a beloved lion) does not mean that they do not also believe that other things are just as and sometimes much more tragic; that just because we believe one person exhibits courage, does not mean others have not and do not exhibit courage and sometimes in greater measure.
What if instead, we mourn every death? Celebrate every act of courage? Call out every injustice? Recognize every act of altruism? What if we actually believed that humanity’s best qualities could multiply with use and worst qualities would necessarily and absolutely atrophy in the presence of love?
What kind of world would that be?
A better one I think.
word of a woman 
God has no hands but ours, but then there are seven billion of us.
If I decide that my charitable giving should go to the Friends House Library, to preserve and catalogue Quaker pamphlets from the 17th century, rather than, say, fixing cleft palates in Africa, or curing malaria, or any number of good causes- well, there are other people to pay for those. Cecil the Lion is easier to comprehend than the destruction of the Greek economy. ISIS rapes and murders are shocking, but there is a place for distress at their destruction of the archaeological heritage.
Yes, I have reached my outrage quota for today, check with me tomorrow and I might have compassion for your pet rant. Disclaimer – I may have already been outraged by previous injustices, stocks are limited to one per day, no rainchecks, please read PDF before replying.
You are absolutely right. Unfortunately though, I have found that usually, when the competition gauntlet is dropped, it is because not only does the person doing it consider the thing cared about of less import, but probably holds it in disdain.
I think you are right. And often, I think some of the comments or comparisons are made based on stereotypes and assumptions, implying that if you care about A, you must also have values that mean you don’t care about B. Example) If I care about Caitlyn Jenner, I must be so liberal and therefor not care about the people that are soldiers.
That implies liberals don’t care about soldiers, which is completely opposite of reality. I guess that is your point though!
You are spot on, it has indeed gotten to this point….competitive caring, and it’s gotten downright political. Each party has it’s list of appropriate issues “worth” our compassion, whether it’s fetuses, blacks, immigrants, religion, etc., etc., what you are allowed, or disallowed, to care about is defined by your political affiliation.
Thank you. My thoughts exactly the last couple days…
Reblogged this on Scribblegurl and commented:
This.
Beautiful written, I feel the same way. I have empathy for animals.
You care for what is placed on your heart the best way you can and this all that is needed. Self respect and true concern about people and issues that affect them does not come from critiques, but from people that really care! Thank you for caring and thank you for stating how you feel because it is how much of us regard the constant bickering about issues.
Very well put.
“What if instead, we mourn every death? Celebrate every act of courage? Call out every injustice? ”
But how can we do that? We need to watch Friends on Netflix for the 3rd time and The Walking Dead and we have to go spend ridiculous amounts of money at the local mall!!! We don’t have time for EVERY instance…{note, this post drips of heavy sarcasm}
Great words Michelle {no sarcasm}
Reblogged this on Retired? No one told me! and commented:
Never a truer word said…..Well done that lady! Just saying!
Well said Michelle that’s just how I am feeling…couldn’t have put it better..have reblogged…Have a nice Day 🙂
Thanks for the reblog!
If you listen to everyone you’ll go crazy… Thanks for sharing💕
I was honestly thinking the same exact thing last night, and I wanted to post about it. I just didn’t have the words. Thank you for having the words! I care about the stuff I care about, why it is wrong? Caring about something is a personal right. We should be able to voice our thoughts without disclaimers.
You said it so well. Thank you. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who struggles with those spankings. I care about all the things. And I’m exhausted and cynical from caring about all the things. Including the lion.
Reblogged this on I can explain and commented:
“Perhaps, just perhaps, courage, empathy, compassion and the rest of our virtues are not a competition at all.”
Yes, very much this.
I very much enjoyed reading your extremely valid point. One I agree with.
Can I make a suggestion about the page? The grey color of the text is very hard to read… perhaps you could change it to black for future posts?
I second this suggestion. I know the low-contrast is all the rage, lately, but I can’t see well enough to read it. Thank you.
I don’t compartmentalize my outrage or activism & store in it %s. I have enough to go around. I’m outraged at ALL the world’s issues. I’ve posted against our national racism crisis for YEARS, & I have been a contributor to BIG CAT CONSERVATION, but I’m not afraid to walk with a sign for ANY protest. I can’t look into the eyes of human beings OR animals & not see the humanity & pain in BOTH.
Have you tried not caring?
tbo,
Are you responding to me? If you are, then no, I haven’t tried not caring. I don’t know how a person on this planet they call ‘home’ COULDN’T care.
