zoos . the Z of life on earth

                                                                         

                       ZOO . Kathmandu, Nepal 

      The future will only contain what we put into it now

(graffiti, Paris 1968)

Angela Davis, someone who knows a thing or two about challenging privilege, has declared her vegan status to be “part of a revolutionary perspective -- how we not only discover more compassionate relations with human beings but how we develop compassionate relations with the other creatures with whom we share this planet.”

Until Every Cage is Empty
Another angle on this story jumped out at me, thanks to this comment from an “animal breeder” at the Rural Grand View Garden: “Our animals should be treated fairly,” he stated, apparently without a hint of irony. “We hope our visitors will use some self-discipline and be nicer to them.”

Here’s a little of what the media regularly omits when reporting on zoos:

• Zoos are mostly focused on "cute babies" and ultimately create unwanted animals.
• They can reduce genetic diversity and do not contribute to increasing robust animal populations in the wild.
• They do little to nothing to seriously address the underlying causes of habitat loss and thereby let the perpetrators off the hook.
• Warehousing endangered species sends the frightening subliminal message that it's acceptable to spend money to view animals in enclosures while, for example, forests are being clear cut to make way for doomed livestock -- depriving many of those same animals the freedom to live in their own habitats.
• Animals are obviously not meant to live in captivity and, as a result, often display stress and/or psychologicaldysfunction and just as often, these animals are abused.
• Encountering animals in a zoo setting teaches the wrong lessons about how our eco-systems work. Wrong lessons only serve to sustain a system that should be dismantled.
• Captive breeding can create a false sense that the battle to save endangered species and habitats is being won.

While some activists remain stuck focusing on minor reforms and tweaks, many are beginning to recognize the stark reality that any system requiring the relentless ruin of resources is not only unsustainable... it's anti-life.

Extinction is Forever
One need only contemplate the current extinction rate to comprehend the impact of perpetual "growth" upon our shared ecosystem.

Shift Happens
So comrades, what on earth can we do… right now?

Here’s some of what I hope you’ll consider as you contemplate action:

• Humans are just one of 8.7 million species sharing (sic) a planet.
• Whether you call it a cage, a cell, a jail, a pen, a ward, a prison, a wildlife center, or an enclosure… captivity is captivity.
• A culture that confines and abuses animals for profit is highly likely to regularly promote and engage in other forms of violence and exploitation.

In the name of securing a future for all the earth's species, we must cultivate, refine, hone, re-invent, and ultimately expand an alternative form of human culture. We must continue to occupy and recruit and include more and more voices and ideas.

It's too late for the long-extinct Confused Moth. It's not too late for the confused human to reject the pervasive conditioning and programming of the 1% and view the future with new and decidedly clear eyes.

http://worldnewstrust.com/speciesism-the-forgotten-privilege-mickey-z