Gorilla DNA; Gorillas R\' Us; speech (Introduction)

by dhw, Wednesday, June 20, 2012, 18:04 (4517 days ago) @ Balance_Maintained

DAVID: Do you want to pay the taxes for that stupid grant money? On the basis of empathy? We owe them proper animal husbandry. We don't owe them for our development, but must use our development to properly protect them.-TONY: I agree with David on this one. The grant money does not save them, does not lead to the protection of their habitat, nor does it prevent their exploitation. While I admit that it does help raise public awareness, until humans change their fundamental outlook on our role on this planet, nothing will change.-How do you propose to raise public awareness, and what do you propose to make the public aware of? The two likeliest methods are publicity and education, and if humans are to change their fundamental outlook concerning their fellow animals, it will be because they are made aware precisely of the information uncovered by such research. Tell a child to be kind to dumb animals, and you will make little impression. Explain to the child that a chimp, for instance, has language different from ours, but just like us she is communicating her love for her baby chimp, her fear of enemies, her enjoyment of her food, her dislike of being pestered...then there is a chance that the child will grow up with a greater emotional commitment to protecting the chimp. Similarly, any publicity that strengthens awareness of our affinities with other animals can add to the accumulative effect which gradually does change public attitudes. You only have to think of the proliferation of organizations now devoted to the welfare and protection of animals to realize that there has already been a profound change in attitudes. But without the research that uncovers the vast range of these affinities, there would be far more people still locked in their blinkered "them and us" approach. Animal welfare is, of course, the tip of the iceberg. You have talked, Tony, about oneness. It's only through empathy that people can internalize that sense, and without it there is no hope of changing outlooks, towards other humans as well as towards other animals. But empathy requires precisely the sort of understanding that comes about through increased knowledge. So let 'em have their grants.