When the SCOTUS made same-sex marriage legal everywhere, the #lovewins tweets were so often rebutted by people saying things about how (insert action by Christ here) is really an example of love winning. I simply said, “I don’t see why all of those examples are examples of love. Why does there have to be only ONE way to care and one cause to care about?”
The answer? Because for some reason, we live in a society where we are forced early on to “choose a side.” And unfortunately, neither side listens to the other.
Reblogged this on STORY 2 SUCCESS BLOG and commented:
wow you hit all the right points,
Any argument that says, in essence, “What you’re talking about isn’t important enough to talk about; you should be talking about this instead,” is nothing more than a silencing technique. For some reason some people don’t want anyone to talk about the exploitation of protected animals in Zimbabwe. For those people, this isn’t about the greater importance of other matters. It’s that they don’t want this talked about.
As for those groups who ALSO advocate for those (human or animal) who are powerless and relatively voiceless and who get sacrificed to the comfort and convenience of the privileged– the fact it that not only does outrage about Cecil the lion do nothing to harm your own cause, but Cecil, being beautiful and furry and appealing, could make an excellent symbol or metaphor for your own powerless, voiceless group. So rather than trying to suppress the discussion, why not welcome it?
Sorry: “the fact IS,” not “the fact it.”
krwordgazer, beautifully said.
Yes yes yes! A thousand times YES! Thank you for posting this.
I do think you make a great point; it has become a “well I care more than you so I am a better person” situation. The part that I get frustrated with is not that someone cares about Cecil the lion. It’s that they use that situation to further their moral ideology. For example: Someone killed a beloved lion for sport so no one should hunt because you have to be a sick terrible person to be a hunter.
I think this is the part of the issue that ends up overshadowing all the other compassionate acts people perform. It’s not always an “I care more” situation; it’s an “I care more so I’m right.”
Awesome post; thanks for sharing!
So true, Aria.
Reblogged this on and commented:
Everything about this.. is a big 10-4 for me. She summed it up better than my words can ever say.
THANK YOU!! THANK YOU FOR THIS POST!!!
To have to choose which issue to care “more” about, or to be told I’m not right in caring so much about animals and not other issues is like being forced to choose which one of my three sons I am “allowed” to love. As if I can only love one. My compassion and outrage over Cecil is a God given gift.. He gave me an extraordinary amount of love and empathy for animals that not many people have. I will not apologize for continuing to keep up to date on him, and the POACHING of so many near extinct animals that need our help.
I’m quite devastated by the tragic way a beautiful lion lost his life. I adore animals and reserve my right to care very much when they are exploited. To be told I shouldn’t feel this way and instead mourn the misery of African orphans just makes me so angry. I shall mourn what I choose to mourn. And don’t tell me what to do. Thank you.
I think the issue is not individual focus on different causes. Most of us understand that we were all created with different spirits, interests, desires, exactly so that we can get the whole job done collectively. Noah sheltered and nurtured animals. Moses freed slaves. Esther used her position to protect her people. Each was focused on a different mission, but they were all doing God’s work in some kind of “social justice”. -the problem isn’t when one person posts about a cause they care about. The problem is the extreme imbalance of justice and mercy, and how those waver drastically based upon the ideologies of a person or community. And it is the collective attention spotlighted by social media that brings this to our attention. My same friends supporting abortion one day, are the ones posting about the sacredness of life of a lion the next. Why is it ok to brutally slaughter millions of humans a year, but the death of one lion is an atrocity? Many of those same people are against the death penalty, yet were calling for the dentist who killed Cecil to be thrown to the lions. Why does the principle of justice change when it is a cause they are passionate about? It if fine to say, “Black Lives Matter” as well as “All Lives Matter”. But why is it that when a university president who represents students of every race and creed says, “All Lives Matter” in an attempt to encourage and uplift her entire student body, she is attacked, reprimanded, and must issue an apology? Huh? It’s not about competition. (Well… Sometimes it is. Let’s face it. Those people are just morons. We all know that.) But, in general, it is more about consistency. It would be great if we all cared about it all. But we don’t. And we can’t pretend we do. Lions Lives Matter. So do baby humans. And that dentist’s life is just as sacred as the lions and the baby humans, and the black youth, and the police officer…
The issue of diminishing wildlife has been going on a long time, now. The rest of the world is catching up. The total population of lions is less than 25K. That’s smaller than the tiny town I am writing this from. Those who pay into the conservation charities know Safari Club International is full of crap when they say money from the killing of the animal goes into SAVING the animals. Again, it’s the oppressive 1% who tell us not to believe what we see with our own eyes. I don’t want to leave a world with no animals in it (& we’re not talking about just land animals, but the melting ice caps are destroying the salinity of the water for all fish, but even the fish we eat for food). Scientists say by 2030 – 2050.
