Rarely does conservation come down to immediate life and death decisions. We talk about preserving the environment or saving endangered species as a far-off idea, something we should obviously do. It is sometimes slightly inconvenient to remember to bring along our reusable bags to Super Target, and a Prius may have cache on par with a Beemer in some circles, but as yet there is no convertible model. It became obvious during the ecocriticism unit that we are badly missing the point.
What happens when we privilege animal life equally (or above) human life? Here's the article from The New Yorker that I mentioned in class. I think it raises some relevant issues about the consequences of the ideas about privilege we discussed. Article HERE.
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This is a very good point. I thought about this when I read some comments from pro-fossil fuels politicians on the recent oil spill. They went something to the tune of this: "We don't stop flying planes when there is a plane crash, so why would we stop off-shore drilling when stuff like this happens?"
ReplyDeleteYIKES.
That is obviously a skewed view. How in the world does a plane crash = worst ecological disaster in decades/biggest oil spill in US history? Only if people (and people living a certain lifestyle) come first in your paradigm. The massive animal/biological death that will come from this event will only be ignored or dismissed.