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.

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 [ (c) HOE E'ZINE -- http://www.hoe.nu      HOE #1087, BY QUAREX - 6/07/00 ]