It’s about the HOUSE WE LIVE IN. All other issues are small potatoes if we don’t wake up and clean up the only place we, and the animals (endangered plants, too), call home. If we don’t fix this problem of Climate Change, & stop the ‘6th Great Extinction’, we will become a part of it.
Linda, you make the REAL point here! More well said than the original post by far!!
Sorry, you lost me when you said the dentist’s life is as sacred as a lion’s or baby’s…
Very well said, Linda! I am about done trying to explain this to friends.
Reblogged this on Mel's Musings (aka bersain1) and commented:
Yes, yes, 1000 times yes!
Lovely and perfectly written. I am happily going to share this with all the people in my life and I hope they take the time to read it. Thank you.
Amen Sister!
Thank you! Very well said.
Thank you for this! I’ve often thought the same thing, but did not have the eloquence to write it down. You are 100% correct.
I agree with you. My 2 cents: counter-ranting and making on issue such as “there are other more important things bla bla” is very often not a matter of competition. More like an attempt to interdict actions. And if you notice, it usually ends up with that bad sort of politics leading to “it doesn’t matter whether what you say and do is objectively good, I’ll say no (or at least place a big BUT!)”. Let me quote an old song by Buffalo Springfield: “Nobody’s right if everybody’s wrong”. And this is pretty much our society.
In the case of #BlackLivesMatter vs Cecil the Lion, it’s a matter of people speaking up as if the Lion issue is just the most outrageous thing to have happened, ever. Since, at LEAST, the Trayvon Martin case, and definitely since Mike Brown, Eric Garner, and Sandra Bland (to name a few), the very same people who are suddenly speaking up for Cecil were nowhere to be found on the outrage radar when human beings were (and still are) being slain in the street with no recourse. The ENTIRE WORLD is talking about Cecil the Lion. Two countries are fighting over who gets to punish the dentist first. Late night talk show hosts are shedding tears on TV over this lion. But where was ANY of this global outrage when HUMAN BEINGS were (and still are) being unlawfully slain in the streets by those who are sworn in to protect them. So you say the humans exhibited criminal behavior? How about all of the investigations that have found evidence of the systemic racism which fuels the many incidents of (at least) the past 12 months? No outrage. Zero. No concern. THAT is the issue. A Lion in Africa gets killed and it’s international news, people in America are outraged, and the lion’s portrait is beamed on the Empire State Building. Meanwhile, there is cold hard evidence that police are unlawfully MURDERING HUMAN BEINGS and there is so much as a mumble regarding what is going on in our own country. So don’t give me this “my concern is not a limited pie over whose pieces we would all fight over.” You and people like you are not even SERVING concern to the things that you claim to be able to compartmentalize.
Dear Johnathan,
I appreciate and admire your passion. I also thank you for commenting. I agree wholeheartedly that the unlawful murder of human beings is much, much worse than the unlawful killing of a lion. My point was not that they were equal (and I never said they were). My point is and was that I (and others) are capable of caring about more than one issue at a time, and just because I state my disappointment over the killing of Cecil does not mean I cannot or do not care about other issues. I stand by my statement that all empathy is a good thing and is to be encouraged. Outrage over injustice is always valid. Caring and compassion is not a competitive sport.
Where I take issue with your comment is that you quoted me as saying, ““my concern is not a limited pie over whose pieces we would all fight over.” which I did not say. What I said was, “Perhaps, just perhaps, courage, empathy, compassion and the rest of our virtues are not a competition at all. Perhaps, like love, they are not an apple pie with only so many slices to go around. Perhaps, as we voice our care and concern, our admiration and respect, these things do not diminish but rather multiply.” I stand by that. When we share the best parts of our humanity, those qualities multiply and there is actually more to go around. Virtue begets virtue.
