"Balance", "Importance" and "Perceptions" in terms of nature vs. "humanity" and "civilization" are a tricky business, and an endless discussion with no concrete solution. Therefore, what the heck... I'll throw my hat into the ring. Personally, I love nature. I'd rather spend a vacation in the woods living in a tent, than at a fancy hotel at a resort. On a day to day basis, though, I'll keep my house, thank you very much. I'd never kick a dog for fun - but I'll sure put a hurtin on a good steak at dinner time. I'm kind to dogs but I'll eat a cow. What does that make me? Ask me if I'd trade, say, Yellowstone NP for a cure for cancer. Damn right I would. I'd turn Yellowstone into the biggest damn paved parking lot you've ever seen, IF NO HUMAN BEING WOULD EVER DIE OF CANCER AGAIN - EVER! Would you? Would you rather save millions of human lives, or preserve an equal number of wild animals and the opportunity to see Old Faithful spout off at the mouth? Would you choose to save Yellowstone if it were you or your child dying? If it came to a vote between saving your child or saving Yellowstone, and Yellowstone won, would you be incensed? What would you say to the person who voted for Yellowstone - who basically said he'd rather see some wild animals and geysers live, then your child. I can tell you this - I'd have to be physically restrained or I'd end up in jail. Conversely, would I support, say, drilling for oil in Alaska? Nope. I'm not totally educated on that subject, but I can't help thinking that with technology what it is today, then surely there are better alternatives to power than oil. So, is ANWR more important to me (though I stand little chance of ever going there in my lifetime) than an SUV or all the SUVs in the world? Yep. I've got nothing against SUVs per se, or big cars in general. I just think that it's time the world moved beyond oil, and therefore, I'm not trading nature for oil. I don't think anyone is a true environmentalist. I think they are environmentalists in certain circumstances. Like Mary said, send in the boats, planes and cars to save a human life, not to recover some replaceable gear. Treat each instance separately, and do what makes the most sense in that situation at that point in time. Then pray that you are doing the right thing. Anyway, just 2 cents, or what ever you think it's worth. Rick PS - BTW, my wife almost died of cancer (6 year survivor now), and you better believe that in the heat of the battle, I'd have personally wrung the necks of a million cute fury little bunny rabbits in the name of medical research, to save her life. But, I wouldn't kill a single one to get a lucky rabbits foot. Especially when it wasn't so luck for the rabbit that it used to be attached to, but that's a different story altogether. *************************************************************************** PaddleWise Paddling Mailing List - Any opinions or suggestions expressed here are solely those of the writer(s). You must assume the entire responsibility for reliance upon them. All postings copyright the author. Submissions: PaddleWise_at_PaddleWise.net Subscriptions: PaddleWise-request_at_PaddleWise.net Website: http://www.paddlewise.net/ ***************************************************************************Received on Thu Jun 05 2003 - 07:30:05 PDT
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