67 lines
3.7 KiB
Plaintext
67 lines
3.7 KiB
Plaintext
s$
|
|
$$ .d""b. .d""b. HOE E'ZINE #1087
|
|
[-- $$""b. $$ $$ $$ $$ -- ------------------------------------------- --]
|
|
$$ $$ $$ $$ $$ss$$ "YOUR DEATH IS INSIGNIFICANT--
|
|
$$ $$ $$ $$ $$ MY CAT'S DEATH IS NOT"
|
|
$$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ by Quarex [6/7/00]
|
|
[-- $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ $$ -- ------------------------------------------- --]
|
|
$$ $$ "TssT" "TssT"
|
|
|
|
Thousands of people die every day. Thousands of people probably die
|
|
every hour. Do I give a fuck? Hell no. None of them have any obvious
|
|
bearing on my life, and none of them ever came into contact with me, and
|
|
more likely than not, never would have.
|
|
|
|
So, it would seem rather obvious that if I did not even care about
|
|
the myriad deaths of my own species, I would certainly not give a fuck
|
|
about other creatures suffering similar fates. And yet, I do.
|
|
|
|
The other day, a fire broke out in a local place called K-9
|
|
Expectations, an obedience school/kennel of sorts here in Normal. I
|
|
actually drove by the place a few times, I think. In any case, even though
|
|
there were people on-hand to try to rescue the 14 animals inside, one dog
|
|
and one cat were unreachable, and four dogs ran back inside after being
|
|
rescued, only to also die in the fire.
|
|
|
|
And, while reading the article, I became quite upset. I did not cry
|
|
or anything pathetic like that, but it really got me down.
|
|
|
|
But a few days ago, when hearing about 80 people being trapped and
|
|
killed in some kind of mine collapse in Chechnya, my only real thoughts
|
|
were along the lines of "That's what you get for working in a coal mine."
|
|
Then, I immediately started humming DEVO's "Workin' in a coal mine."
|
|
|
|
What gives, here? What the fuck is wrong with me? What makes the
|
|
fire death of some friggin pets more tragic in my mind than the deaths of
|
|
almost a hundred people? Quite simply, it seems a function of the
|
|
uselessness of humanity. You all should know just as much as I do that the
|
|
human race will completely annihilate this planet someday, we all just have
|
|
to hope that our generation, and the generation of your children, will not
|
|
be around when it finally does happen.
|
|
|
|
Pets, on the other hand, are truly innocent bystanders to the
|
|
destruction of the world. Did any of those animals ask to be placed in the
|
|
building that burned down? No. Did the dogs that ran back in understand
|
|
what they were doing? No. But, then again, how many of those miners
|
|
probably wanted to be coal miners for a living? Neither the animals nor
|
|
the people were asking to die, but the tragic nature of the animals is
|
|
somehow greater. Look to any movie with animal-related violence for a
|
|
partial explanation--"No animals were harmed in the making of this movie."
|
|
There is never a disclaimer that no humans were harmed, and I know I for
|
|
one could care less if extras on the set were burned to death during the
|
|
AWESOME "exploding building" scene.
|
|
|
|
Is it desensitization? Is it misanthropy? Is it just apathy? I
|
|
smile when I see kittens. I smile when I see puppies. I even smile when
|
|
I see turtles, lizards, warthogs, and gorillas. But I fucking hate babies.
|
|
Nothing I experience in my life is going to instill, or perhaps restore,
|
|
a love for the lives of humans I have never met. I would hate myself for
|
|
ages if I ran over a rabbit or squirrel. I would not care as much if I,
|
|
just as was predicted in our Driver's Education simulators, ran over a bag
|
|
with a baby inside it.
|
|
|
|
Well, hell. Maybe I am just a fucking bastard.
|
|
|
|
[-------------------------------------------------------------------------]
|
|
[ (c) HOE E'ZINE -- http://www.hoe.nu HOE #1087, BY QUAREX - 6/07/00 ]
|