To say that there has not been “so much as a mumble regarding what is going on in our own country” when it comes to police brutality and the vastly disproportionate killing and incarceration of black people by police. Is simply not true. At least not in my timeline and among my friends. We were are and continue to be outraged over the state of racial injustice in the United States and around the world. Your statement that I and people like me are “not even SERVING concern to the things that you claim to be able to compartmentalize” (I am not 100% sure what that statement means and I am not being snarky. I think you mean that I do not care sufficiently about the issues that you do.) I can assure you this statement is misplaced and could not be further from the truth. Had you and I been given the opportunity to be friends you would know that to be true.
Perhaps you can look back through my archives at posts I have written about privilege, inequality, being an LGBT ally. Maybe next time you could share your passion without making accusations which are completely unsubstantiated.
I am honored you are reading, humbled that you took the time to comment and inspired by your passion.
I wish you well,
m
And that RANT is why this is called The word of a WOMAN.
To make it even sadder, were you aware that Sam DuBose, the black man killed by police in Cincy, had rescued dozens of pit bulls from dog fighting? A loss in so many ways…
I was looking for a comment like yours, to see if anyone would consider the issue more deeply than, “I can do what I want! I can support what I want! You can’t tell me what to do!”
*FACE PALM*
You hit the nail on the head for me. I don’t care if you care about Cecil the Lion. What happened was jacked up, that can be readily admitted. But really, does it deserve this? Punish the man, absolutely, but people are going above and beyond in this thing. The same people, not all, but I would hazard to say many of them, who are outraged over Cecil the Lion rolled their eyes every time something about racism came on TV. Let’s not pretend that people aren’t doing this. They’re blow up the Internet over Cecil but say nothing, DO nothing, when a human being has been wrongly killed because of something as crazy as their skin color.
This is the point and this is the problem. I don’t think anyone gets angry that a person cares about an issue, but we can be honest and say that some are more important than others. People, in my mind, will ALWAYS be more important than animals. That’s not to say you cannot give to animals and whatnot, but when you’re ready to picket for Cecil, but think that man or woman deserved his/her fate over innocuous happenings, that a lion deserves more dignity and mercy than your fellow man, that tells me what your heart is like. And it’s not good.
The bottom line is that you have more compassion for an animal than you do for a differently skinned human being. At that point, I cannot, WILL NOT respect you.
Period.
MANY more people demonstrated down the streets of NYC (for BLOCKS) when Eric Garner’s death wasn’t prosecuted, than showed up to a meager dentist’s office in MN.
This man has NOT been brought to justice and I don’t think that we want a world without animals in it. Because that’s where this is headed. We have loads of human problems, but animals feel them worse than any of God’s beings.
I sit now, typing this to you in a town, so small I can drive through it in about 2 minutes. Yet THIS town’s population is larger than ALL the population of the world’s LIONS from everywhere in the globe, COMBINED. We only have 5,000 tigers left. 300 Iberian Lynx. There are only 4 White Rhinos left in the world, PERIOD.
We need something to unite us, because cogitating on our human lives and being able to get along OVER THE DEMISE OF OUR PLANET, doesn’t seem to be dire enough.
Animals feel them worse than any of God’s beings? Okay. That’s an opinion and you have a right to it.
I would not count the amount of people who demonstrated over crimes against humans against the amount of people who showed up at the dentists’ office as an indication of regard. It’s not an exact comparison and I think it’s GOOD that people didn’t show up at the dentist’s office. I do believe that the dentist should be punished as befitting the law, but this has been taken much too far. More than that solitary man is being punished in the wake of Internet justice, which is anything but. From what I understand, what he did with Cecil was wrong if he did indeed do what he was accused of, but if the animals were that endangered, then the government of those countries should have stopped hunting all together. But they didn’t. It’s legal in certain aspects there.
The issue is not caring about Cecil. That’s fine. What I want to know is if there was the same amount of outrage on the Internet for crimes against humans as there was against Cecil the lion or if the demonstrations in life equalled or surpassed the demonstrations online. In order to make an accurate comparison, I want to know if the same people who are so outraged over Cecil cared enough to be that upset over crimes against fellow human beings.
No one is saying that animals shouldn’t be cared about. They should. And what is happening to the animal population in this world is truly, truly horrible. It really shouldn’t be. A person has the right to feel that way, and be horrified over its reality. But what I want to know is if you have more compassion for an animal than you do for a fellow human who has a differing skin tone. That’s it.
You want unity in this world, and I think that’s great. Truly, I do. But a person who is being discriminated against and living in fear and hardship because of systematic racism is not going to be united with a person who has shown to have more respect for the life of an animal then him/her. No, that’s only going to cause division and some highly justified anger.
