I think I agree with Paul Watson and his Sea Shepherds. His tactics might lean towards wartime practices and the video we watched is biased on their side, but I think protecting whales from being hunted is the responsibility of every person who calls themselves a human being. Conservation is very important, but when dozens of species that are disappearing every day there is no on better than people like Paul Watson to engage in direct action. I mean, isn't that how Martin Luther King, Jr. thought too? If you can't negotiate with the other side, you protest. Of course, the only difference is that there is a bit of violence involved in this case. I don't think it's piracy if they use weapons that don't severely hurt or kill anybody. Piracy implies that you board a ship with guns and cutlasses prepared to sink them with cannons, then kill and/or rob them. Mainly to rob, like the pirates in the uh is it the Arabian peninsula?
I went on YouTube and saw the second episode. Then, I watched the other side's recordings. The Japanese ship treated the hostages with care, providing even bread and water. It wasn't as violent as the Sea Shepherds thought. However, I think it was quite clever to cause an international stir about the whole situation. I think awareness is the first step if you want to get anything done in these type of situations. It is ridiculous that all these nations sign treaties all day long , pass some figurehead legislation in their home countries then not deal with the people who actually violate the laws.
If anybody continues watching the series, it is quite apparent that no one intends to harm anybody. The one thing I don't agree with is Captain Watson's harassment of the Japanese ship. He does it to provoke them to do something bad, then they can have a reason to start their plan. He should have waited until they responded. I don't like the way he insulted the Japanese.
What's the point of having an international law banning whaling if there's a loophole? It's stupid. Why allow scientists to hunt whales when you can just let them alone to live out their natural lives? Someone probably provided the loophole just for Japan so they would sign the law into existence. I mean, I know it is traditional for them to hunt whales because it is part of their culture. I think it's shameful though if the Japanese have to hide their whaling operations under the name of research and science. I mean, even if it's illegal they should have the decency to say that they are doing it. If you do something wrong, you should own up to it. If they know it's wrong, it's even worse because it just means they have no hearts to care about these whales. Actually, it's not even the whale problem. Any endangered animal shouldn't even be given a loophole to be hunted, even if it's for science. The point of having laws like this is so they can be enforced on people who think the ecosystem isn't their responsibility.
I think everyone making over 100,000 dollars in the world should be required by the UN to donate to animal protection or Interpol can arrest them.
3 comments:
Great post. I'm glad you enjoyed it enough to watch the next episode and do some additional research. You're right that the filming is not objective, but I think that's to be expected since it's being produced and edited by Animal Planet (they know what side their audience is on).
Nevertheless, the subject matter is difficult and upsetting to a lot of people. It's always a complex task deciding what to bring in to class. My goal is to provide material interesting enough to stimulate a response and thoughtful consideration. That's when real learning can happen, so I tend to run away from excessively banal material that tends to appear in some classes.
The risk to this approach, well one risk of many, is that it comes off as excessive complaining. Maybe I'll have to find interesting but more positive material next time.
This isn't related to anything in class, but are you teaching an elective class next semester?
Yeah, the only elective I have planned so far is "Critical Reading for Critical Writing". It' actually my favorite class to teach (am I allowed to say so?).
We read, discuss, play comprehension games/activities, answer/discuss questions in groups. Last semester we read Animal Farm, The Old Man and the Sea, and Fahrenheit 451. I haven't really thought about what we will read next semester. Probably at least one of those and two new books.
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