Remembering a mighty hunter who became one with the animal kingdom to honor us all

[freethinker]

In a world without social security, or pension funds, you have lots of kids in order to ensure you have at least a few survive to adulthood, to take care of you when old.

Maybe the solution to below-replacement birth rates in the West, would be to abolish social security, and in place of it give old people a share of the tax revenue from their kids.

The grandparent deduction.

 

[strativarius]

In a world without social security, or pension funds, you have lots of kids in order to ensure you have at least a few survive to adulthood, to take care of you when old.

Maybe the solution to below-replacement birth rates in the West, would be to abolish social security, and in place of it give old people a share of the tax revenue from their kids.

Old people need to get out of the way and die so that young people can eat. Trouble is, modern medicine keeps these fossils alive for far too long.

 

[Enthetan]

Old people need to get out of the way and die so that young people can eat. Trouble is, modern medicine keeps these fossils alive for far too long.

Alternately, women who produce young who they cannot feed could be allowed to die, along with their spawn.

 

[George Layton]

I don't know how you can generalise like that and say 'from the viewpoint of the Africans'. Do you mean each and every African? Southern Africans? Egyptians? I'm sure there are millions of Africans both black and white who don't regard Lions as 'dangerous vermin' and are as appalled as I am at the scale of the slaughter of the wildlife both for sport and illegal trading in body parts that takes place on that benighted continent.


Instead of killing them, how about this approach? These guys really do have some cohones!

I think he meant a knowledgeable white American African.

 

[strativarius]

I think he meant a knowledgeable white American African.

What on earth gave you that idea?

 

[strativarius]

Alternately, women who produce young who they cannot feed could be allowed to die, along with their spawn.

I know you're kidding (a bit like I was in my last-but-one-post), but people starving to death in the third world is a tragic scenario, let's face it. In male-dominated societies like in many African countries, women probably have little say in matters of contraception, and perhaps men aren't keen on it because they want to produce loads of offspring to show how virile and manly they are.

There are too many people on the planet and that's a fact!

 

[Wilbur]

Yes, I'm up for that. Seriously though, as far as I'm aware, humans are the only species on this planet that likes to hunt, maim and kill other animals just for fun. People who do that have to be psychotic - it has to take a total lack of empathy to be able to do that I reckon.

I don't think that's strictly true. Cats will kill birds, and then not eat them. They often present them as presents to their human "owners'. With a bit of thought, I suspect a naturalist would be able to come up with lots of examples like that.

One could argue that they are doing that out of an innate urge to maintain their hunting skills. But then, the same argument could be applied to the bozos that hunt lions.

Also, many flocking birds will kill other birds of the same species if they are not originally from the same flock. In the latter case, one could argue that they are doing it out of a vague sense of protecting the flock, but from a philosophical point of view, when does that become morally unacceptable? Killing a bird that has joined the flock is like a human killing an immigrant. The rejoinder is that birds don't have such a refined ethical sense as us. But then, that is an argument for not comparing humans to animals in the first place, when making moral arguments.

I'm not defending the hunting of big game: I think that it's an awful way to get one's 'kicks', and I am revulsed by it. But I don't think recourse to a comparison with the animal kingdom is the right argument: I think a better argument is that the whole point of human civilisation is to act as a check on the baser animal instincts that we might still have. Which is why we have concepts such as justice, fairness, not abusing those who are weaker than us, etc.

 

[freethinker]

I know you're kidding (a bit like I was in my last-but-one-post), but people starving to death in the third world is a tragic scenario, let's face it. In male-dominated societies like in many African countries, women probably have little say in matters of contraception, and perhaps men aren't keen on it because they want to produce loads of offspring to show how virile and manly they are.

There are too many people on the planet and that's a fact!

Actually very small portions of land are populated. There is far more wilderness than populated areas in the world. Nevada, for instance, is mainly wilderness. Vegas however is overstuffed.

There's an old expression, you can't fit 15 pounds of crap in a ten pound bag. The solution is to make the bag bigger , of which, there is plenty of land to do that.

Overpopulation is a manufactured apparency.

 

[strativarius]

Actually very small portions of land are populated. There is far more wilderness than populated areas in the world. Nevada, for instance, is mainly wilderness. Vegas however is overstuffed.

There's an old expression, you can't fit 15 pounds of crap in a ten pound bag. The solution is to make the bag bigger , of which, there is plenty of land to do that.

Overpopulation is a manufactured apparency.

For a start, two-thirds of the planet is covered by the oceans, so that's out. People (and most animals) gravitate to an environment where it's possible to make a living, that's why the cities are bursting. The 'wilderness' as you call it is empty because people can't survive there - deserts, the arctic and the antarctic aren't places where you can easily grow crops and build a sustainable infrastucture.

Let's chop down all the trees in the rain forests so we can grow crops there, that's a good idea isn't it?

 

[freethinker]

For a start, two-thirds of the planet is covered by the oceans, so that's out. People (and most animals) gravitate to an environment where it's possible to make a living, that's why the cities are bursting. The 'wilderness' as you call it is empty because people can't survive there - deserts, the arctic and the antarctic aren't places where you can easily grow crops and build a sustainable infrastucture.

Let's chop down all the trees in the rain forests so we can grow crops there, that's a good idea isn't it?