You want to unite people? Show you give a care about them, that you are just as sad and upset over tragedies that happen to them as they are. Then, I guarantee you; Non-dousche bags aren’t going to say a word if you mourn Cecil the Lion because you’ve shown that you care for ALL of God’s creatures.
I don’t know what to say to you to get you to NOT be upset. I love animals. That’s it. SORRY. I give ALL the money for Christmas gifts with my kid, she gives hers, to Big Cat conservation. THIS LION was the face of that. Ironically, he was taken out by a poacher. Hey, at least it wasn’t the fate of 6 poachers, killed in Bangladesh, that were after Tigers.
There’s a movement to make lions endangered. That’s good. Really, ALL animal populations (averaged) are down 40% in the last 30 years. Some, in Australia are down 80%. We already are noticing a HUGE deficit in the bee population. WE NEED TO EAT no matter WHO we are.
I’ve been an activist ALL MY LIFE. For animals, AND against racism. My parents, too. My grandparents (when it wasn’t ‘cool’ in the 1920s, were activists). You don’t know me, so I don’t know how you can judge me from a few statements.
THIS is about the house we live in. If we get caught up in the minutiae at this point, our lives WILL BE OVER in 50 years! What’s not to get? Black lives, Hispanic lives, Asian lives, white lives, animal lives, it won’t matter.
No one’s upset. I’m just presenting another POV and if you’re not one of the ones who value animals more than humans, then I’m not talking about you. I thought I made that pretty clear. I’m not sure why you’re not understanding this but I can’t make it any clearer than I have. As I said before, I don’t care if you care about Cecil the Lion as long as you give your fellow human beings equal regard. That’s it.
No one is judging you, YOU replied to ME, so I’m not sure why you feel as though I’m attacking you. But I see you’re determined to take it personally, so I’ll end it here. All lives matter, yes, but everyone is not treated equally, that’s a fact. Animals are to be cared for, but human lives will always matter more. If you care about human lives just as much as you care about animals than you’re good.
That’s it.
Maybe then you ARE talking to me, then. I AM one of those who MOSTLY considers animals first. We’ve screwed this earth up, they have no say, I’m bothered by that. I’m bothered by systemic violence to people, but this ridiculous Planned Parenthood fight, the new Mega-city being built in China that will have a population of 130 million people… AND in the next 5 years, India will overtake China in population… Animals are the ‘Underdogs’ & need advocates.
We have too many people, NOW. It’s baffling that someone STILL hunts what’s left of lions, to hang a head on a wall. That’s the stuff of the 1700s.
People need to be on both ends of the ethics problem spectrum. There should be enough people to carry signs, no matter WHAT the issue may be.
Then yes, I am talking about you. I have no respect for those who value animal lives over human lives. Period. Animals are creatures of instinct, they have no souls or higher cognitive functioning and they have no say because of this fact. They’re animals. People do and using overpopulation as an excuse not to care about those souls is, in my opinion, poor indeed.
I wouldn’t want someone not to care about me and my family just because there are so many people on this earth. Illegal hunting is wrong, I don’t like hunting period, really, especially if it’s not for food, but in the places where it’s legal it serves a purpose.
Sure, I believe that people should be able to march and support what they believe in. But if you value Lassie more than you do my brother or my sister, my mother, I have nothing for you.
Then sorry. I’ll never agree with you. To say that animals have ‘no cognitive functioning’ is ignorant of knowing animals. They’re SMART. They KNOW death. It’s really too bad, that you don’t TRULY know animals.
This earth IS overpopulated. With HUMANS. Really, you can argue the point that THAT isn’t the root of our problems, but it IS. It has been for millennia. The first son gets the land. The 2nd gets the money. The 3rd has to go into the military. And so on… to redeem their ‘worth’ and make their way. Have you done your genealogy to know how many people you COME FROM? Think about it. 2 parents, 4 grandparents, 8 great grandparents… growing exponentially, until we start overlapping.
The Duggars, with 19 kids… how many will be chronically unemployable?
Think about Baltimore, Ferguson… how many kids will NEVER have a good job in their home town? I had to leave my home town. No jobs. I got laid off in my last town. So did my husband.
