"The Biggest Killer-Nature’s greatest threat in today’s society is human indifference."
These important twelve words are the first words in Nicole McLachlan's latest blog post concerning the disgusting slaughter of innocent dolphin families in Taiji, Japan. Sadly these words not only apply to the horrors which our dolphin friends are having to experience on a daily basis in Japanese waters, but they also refer to what is happening in the World to many of our plant and animals species on the Planet due to the Human species. To read Nicole's very important message about human indifference and the awful murders of dolphin families in the waters off of Taiji Japan please click on the following link:
http://nicolemclachlan.wordpress.com/2011/11/27/the-biggest-killer/
Please share this very important message of Nicole's with your friends and family members. The more people who hear Nicole's very astute and accurate message the better!!!
What are the causes or reasons for human indifference? Firstlly, I believe it would be a good idea to define the word "indifference" so we all have the same point of reference.The online edition of the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines the word "indifferent" in this manner::
:"marked by a lack of interest, enthusiasm, or concern for something." (source:http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/indifferent )
Why wouldn't people on this planet be interested, enthusiastic about being involved in stopping these dolphin murders, or concerned over the fact that thousands of dolphins are losing their lives each year in Taiji Japan??
I would like to assert that there are several reasons for this situation. Firstly, people may not be interested in these awful murders because they may not even know that these murders are occurring!! It is because of this fact that I, and others like Nicole , The Sea Shepherd Society and other organizations like the SSS, are telling the World about the awful behavior of some Japanese in Taiji, Japan Waters. The big question that activists such as Nicole,and The Sea Shepherd Society, and myself are asking is "Why aren't the World media (television, print, and radio) interested in reporting on the deaths of another life form on this planet? Do the media think that most people are not interested in the plight of other life on this planet? According to an article entitled, "Animals in media: Righting the wrongs: The misrepresentation of animals continues when animals go to press"
Published on January 25, 2010 by Marc Bekoff in Animal Emotions, " at the website:
http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/animal-emotions/201001/animals-in-media-righting-the-wrongs
" Carrie Packwood Freeman at Georgia State University has shown that when animals go to press there are "serious" concerns about how they are represented. She notes in addition to objectifying animals when we use the inanimate pronoun it, we also do so when we call them livestock, meat, seafood, or game rather than cow, pig, chicken, fish, or elk. She also notes a strong tendency to refer to animals by their utilitarian end such as beef cattle, dairy cows, laboratory rats, or circus elephants". As Marc Bekoff goes on to state, the language which the media uses when it is talking about our animal friends can actually demean animals!! He asserts that "Such misrepresentations lead to the perception that chimpanzees are "Subhuman."
Clearly the media of this planet need to learn how to use language in a completely different way than they are at present in regards to our animal friends!!! It certainly is ironic to me that many people think that humans are superior to other life forms on this planet because of the advanced level of communication we possess (in the form of words, and written and oral language) , yet in the case of the media of this Planet, some of these people are not using our language correctly or are even using language incorrectly in regards to other animals which share this planet with us!! Why are humans listening to, or reading the news which is being written and spoken to us when it is misrepresenting the other life forms on this planet??
Marc Bekoff in his article continues in this manner:
"Animals are also misrepresented in still photography and in wildlife films." What can we do about media misrepresentations? Some simple rules of thumb will go a long way to representing animals more accurately. We can refrain from using words such as "higher" or "lower" to refer to animals because individuals do what they need to do to be card-carrying members of their species. We should get word-processors to stop replacing “who” with “that” when referring to animals. We should stop portraying animals as mock humans. We must pay attention to what we know about the fascinating cognitive, emotional, and moral capacities of animals because misrepresentations underestimate and demean them."
These certainly are wonderful suggestions of his!!! I wish that this article of Marc Bekoff's was sent to all of the major television and radio networks and stations on this Planet as well as to all the newspaper and magazines which are printed on the Earth!!
As Marc Bekoff concludes:
"Given the enormous amount of press animals are receiving in what might be called the "century of the animal" we should expect that these who write about animals represent them as the beings who they are, not as who we want them to be or as objects to be used for our own ends."
...."Nonhuman animals deserve better....." "...more accurate and less deflationary and "cute" representations will make their lives better."
Marc our animal friends sure do deserve better and they sure do deserve to be represented more accurately by the media so their lives are better than we have made them!!! What can you do to improve the quality of life for other animals on this planet? You can phone, write or email the media when you find that they are not using the most accurate or are not representing our animal friends in a deflationary manner! You can also contact the media and ask them to be much less indifferent to the other animals (and for that matter) all the other life on this Planet!!
Please do so, in order that our animal friends get the kind of live they deserve to live on this home we share with them!! Thank you for reading this post! Are you willing to help dolphins and other animals the kind of lives that Mother Nature intended them to have? I hope so!!
Dolphins deserve to live like this in their family units (pods):
