There is no cause so noble that you should sacrifice your children to its altar. Shame on you.
After 15-years in DC, I have noticed that those noble activists who are saving the world have yet to save themselves, their marriages, their families, and their children.
The children of many of the founders of these organizations are a mess, with boys and girls as scared and abandoned as the children of their more celebrated Hollywood celebrities and New York robber barons. They are cared for by nannies and oftentimes never see their parents for weeks at a time.
All because one or more of their parents are making sacrifices for a higher, nobler cause: saving the whales. Or some similar cause celebre.
The illusion of nobility associated with saving pagan babies, the rain forest, the whales, or the trees is pure distraction from the things that matter most in this life which is saving yourself, protecting and loving your children, your spouse, your parents, your family, and your community.
If you have all of your ducks in a row, if your children are happy and well-adjusted, if your health is good and you get enough sleep and exercise, if you still chase your spouse around the bed pretty regularly, and you call your mother, with energy to spare for yourself, then you have the right to save the whales.
Otherwise, you are chasing phantoms, you are wasting your time, and you had better still yourself enough to remember why you got married, why you had children, and whether the whales really matter to you any more or if you’re just used to saving the whales.
Otherwise, let the whales fend for themselves for a little while while you get yourself together.
If you disrespect your own family enough to abandon them for your noble cause then the whales are better off without you. Resign from your save the whales campaign immediately, move to New York, and settle in to a life on Wall Street.
If you’re going to be ignoble, you might as well do it for money. The entire order cetacea recognize hypocrisy when they see it and they don’t want any of your filthy lucre anyway.
(Special Thanks to Paul Roberts of P.R.A.D.E. (Paul Roberts Amateur Design Enthusiast The blog for the untrained but discriminating design eye) — the Photoshop God — who hooked me up with the Don’t Save the Whales graphic)
Comments (82)
Understandable sentiment, and an easy crutch for our own apathy, but life is not so black and white.
To continue with a racial theme and abuse an overused metaphor, would you have had Dr. King abandon his quest for civil rights in favor of couples therapy?
Granted, whales and trees are not sentient beings like the African Americans who were fire-hosed in Selma, but it’s naieve to write off noble ambitions because one’s self is not already enlightened.
In many of the great religious traditions service is actually means to personal salvation. Through serving others, we can learn to help ourselves and our families.
It is a shame that such impulses are not instinctual (hence the reason why airlines have to remind to you put on your oxygen mask before assisting your neighbor), but we are contradictory beings.
Accept the ambiguity and respect both service to others and our quests for personal virtue. They go hand in hand.
There is no apathy in my life. And there are also many distractions. I have spent years dancing with dolphins and whales as a SCUBA diver and know them more than many and for this I am grateful.
What is more noble than the ambition of saving oneself?
Doctor King was a whale, if you will. He was saving himself, his family, and his community. I am surprised that you overlooked that.
So, maybe I am not so naive.
And the most valuable lessons are in fact gleaned from serving others, but try to keep it local. As in your spouse, your children, your parents, your family, your friends, your community. If you have energy left over, then spend it along the same vein.
The nature of the world is not really as it seems. Try to only serve others you can touch, see, feel, help, interact with, and live with.
Dr. King was a philanderer saint.
Beethoven was an abusive genius.
Ghandi…well, he was all good.
The point is that we can’t put our life’s work on hold to get in the zen of changing diapers.
I know you’re neither naieve nor apathetic, so don’t come off like it by saying, “saving pagan babies, the rain forest, the whales, or the trees is pure distraction from the things that matter most in this life which is saving yourself, protecting and loving your children, your spouse, your parents, your family, and your community.”
If people don’t save the trees there will be no more familes to save.
As for one’s life’s work, it makes more than more sense to me now that Roman Catholic priests are celibate. There are fewer distractions.
I am not saying that one should not perform one’s life’s work. But not to the harm of what really matters.
And I am not talking about one’s life’s work, nor am I talking about destiny. What I am saying is that no matter how noble one’s life’s work may seem and no matter how important one’s destiny is, it is not remotely as important as serving your spouse, your children, your family, and your community.
There is nothing as modest, as honest, as life-affirming, and life-changing as that.
There is more harm done by a man who has a destiny, a noble aim, a a life’s work than anything else.