With China overseas, Bangladesh, where TONS of folks making pennies on the dollar… and that being THEIR LIVING WAGE. Now, buying cars, buying phones, plastic CRAP. We can’t sustain it. We are practically the LAST country that issues free plastic bags (in a tree = the ‘state flower of CA’), where in Malaysia, they had to ban, due to FLOODING of their sewer system. Every year we PUMP 7 tons of plastic into the ocean. That’s 5 plastic bags for every yard of coastline.
You’re not thinking about the big picture. Donald Trump says ‘China is killing us.’ WE MADE CHINA WHAT IT IS!
When we get these ‘jobs back’, you’ll see how much an American made product really COSTS. That’s why the jobs went over there in the first place. As I was told at a meeting at one of my last jobs after MASSIVE LAYOFFS, ‘No one is willing to pay $40+/ball cap, even if it’s made in the USA’. So the factory went to Bangladesh.
The animals have no room now. The ice caps ARE melting (NASA, today) salinity down, acidity UP on our oceans.
Don’t worry. You’ll get your way. I’m kinda old. Or I think I am. Those animals, they’re taking up valuable human SPACE. We need that space for more development!
But I think you should pop in the movie, ‘Soylent Green’. The point isn’t ‘IT’S PEOPLE’… WELL, yeah, maybe it is.
p.s. Sawyer. To say they have ‘no higher functioning’, have you seen ‘Blackfish’? They PROVED that Orcas have a more COMPLEX brain than WE HAVE, They’re SMARTER. They have their own LANGUAGES. Their own DIALECTS. To say that an animal isn’t ‘aware’ like ‘your brother or sister’ is short-sighted. We aren’t the most intelligent beings here. Just because we can wage war on them and capture them, and they don’t SPEAK OUR LANGUAGE, doesn’t mean they don’t HAVE a language to speak.
You don’t have to agree, just know that there are people out there who won’t respect you because you value animal lives over theirs. And yes, they have cognitive functioning, just not higher cognitive functioning. There is a difference.
You don’t have to give me a rundown of what’s going on with this planet. I am neither ignorant nor uninformed. There is an oligarchy that is messing up this world, there is no doubt about that, but glorifying animals and cheapening the lives of humans isn’t going to make it better. Dealing with humans, working to educate humans, does that. You can’t change this world by focusing on animals and disregarding people. No one is going to care what you think because Balto’s life would have more value than theirs. They’re going to write you off as being crazy.
I did a little research on orcas and what they are and can do is not a big surprise. Cool, but not anything to write home about. Of course animals can do amazing things that are not exclusive to humans. It’s instinct, the way they were made. Some live in family groups, some have grooming habits, some pick up their fallen members, others work in teams, work together to take care of their young, starve so that they can feed their young, fight to the death for their young, and many have their own method of communication. All of these are wonderful behaviors, but they don’t choose to do these things. They HAVE to do these things. They’re still not humans, no matter how much you spout science–which you provided no links or evidence for, by the way–the governance of this world belongs to humans.
But okay. I’m done. I think we’ve beat this horse to death, lol. Pun intended. You can believe what you wish all you want. But I personally don’t have time for people who don’t value people. That’s it.
It’s pretty sad, and to me, a bit narcissistic that you have no respect for people who aren’t just like you. I find the differences between people fascinating. Some are voices for the abused children, or abused wives, or gay teens, or transgender folks, or cops who don’t come home to their families… we ALL have a voice. We ALL matter. We all can pick and choose what battles we want to focus on to help change the world by raising awareness, by educating others. Some interests are more human based, some are more animal focused.
But to say you don’t respect or have time for those who don’t value humans? Just because some of us care to devote our energies towards animals doesn’t mean we don’t also care about humans… that’s faulty logic for one thing. I might be totally wrong about you.. but you seem like one cold hearted person and I would not want to be in the same room as you. I don’t have time for people who are so heartless and narcissistic that they disrespect anyone who doesn’t agree with their views 100%,
Why can’t we all just divvy up all the problems and concerns of the world. You can tackle some of the people issues. I say “some” because there are so many, you can’t take on all them. Pick a few. Everybody else… pick a few causes… There are tons to choose from. Me? I choose animal issues. And as far as human issues? I choose to educate others about narcissism, psychopaths and sociopaths… the predators among us, which I believe Walter Palmer is, besides being Cecil’s killer.
Maybe if we can all work TOGETHER, instead of discounting each other for our differences, we can somehow help make changes in the world.
