Domesticated humanity
I have recently been watching the Netflix series of “Our Planet” with my four-year-old son. As all kids his age, he sits riveted as he watches amazing footages of animals and other life forms that thrive in our planet.
My son gets noticeably tense when the scene shows a predator animal attacking another animal, in gory display of what naturally occurs in the jungle. I have to admit that I myself cringe when I watch lions and tigers wrestle and devour a deer or wildebeest.
Watching grisly displays of animals eating other animals alive, I wondered if mankind has indeed become civilized because we add salt and pepper to, and sear in fire, meat chunks from animals that are slaughtered by others for us. I wondered if mankind can claim superior behavior in the animal world, because we “domesticate” livestock instead of hunting them in bloody encounters in the wild.
But are we really superior creatures because we’ve managed to insulate ourselves from the gory rituals of hunting and slaying animals ourselves, and because we garnish butchered meat with spices? From mankind’s self-centered point of view, perhaps. But from the vantage point of the rest of the animal kingdom, mankind is the most ruthless and brutal of all creatures in this world. Imagine the wretched existence of hundreds of millions of animals we supposedly “domesticate,” but who in reality spend all the days of their lives confined in cramped cages, experiencing only the four corners of their pens. Compare them to the lives of animals in the wild who roam freely, experiencing the splendor of and adventures afforded by nature, even if they’re in constant threat of abruptly meeting their end in the animal food chain.
These esoteric thoughts come to mind because we see vestiges of “domestication” in the lives of the multitude of humanity. The abuse and enslavement by men in the hands of his fellowmen is a tale as old as time, of course. But in an age when human rights, democracy, and justice have become buzzwords, we need to be reminded of the modern versions of how man exploits, misuses, and abuses his fellowmen.
The old forms of physical exploitation that continue to persist are defined and penalized in our societies. There are, however, contemporary versions of psychological exploitation that now spread in our midst and that—for the perpetrators’ benefit—are as effective in yielding the same desired results as the old forms of physical exploitation. These forms of modern exploitation are perpetrated by our political and commercial rulers, and they are perceptible in their impact and influence on people’s behavior.
We see this exploitation in the way our political rulers treat their constituents as “domesticated” supporters whose votes are constantly harvested for political power. We see business rulers who view their patrons as “domesticated” consumers whose spending streams are constantly reaped for revenues. People are not vested with the freedom to enjoy the splendor of life on earth, but to become domesticated livestock harvested for dominion and wealth.
This practice of domesticating mankind results in sidelining people’s welfare in order to quench the insatiable thirst for power and to satiate the voracious appetite for money of giants and titans in our midst. As a result, we have a growing number of political Goliaths and business giants who hold vastly disproportionate powers to exploit the rest of the animal kingdom, including and especially the rest of humanity.
One of nature’s most important laws which, for eons, has ensured our planet’s survival and allowed the abundance of life varieties to flourish, is the nondominance of a single species with the capacity to overexploit others. The emergence of modern man is ruining this natural law. The emergence of giant versions of modern man threatens to spell even far worse disaster to our planet and to the rest of mankind.
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