You mentioned Dr. King, Beethoven, and Ghandi.
I will mention some other men who have had life’s work and noble aims who lost site of themselves, their children, their family, and their community:
Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Idi Amin, Hideki Tojo, Kim Il-Sung, Chiang Kai-Shek, Moammar Al Qadhafi, Pol Pot, Francisco Franco, and Mao Zedong.
All men who didn’t put their “life’s work on hold to get in the zen of changing diapers.”
To take it one step further, these men, Adolf Hitler, Joseph Stalin, Idi Amin, Hideki Tojo, Kim Il-Sung, Chiang Kai-Shek, Moammar Al Qadhafi, Pol Pot, Francisco Franco, and Mao Zedong, might have turned out differently if their mom, dad, family, and friends where better parents to them.
cop out.
There are many highly-gifted people in the world who have been treated like the young Gautama.
They are coddled, protected, and spoiled so that they may be allowed to focus on their destiny.
They distiny is as likely to be that of a surgeon, a scientist, a lawyer, a competitive skater, an athelete, a beauty queen, a pianist, a painter, a poet, or a priest as it is the King of the Whales.
There needs to be balance in all things. And what is the saddest part of this entire conversations is that the same man who said, “The point is that we can’t put our life’s work on hold to get in the zen of changing diapers” is also the man who spent months living in India.
I have never focused this on not saving the whales or not saving the forests but rather how much easier it is to forgive the distraction from the truth if that distraction is in fact popular or noble.
It’s neither nuclear family and Wall $treet, nor domestic abuse and whales.
There are countless great parents who are plenty involved with money, and plenty of awful parents who do invaluable work for their communities but are awful husbands and wives, who are awful parents to their children, and who are able to rationalize their entire failure because they have done some things that really don’t matter too much at the end of life really anyway.
There is another black and white annoyance: that money equals bad and activism equals good.
Sometimes entropy isn’t death. very often, it isn’t. Sometimes to struggle so hard for something that is so far removed and so not part of one’s life is like struggling in quicksand.
Not only is it a waste of energy, but the unintended consequence — sinking faster and being alienated from a helping hand — is worse than anything you could ever imagine.
there will always be that group of people bordering on lunacy who are dependent on a false sense of altruism to prop up their self-esteem, which suffers from things like failing to take care of their families or failing to succeed in relationships. it’s a shame, really.
Sam, that’s the perfect way of saying it. And I can even make it more generic to better support my point, if you don’t mind, “there will always be that group of people bordering on lunacy who are dependent on a false sense of destiny to prop up their self-esteem.” The same stuff that makes the chairman of GE great and successful is the stuff that makes up the chairman of WWF as well.
My concern — and the reason I wrote the piece — is that the chairman of GE doesn’t suffer from the “noble aim” aspect, which might make the avarice and work ethic and profit motive more authentic and honest.
And is that better than a false sense of altruism?
Yes, the avarice and work ethic may be honest and authentic, but avarice is a product of disappointment toward selfless service. Avarice and profit are easy. They come naturally, but so does the violence instinct. It is the mark of a civilized human to control such instincts.
Take each point in this discussion to the extreme. If tomorrow you woke up and walked outside to a world composed of either selfless service or “avarice and work ethic and profit motive”, which would you prefer?
Chris, Dickens had the same reservations as you about what he termed Telescopic Philanthropy. You’re not alone!
In their purest form, I would choose service. I have a dear friend who is Mormon and she told me that service is the most important thing to the LDS. But when it comes to service, nobody is a professional and the service is inclusive of the family.
I like that. That makes sense to me.
I am also not saying that there is anything wrong with an obsessive workaholic president of Save the Whales.
I mean, there needs to be sacrifice in life and pain in order to grow and evolve.
But when a child is involved — when a family is being made — then things indeed should change.
Take each point in this discussion to the extreme. If tomorrow you woke up and walked outside to a world in which you would have to choose between saving all the whales and saving one child, which would you choose?
With regards to Telescopic Philanthropy, I see the same thing with Mr. Margaret Thatcher. The thing is, with spouses, there is a certain level of conscious or unconscious choice in the matter.
With children, there is no choice in the matter. Although the subsumed spouse might become toxic and bitter — or not — at the loss of self to the shining qualities of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, there is still no less of a choice, really, in the matter.