(Rolling eyes) Another one? So, it’s obvious you have not read all my comments, you just decided to jump on the bandwagon.
First of all, your little adages mean nothing to me.
Secondly, I don’t care what you support. It’s cool with me. Just prioritize. If a speeding car is heading toward a puppy and a little girl, which one would you save? All those who pick the puppy needs to be thrown in front of the car. Period. The loss of the puppy would be sad, but you can’t measure the loss of a human life to that of animal life.
Take it from someone who knows. If you steadily face a myriad of social problems, ones that directly affect your life on a daily basis, then you crave support and acknowledgement from those around you. When issues that directly affect you and your community come up, but are ignored by people, it hurts. But when those SAME people ignore the issues that affect you while marching for an animal? Oh, now I’m angry. Do you feel no duty to your fellow man? What happens when it’s YOU and YOURS who need help? Is Lassie going to be able to come to your aid in this society? Are you going to care about the orcas when it’s YOUR brother getting gunned down? When YOUR family members don’t feel safe going to certain neighborhoods? I think not. Animals will be the last thing on your mind. The first thing on your mind is going to be social change and you’re going to HOPE that your fellow neighbors care about you enough to help you. Because you know it’ll be harder to change things if they don’t.
If we see that you care more for lions and tigers and bears, then we WILL not care for you. You won’t be able to tell us anything, we won’t be able to unite over anything because you’ve shown so little regard for our troubles. You guys seems to think this is me condemning others for caring for animals, no, this is me condemning others for NOT caring enough about people. Those who are being tormented because of race, gender and others things are fighting for the right to live harassment free. How in the world, WHY in the world would we march for animals when we need so much help ourselves? There’s like a hierarchy of needs here, but because you and yours aren’t affected by the social injustice, or you don’t care enough rather, you ignore the fact that at the base level is the need to live in this world without fear. FOR HUMANS.
That’s what I’m saying. If you choose not to agree with me, then that’s fine. Care for what you want, it’s silly to think that we will all root for the same things, but when it comes to issue with YOUR species, with your fellow man, it would just make sense to make that you’d give a care. It’s like a lion caring more about a bear than he does for other lions. They don’t do that, so then, why do humans?
Palmer… I mean Sawyer. Tsk. Tsk. You’ve ‘done a little research.’ Not much.
There are INDEED animals with ‘higher cognitive functioning’, aside from ‘US’ on this planet. Arrogant to think otherwise. The ‘behaviors’ you’ve spent some effort pushing your higher cognitive thinking, describing animals, don’t even apply to all humans. Humans aren’t all born with the instincts you’ve described. You don’t account for US being a PART OF the animal kingdom, not separate from it.
I did offer you the over-all ‘Blackfish’ movie. IT’S A DOCUMENTARY. It even shows that whales outsmart humans AND humans are the playthings on THEIR turf. THIS IS the most interesting, and explains the linguistics that whales use, there are profound differences between our brains, that I know this doesn’t fit into your mold, but puts them on top.
This ‘offer citations’ argument- when you didn’t offer any yourself (your ‘research’), where are YOUR citations? Aw, I shouldn’t screw with someone who ISN’T involved in the scientific community. But I will.
Here you go. Here’s the mother of all citations. It’s the IUCN Red List. It’s scientific data taken in the field of plants/animals & their rating on extinction.
http://www.iucnredlist.org
YOU say: ‘They’re still not humans, no matter how much you spout science–’
Animals were not put here for our amusement, even though you’d like to believe the world is toilet paper for human beings. When you speak so flippantly (and I don’t even own a dog, but I’d feel sorry for yours), and REJECT SCIENCE, I think I know what I’m dealing with. I’m proud to stand with people like Ricky Gervais, Dave Salmoni, Jack Hanna, Jane Goodall who’d trade hanging out with animals over YOU any day.
*Since YOU don’t want to talk ‘dead horses’, and are SUCH A HUMANITARIAN, here’s a question for YOU! How many people CAN THE WORLD SUSTAIN? How are you involved in your community to help those in need? What do you do, politically (no parties need be mentioned, just connections of people to programs)?
(*I AM NOT expecting an answer here.)
Again, Sawyer. You pick your fight, I pick mine. I am NOT OBLIGED to entertain (although I DO understand your point, even though you don’t think I’ve “lived it, I have’) your telling ME what or what not to prioritize.
You aren’t GETTING IT. Why don’t you take your family and move to India, China? Where your money would get WAAAAAAY more ‘bang’. If things SUCK, you move. I’ve had to twice.
