My comments continue at the end of this article. --Gary ]
} Original-Sender: mamia.uucp!peshe@mthvax.cs.miami.edu (Peshewegunzh)
}
} > Original-Sender: murthy@ssd.dl.nec.com (Vasudev Murthy)
} >
} > It seems unfair to blast "eco-tourism" to such a degree when what
} > should concern us first is the preservation of our habitat and
} > environment.
}
} Exactly what has been said about eco-tourists: they have priorities
} very different from the majority of indigenous peoples. And by what
} egotistic act of arrogance do they feel indigenous priorities must
} once again step back when the European steps forward? Divine right of
} mental kings?
You can be as annoyed as you like. Nice phrases like
"egotistical act of arrogance" etc may make you feel better
but you choose to ignore the environmental catastrophe that
already is on us. Your choice.
} > Some things will have to be lost of we wish to work towards a less
} > polluted world and a more environmentally aware population.
}
} Another rehash in new words of the old idea that white man knows best,
} and those not on the steamroller get flattened.
Really? How nice. I am not white. I am from India, so I
guess I must have been brainwashed by the British. India is
under incredible pressures of population, poor environmental
awareness, lust for things western etc. Its environment has
been more raped than you could even guess.
} > Who know, perhaps in 2050, we may even have a
} > meatless society when it will become unacceptable to torture and kill
} > animals.
}
} This seems not to express much knowledge of nature. Do you propose
} fines or incarceration for members of the animal kingdom that feed
} upon each other?
Always ready for one-liners, are we? I was not referring to
natural carnivorous behaviour. I was attempting to draw
attention to the torture and incredibly cruel behaviour that
man has displayed towards animals.
} > Many things go on under the guise of "culture". Consider the killing of
} > the endangered black panther of the Everglades ...
}
} Not from Florida, I take it? The Florida panther is not a "black panther."
Another gentleman brought this to my attention and in a very
polite manner.
} It looks much like a cougar. It will die as a species regardless of
} what heroic measures scientists attempt, including gene therapy. It may
} interest the Bambi-bred that species, as well as individuals, have
^^^^^^^^^^
} a life cycle, and species die daily as they have for millenia (at least)
} without human intervention.
A fascinating statement. Similarly cultures have life cycles
too. And the world carries on nevertheless as cultures grow,
evolve and die.
} > ... does that mean that that one carries on nevertheless with
} > ancient rituals that ignore the present? Shouldn't culture evolve?
}
} It does, but as Malcolm Muggeridge put it, the grand question of human
Why refer to a European here?
} history has been "Who, whom?" - who gets to use force to impose their
} views on whom else. And tellingly, the eco-tourists are very likely to
You may not like it, but the grand history of man has been
this : He who has power gets to do what he pleases. As
always power corrupts and arrogance grows and the effects
are always destructive. Do not be under an impression that
invaders and barbarians have emerged only from Europe.
Cruelty, savagry, ignorance are, sadly enough, a far greater
common denominator than compassion, tolerance and love.
} be members of a national group that has caused all the problems in the
} first place, in untold billions of acts, and now want to restrict as
} a solution the acts of others who were not acting in any irresponsible
} way. In this case, Europeans decreased the habitat of the panther,
} shrinking its range (and that of the Seminoles, to boot) possibly
} restricting the gene pool causing inbreeding, and far from
} making restitution make a big pitch to the Indians to give up what
} pittance of culture they retain instead. You blew it, why should we
} be called on to sacrifice more than anyone else?
You are wrong in assuming that people who are more
appreciative of their environment today (as compared to
their ancestors) do not make personal sacrifices. Also be
assured that environmental havoc is being brought about by
people of many different nationalities. Things have reached
such a state that we can no longer afford to think in terms
of groups. It is too late. Already soot from burning Kuwaiti
oil wells is blackening the pristine Himalayas. The Grand
Canyon is polluted. Coke cans litter trails in Glacier
National Park. The Panda in China is dying out. The Arabian
Gulf. Prince William Sound. Sumatra. Malaysia. The forests
of the Malabar. The list grows....the theory of the
superiority of man can linger only in the minds of
the complacent.
If you wish to think only of your own ethnic sub group, fine. These
global catastrophes will affect your children and mine and
their progeny to a greater extent as the years pass. The
mistakes of the past cannot be undone.
} Maybe eco-tourism would be more of a "blast" for natives if we
} could charge admission and fleece 'em the way European society
} does its own gawkers.
So do it and be happy.
Regards,
Vasudev
murthy@ssd.dl.nec.com
-----
...continuation of comments by NativeNet facilitator, Gary Trujillo:
It seems pretty clear that we're all affected by the problems, and we're
all responsible for them to one degree or another. I would like to
respectfully submit that perhaps we would do well to understand our own
contribution to the problems and work to limit their effects, by communi-
cating with other members of our own communities (ethnic and political as
well as geographic) as to our shared responsibilties.
At the possible risk of offending both Peshewegunzh and Vasudev, I would
respectfully submit that, in today's world, at least (which is where we
find ourselves), both "eco-tourists" (European and otherwise) and native
people have a hand in making the problem what it is. Yes, if European
and other colonists had not spread their mentality of dominion over nature
rather than living in harmony, native people would be free to practice
their traditional earth-centered way of life that would have a much smaller
effect on the planet. And yes, "eco-tourism" and all other forms of tourism
can and do have destructive effects on nature and on native cultures.
However, in today's world, I feel native people also have a responsibility
to understand the real essence of their own culture, which includes, in my
opinion, the ability to understand and adapt to local conditions. Unfor-
tunately, "local conditions" today are not what they were centuries ago,
whoever is to blame for the circumstance. Native people, rather than
merely being true to a tradition that has been handed down and codified,
have the opportunity to develop a new understanding of the natural world
that is appropriate to our time and circumstance, and to help those in the
world for whom nature still represents a resource to exploit for personal
pleasure and/or gain perceive and live another kind of relationship with
the natural world.
Issues such as the practice of the eating of animal flesh by humans is one
we're not likely to resolve easily in this forum. It does seem fairly clear
that the practice is fairly inefficient in the sense of energy transfer. The
ethical issues are more difficult, since belief and tradition are involved on
both sides. I suggest that one useful way of looking at the situation is to
do some calculations, and to consider how we are to feed ourselves as a planet
while we continue to work on limiting population growth and political insta-
bility. I think people on both sides should be prepared to understand the
basis of their beliefs and traditions and to try to work together to form new
alliances which not only solve the practical problems we face, but which also
strive to develop a new collective wisdom out of which a new spirituality and
set of traditions can arise which represent the wisdom, dreams and understand-
ings of people of all races and backgrounds.
We cannot solve our problems by finding others to blame, or attempting to
live in a world that, sadly, we no longer possess.