It boils down to, if you’re unhappy, leave.
But choosing to have children is an entirely different matter.
Having children can either be the most generous or the most selfish act in the entire world.
An additional note is that psychologically-speaking, the same people who end up in a role such as Mrs Jellyby’s or Mrs Thatcher’s tend also to have narcissistic qualities.
And narcissists are the most compelling mates and the most incapable of being partners and parents. Funny how that works.
Without reading each entry and assimilating them all to produce a cogent statement (because I’m busy at work), let me make the following observations and then close with the greatest quote ever spoken.
1) There are causes noble enough that you should sacrifice your children. Chief among them is service to your nation in a time where its existence is threatened. As Abraham Lincoln once said to women grieving the loss of their children during the civil war,
“I cannot refrain from tendering to you the thanks of the Republic they died to save. I pray that our heavenly father may assuage the anguish of your bereavements and leave you only the cherished memories of the loved and the lost and the solemn pride that must be yours to have made so costly a sacrifice upon the alter of freedom.”
2) Nobody (worth hearing) is suggesting that saving the whales is more important, or equally important, to tending to our social fabric. What they are saying, if you listen with a carefully bent ear, is that through fostering care for things other than ourselves we create a society that by virtue of its interest in things besides itself, takes good care of itself. Without a strong social network, these other less paramount causes could garner no attention.
“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs and comes short again and again; because there is no effort without error and shortcomings; who does actually strive to do the deed; who knows the great enthusiasm, the great devotion; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who know neither victory nor defeat.”
Theodore Roosevelt (26th U.S. president (1901-09), 1858-1919)
could we change “whales” to “the unborn”?
I fully agree with you, but isn’t that called duty? And isn’t that the choice of the child? The child is not being sacrificed for the parent but rather the child is sacrificing his own life. That soldier is a whale. That soldier is sacrificing his life for his spouse, his children, his family, his friends, his community, and his country.
Entirely different, in my opinion, but important none-the-less.
Yea. I see the problem.
We should take control of our families and sort out all our family problems.
What about taking them to the ocean? We could all look for the whales together!
No, waste of time. What if we don’t sort out our problems when we’re there? We might all get lost in some sadly transient awe at the beauty of the whales - or probably just the idea of whales. For precious moments we’d forget the problems we went there to sort.
My family is not weak!
And who’s driving?
And if all the whales are gone anyway because of whalers, or depleted fish stocks from crazy fishing, or deafening submarine engines interfering in their songs, we’re only going to get frustrated at humanity’s impotence in the face of these vital industries.
I can do without that.
And they have no rhythm as far as I can tell.
Let’s relax with the tv newstoons and a healthy tuna salad, and save up the money from work for a good holiday one day. Disney? Hope we don’t use it all up on therapy first.
Or they grow up.
Forget the whales. You only live once.
I think you’ve got your focus slightly wrong here, because you’re centering on “activists” when you should be thinking of all parents.
I know several handfuls of people who were scared and abandoned children, and the few who were raised by nannies were the lucky ones. Some of those abandoned children had parents at home, but they were so involved in business that they never saw their kids. It’s not about “activism,” it’s about abandoning your family for anything, and we shouldn’t confuse the two.
All the actual activists I’ve known share their activism with their families (I used to work for the Sierra Club, so I’ve known a few).
P.S., and this is a note for everybody, because this is the third time I’ve seen the error today: IT’S SPELLED “GANDHI.” G. A. N. D. H. I.
i disagree with your assessment that the whales can fend for themselves .. they have no chance at all when their home is polluted, their food depleted, and their migration paths are congested with oil tankers .. what’s worst, we have the power to wipe out the planet (not just a single species) with just a push of the button (in 2002, we were just seven minutes away from midnight on the doomsday clock).
i have yet to run into children of the green movement who “are a mess”. on the contrary, having attended an ultra-liberal college of a progressive town [santa cruz], i have met and befriended many of these second-generation hippies who continue to uphold the various -ISMs (re: liberalism, idealism, etc) and values of their parents. what a wonderful gifts these hippies of yesteryears have given to their children.
this legacy echoes the teachings of the wisdom keepers of the mohawk nation, who teach their people to respect the land, and that “… everything they do affects the Seventh Generation and we must think of the unborn faces looking up from beneath Mother Earth”.
though my parents were not part of the green movement, i do believe in it .. and i will save the whales for the both of us.