I think what you’re not realizing is, regardless of living in a city, you can drive OUTSIDE that city. YOU LIVE IN an ECOSYSTEM. You take one Jenga piece out of the puzzle, other pieces fall.
Did you check out those citations you’ve asked for? I’m trying really hard, here. The IUCN was brought to me by a bunch of elementary school kids that wanted my help saving the rainforest. My kid, individually, wanted to ‘Save the Iberian Lynx’. Those ARE getting run over by cars, from development in Spain.
So, if it came to going there, and finding a hit Lynx on the highway, (and there are only 300 left on the planet) then, yes, I probably WOULD throw myself in front of the car.
Jack Hanna was asked on CNN by Anderson Cooper, when that guy in OH let 18 tigers, a few other cats, chimps, etc/ & numerous other animals a guy kept in a makeshift ‘zoo’, he let them all go, then shot himself, what was the biggest LOSS to the planet out of the animals this guy kept. Jack started crying, as he said, the 18 tigers. There are only 5K on the planet. The Chinese Tiger that is the lore of the Chinese Zodiac, is EXTINCT. It has been for over 20 years.
If you don’t think these things are important, they are. I’m older than you are, and know you need to get out more. And I don’t mean that in a mean way. I think you’d really love it.
Thank you. I thought it was just me that was coming under attack for caring. I have reposted this, as it could never be said in a better way.
This. SO many types. #FromTheMountainTops.
I’m like, why do you want to deny this? #ComeTogetherToOvercome.
it’s not an either/or, black/white reality–who keeps saying that it is?!?
It’s not either/or–it’s AND/ALSO. #NotEitherOrButAndAlso
#SpreadTheGoodWord. #ThisOnTheLoudSpeakers.
Beautiful and well said.
Damn right! I was made to feel guilty for re-posting something about Cecil , what gives. Piss off and let me be..
You can disrespect me all you want. I have limited amounts of energy due to severe fibromyalgia. I hate arguing politics and racism and police brutality and discrimination and abortion. I’ve been low income and discriminated against because of that. My oldest son was thrown up against a wall by a couple of cops (with weapons drawn!) late at night outside his place of employment simply because he had long hair at the time. Years ago, I had an abortion.. but let me clarify that.. the medical term for miscarriage is “spontaneous abortion” and I hate that term.. it was not my choice. I had a MOTHER from the church I was attending come up to be back then and tell me “I’m sorry, but I’m really kind of glad” because I wasn’t married to the father of that baby, whom I still think about and mourn. So discussing those human related topics wears me out and brings back too many bad memories. I have PTSD.
Animals are my passion and always have been. Last fall, I had emergency surgery. Thought I had appendicitis. Surgeon thought the same thing. Went in and the appendix was fine, but there was a mass behind it. I was gutted.. disembowled.. and the first third of my colon was removed. For five days, I didn’t know if I had cancer or not. Turns out, it wasn’t. Thank God. Upon returning home, I couldn’t do much. I picked up some of my art pencils and art paper, and decided to do some drawings. I hadn’t drawn anything in YEARS.
I found a black and white photograph of a lion and did several renditions of this lion. The best was a pen & ink. I’ve always drawn animals but usually dogs and horses and wolves, never a lion. That was last fall.
I looked at that photo again, and my drawings, after Cecil was killed, and thought, “damn… that sure looks like him.” A few days ago, I found that same photo, in color, and sure enough, it was indeed, Cecil.
So.. when I was recovering from a horrible, somewhat traumatic surgery, after not drawing a thing in years, Cecil helped me heal. I feel a little bit of a connection to him that goes a little tiny bit deeper than most people…Speaking out against this tragedy is NOT being anti gun nor anti hunting, as I am neither. I have to try to explain that to some of my hunting friends.. it’s not taking away from them to be anti poaching nor to want justice for this senseless and illegal killing.
And.. I’ve also been studying psychopathy, sociopathy and narcissism for the past two years, to help heal myself and to help others. This dentist fits the classic signs and symptoms of those disorders.. so as far as I’m concerned, it goes to show that these predatory humans hide in plain view and they are everywhere.
If I choose to expend my little bit of energy on THESE topics, that’s what I will do. And you can disrespect me til the cows come home. It won’t change what I do nor how I feel.
I’m sort of imagining what my reaction would be if I was told I care about the wrong things.