Libya was n its way to making a desert fertile. Hillary Clinton took care of that and laughed about it.

 

[Enthetan]

Libya was n its way to making a desert fertile. Hillary Clinton took care of that and laughed about it.

Israel also does a good job of growing food in the desert.

There is no shortage of usable land. It's just that you need smart people to make it usable, and THAT is the actual shortage.

 

[strativarius]

Israel also does a good job of growing food in the desert.

There is no shortage of usable land. It's just that you need smart people to make it usable, and THAT is the actual shortage.

This is an enormous subject and I'm hardly qualified to comment really, but growing stuff in a desert requires a huge amount of fresh water, and that is in short supply. Look at the problems with fresh water in Nevada.

 

[Enthetan]

This is an enormous subject and I'm hardly qualified to comment really, but growing stuff in a desert requires a huge amount of fresh water, and that is in short supply. Look at the problems with fresh water in Nevada.

The world’s largest and cheapest reverse-osmosis desalination plant is up and running in Israel.

On a Mediterranean beach 10 miles south of Tel Aviv, Israel, a vast new industrial facility hums around the clock. It is the world’s largest modern seawater desalination plant, providing 20 percent of the water consumed by the country’s households.​

​

Like I said, the real shortage is of smart people capable of making things like this happen.

 

[lotus]

I know you're kidding (a bit like I was in my last-but-one-post), but people starving to death in the third world is a tragic scenario, let's face it. In male-dominated societies like in many African countries, women probably have little say in matters of contraception, and perhaps men aren't keen on it because they want to produce loads of offspring to show how virile and manly they are.

There are too many people on the planet and that's a fact!

That is exactly how it goes...on and on and on...( within many societies)

No contraception ( fana christians make sure it remain this way to ensure a pool of poor uneducated followers...)
Women are not asked for intercourse...they must submit to it...male want many babies as a proof of virility.

Then, they leave and go find another young fertile female...they don't take responsibility to feed the family.

However, not all african societies display such behavior.​

 

[lotus]

Old people need to get out of the way and die so that young people can eat. Trouble is, modern medicine keeps these fossils alive for far too long.

One person I know of is a chineese and left China when adult to establish herself in the western societies.
She told me that the concept of aging is the total opposite of our.

People are looking forward to getting the elder Status...because this is a Status with many advantages. You are taken care of, you are very respected, you become the most important member of the family, you are the adviser, and it's really the golden age in the event you are healthy. That is the time you can rest, relax and take the best of life and enjoy.

Funny hein ????

 

[strativarius]

One person I know of is a chineese and left China when adult to establish herself in the western societies.
She told me that the concept of aging is the total opposite of our.

People are loooking forward to get the elder Status...because this is a Status with many advantages. You are taken care of, you are very respected, you become the most important member of the family, you are the adviser, and it's really the golden age in the event you are healthy. That is the time you can rest, relax and take the best of life and enjoy.

Funny hein ????

I think it's the case that in our western society a lot of elderly people feel they are more of a burden than someone with status. I can remember when I was in my teens thinking that old people had lost the plot and didn't know what was what. I now realise that with age comes knowledge and wisdom. I wish I knew then what I know now about life, the universe and everything, that's for sure.

 

[The_Fixer]

Old people need to get out of the way and die so that young people can eat. Trouble is, modern medicine keeps these fossils alive for far too long.

Trouble is in modern society, old people have now become redundant.

Childcare centres have taken their place. In years gone by, they used to care for the family whilst the younger adults and older children went out to earn money for the family. Everyone in the family unit had a purpose to serve.

 

[The_Fixer]

For a start, two-thirds of the planet is covered by the oceans, so that's out. People (and most animals) gravitate to an environment where it's possible to make a living, that's why the cities are bursting. The 'wilderness' as you call it is empty because people can't survive there - deserts, the arctic and the antarctic aren't places where you can easily grow crops and build a sustainable infrastucture.

Let's chop down all the trees in the rain forests so we can grow crops there, that's a good idea isn't it?

Did you realise that only 5% of the land in the US is developed?

Also when they did away with horse transport in the cities there, some 18 000 000 acres of land was re-forested, as they no longer needed to pasture all those horses....

 

[George Layton]

The world’s largest and cheapest reverse-osmosis desalination plant is up and running in Israel.

On a Mediterranean beach 10 miles south of Tel Aviv, Israel, a vast new industrial facility hums around the clock. It is the world’s largest modern seawater desalination plant, providing 20 percent of the water consumed by the country’s households.​

​

Like I said, the real shortage is of smart people capable of making things like this happen.

I believe greed has a bigger part to play in that than ignorant people.

 

[Enthetan]

I believe greed has a bigger part to play in that than ignorant people.

More precisely, a culture of dishonesty and acceptance of criminality.

Western civilization only continues to function because most Westerners are honest.

If you had a society where most people would steal what they could the moment they thought nobody was watching (or if they thought that whoever was watching would be deterred from "snitching"), then our civilization would descend into what characterizes Third World societies. And we are busily importing people from those cultures.

And I said "smart" people were a resource in short supply. A lot of the world is not just ignorant, they are stupid, in the sense of having IQ levels low enough to render them incapable of innovating or even competently maintaining high technology.