Hugh, the entire time I read your comment I thought of the dolphins from Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy! — thanks for that. But I have to tell you that I don’t really give a rat’s twat what you get up to.
What absolute twaddle.
Where is your evidence to back up the existence of these orphans of ecology? Don’t you think that there are people that put work before their family in all walks of life?
You’re being deliberately provocative. Get a life. Spend some time with your own family and friends instead of wasting your time attempting to bait people on the internet for your own pathetic amusement.
I think you are bang out of order the people that save the whales are good people and are doing good. I am sure 9 out of ten would not neglected there families because of it and the ones that do are yes in the wrong when I was a little girl saving the whales was my dream
whales are mammals just like we are they are getting killed by there own species which is not right you are saying we should be stopping the robberies and the murders but by killing the whales you are doing the same to them you are murdering them and robbing them of a family something’s need looking after and at least there are SOME descent people out there that will do it not everyone sees life in the same way you do. if you had a pet dog for example and someone was trying to kill it you would do everything you could to save it because it is part of the family some people see whales in that way. How would you feel if you were just sitting at home with your family and someone shot a harpoon at you? Well that’s what it is like for them.
just imagine(I don’t no if you have kids) that you were sitting at home with your kids and someone captured you or killed you just think about what it would do to your kids but at least they would have other family or they would have the opinion of foster care or adoption. but those poor whales probably don’t have help like that they would be all alone and maybe too young to know how to survive on their own so I think in the future instead of being lost in your own little world and think its the saving the whales that is doing it think again because they need as much help as we do. And if you are so bovered about the community I hope you are out there doing something for it. Infact why don’t you go out there and do something now instead of wasting your time writing this web site moaning about there whale savers and do something for the community yours sincerely jess
this is sick we can save ourslevs we have a voice of our own but the whales dont so if they cant speak to stick up for themslves who will? because it is clear u wont. i would and that is a fact u mybe should listen because it is your people that is causing the problem with the whales.
If the vast majority of people who aren’t inclined towards saving the whales and such, were instead spending their free time trying to truly take care of their families, spouses & communities I might see validity to your argument…as it is this post just looks like liberal-baiting to me.
Whatever. You guys are right. We suck. Money is king. Whatever.
You can always catch a liberal if you use a whale as bait!
what a stupid article.
Your argument is astonishing to me. If you can honestly re-read it two times and not see the mile-wide holes in your reasoning you might need to take some time to think things over. Really.
Suffice to say that if this is the way you feel then I’m thinking that you have some learning to do about what a relationship is, what a marriage is and what raising a child is. Let’s set your gloss on activism == children raised by nannies aside. That is a deep issue with a whole spectra of situations that you are lumping into the most negative terminus.
You don’t raise a child by commiting yourself to voluntary servitude to him or her — nor do you ‘make a family’ by staying home and staring at them 24/7. Strong people with strong convictions raise children that share these traits. Strong marriages are not made by two people who spend all their time on each other. The best thing you can do for a child is to inspire her by setting an example of what a person can do in this world.
To hold the opinions that you express within the context of your personal mores is one thing, but to insult *activism* at large and to call people who give a damn and are doing somehting about it bad parents bullshit on stilts.
You have the honor of missing my point entirely. I think you might be suffering from some sort of deep-seated guilt.
we as humans have a responsibilty to care for all living creatures of this earth as they all have a right to live and we are the ones who have destroyed their homes and species. So it is a responsibility of ours to try protect those species in danger because of the selfish act of others.
you obviously is idiot, u must be someone who cares only about urself. please open u eyes and see what people like u are doing to animals. IDIOT
first of all Mr.Abraham does make a point, if your life isn’t well put together you shouldn’t particate in any other extra curricular activities. However,he fails to mention other activities people particate in that aren’t for the environment,anmails/endangered species,or other worthwhile cause that never the less can disrrupt homes,childhoods,& break families such as:homeless, needy, abuse, disabiled, & feed the children. but these aren’t mentioned, why . . .?
Mr.Abraham I must say you speak of neglected children,& husbands. can you prove anything you say? And if you can tell us how many people are neglected because of their parents jobs, hobbies, and everyday life who aren’t rooted in some cause and are just living in a regular town, would you? There are problems in life & marriage due to nothing but their own faults, to not think so & live in a perfect world is denial.I suggest you open your eyes.
Mr.Abraham,I respect other people’s opinions.You do not.That I refuse to respect,the lives of others & how the are lived are not yours to dictate to.You probley have a nice apt. in a upscale N.Y. neighborhood. Must be nice. You’ve had everything handed to you in a silver spoon. I don’t discriminate agianst the rich even though i am not. But for the poor who live in the wild or country nature is greatly loved,respected,&cared for.
Mr.Abraham, you must watch your views & how you express them because you can offend many people,I was very offended by your statements and took it personally.It hurt,and I thought of all the others you’ve hurt by this. I suggest you apologize to the envirnmental community.I don’t apphreciate your calling Dr.King a “philanderer saint” and suggest you appologize to the black community as well.One day you may wake up and see how precious our world is.
Mr.Abraham, this is my last post.I know your thinking “thank god”. But in short i will speak a quote of love ,honesty,& truth. ” The wonderous world under sea & land, in the big scheme of things one life may seem insugnifficant but it’s the greatest gift we know and we cannot let this world of light, love ,and beauty perish.”
Mr Abraham, YOU ARE A CRAZY, CRAZY TOOL.
Mr Abraham, YOU ARE A FREAKY FREAKY FREAK.
My ex long ago abandoned our son for native american/worker/prison issues. The worst part is my 18-yr-old son who was dragged to the W.T.O. when he was 13(although it makes for a good story to say he’s been teargassed)-my son only sees the hypocrisy in the hardcore activists–thinking of them as angry and sad without any stability or truth.
Your thoughts are disturbing because if you cannot enjoy the utter beauty we have in our world you are really disturbed. This page is sick and unfortunatly I visited this sight BLAH….SAVE THE WHALES
Save the Earth, KILL YER SELF!!!!
love animals keep them safe. would if u were a whale oh yeah lets just 4get u. u r nothing.GOD put thing here 4 a reson life is a leason. u will get whats coming.SAVE WHALES,CARE 4 THEM.
i have only 1 thing 2 say about ur article
“THE HELL”
i have only 1 thing 2 say about ur artical
“THE HELL”
Sorry I don’t think like you At ALL!!!
You are really twisted aren’t you. so you think we should focus on other things no we shouldn’t im 13 and i am trying to save the animals from people like you. Sick people who are self centered and don’t care for others. You need to get your head out of your *** and open your eyes. You wouldn’t like for someone to kill you without question and make lipstick or shampoo out of you would you??? Animals that live in the water are being killed for your convience so you can have shampoo. i don’t think so buddy. I bet you go out there and kill them so you can be satified. Well you know what we’ll stop people like you from hurting the animals we love. Without or with out your help. So when all the animals are gone we’ll start making shampoo and lipstick out of people like you so you know what it fells like to be them. So you know how much pain people put tem through. Woould you like a harpoon explosive shot into your brain and blow up and kill you then hit you repeatedly with an axe. So you need to get your head out of your***
You are really crule huh? dude you have to save the whales. they are killing the whales just so they can make soap to rub all over your body .well i am 13 and i am trying to save the whales . so people like yuo dont get to kill them. you are really wrong and dont care one bit about the animals under the sea. well you should.whales , orcas , sharks and other mammals die just to make new and stupid improved products. you are a *** and you need to care about the animals they have dont nothing to you and you want to kill them well dont. cause me and my friends cayla will beat your ***
you need to care. well would you want to die just to make lipstick and shampoo.
write back and i will tell you more abourt the animals you need to car eabout what they do for you there are only a hundred remaining in the world .soon there will be no more and then it will make you happy huh well you need to get your head out of the gutter . when all the animals are gone what are u gonna do we are gonna blame you!!!!!!!!!
you might think that whales dont matter but your wrong. ya you need to take care of your family but we also need to save are world. all of you that sont think that the whales arent important than you SUCK.
What are you talking about> Yes its important to have a stable life at home for your family and children, but if the enviroment itself isn’t saved by these noble people an other people around the world then that home you are trying to stabilze and love will not exists and the ones you love will suffer, because people like you thought it was unimportant to save the whales!!! So if we dont start repairing our enviroment now we will end up suffering for it later on!!! So wake up and save the Whales ASSHOLE
Dont blame the whales or conservationists for human frailities and faults.
I have a great husband and marriage, great kids with whom i spend alot of my tme, I also support Whale conservation with time and money i have availiable. Get a grip!! Its not the Whales fault thatthey are being slaughtered… It is HUMAN GREED and arrogance. It is not the whales fault the people lose sight of everything but their cause….It is HUMAN STUPIDITY and again arrogance. Dont blame the whales and their plight for human faults after all it happens with more than just save the whales.
Miri Furlong
Graphic Artist
design@ethnic-aotearoa.co.nz
http://www.ethnic-aotearoa.co.nz
you are so self centered!! how would you feel if some body wanted to kill you!!!! don’t even try to say you wouldn’t care!! I’m elizabeth christian and i think everyone should help save the whales!!! LOSER!! FREAK!! WEIRDO!!
you are the biggest idiot on the face of the earth!!! you don’t understand the value of life its self!!! tou are so retarted!!!!!!!
YOU IDIOT!!
YOU ARE SO RETARDED!! hope you choke on a piece of beef jerky!!
your stupid!!!
dont say dont save the whales because you need to save yourself first. i love whales and im trying t save whales and im only 17 i have loving parents who are also trying to save whales and were not disfunctional or falling apart or any thing you said were just fine and to generalize that all people who try and save our planet are neglecting their families is BULL. your just pissed that you cant save the world and you probably cant fix your own family.
You are very stupid. No more comments.
I may well be stupid, but I am not alone. Thanks for joining me.
SAVE THE WORLD! SAVE THE WHALES!
God Agrees with Chris Abraham That We Should not Save the Whales (well, at least Paul does… but then, he’s a rabid homophobe and a chauvinist pig, so…)
In any case, it’s in the scriptures, so it’s right.
1 Timothy 3
This saying is trustworthy: “If anyone aspires to be a leader of his community, he desires a noble work.” Such a leader, therefore, must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, sensible, respectable, hospitable, an able teacher, not addicted to wine, not a bully but gentle, not quarrelsome, not greedy; one who manages his own household competently, having his children under control with all dignity. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he take care of God’s house?) He must not be a new convert, or he might become conceited and fall into the condemnation of the Devil. Furthermore, he must have a good reputation among outsiders, so that he does not fall into disgrace and the Devil’s trap.
I am surely and indeed a Godly man. Fuck the whales.
i’m not sure of what your point is?! whats wrong with trying to save the whales, or any animal for that matter? why are you saying that only whales shouldn’t be saved? why not all other endangered species? i think you are wrong as i know many do, but i do not see your selfish view as to be right, yes you can look after your family or whatever your trying to say, but why not doing things for other people or animals other than yourself? please enlighten me with your selfish attitude to life
No, you have it backwards. Social conservatives need to give up on campaigning for lower taxes, anti-abortion, anti-immigration and other big, abstract, phantom ideas until they exemplify liberal folk wisdom, i.e. spending more time going to protests, writing letters on behalf of amnesty, and, well, sending checks to greenpeace.
Matthew Martin »
I don’t even understand the logic of what you suggest. Would you please explain this to me? Maybe someone can explain the logic behind what you’re saying. In most cases, I am snarky — but in this case, I really want to know. Explain your logic to me because it seems like the two concepts are mutually exclusive.
FUCKING WALE KILLER: YOUF UCKING SHOULD DIE TOO BECAUSE WE HATE PEOPLE LIKE YOU BITTER OLDMAND YOU HAVE NO FRENS AND YOU SHOULD DIE NOTHE WALES! HOW WOULD YOU LIEKTO BE SUFFOCATED AND KILT WITH NETS LIKE DOLPHONS FOR NO REASONS SO JAPANESE CAN EAT THEMß
umm ur sick =[ how could u not save the whales? they can fend for themselves if stupid rue people didnt kill themand screw up their natural environments, so someone has to clean up the worlds mess.
You are the stupiest person I have ever heard speak in my life. If you think that allowing people to kill innocent animals is okay, then I suggest that you go seek mental help. Your theory of not saving whales is stupid, just like you. You missed me off so much that words cannot describe. You better watch your back, because you are going to get everything you deserve, which will not be good. You are a bad person and only bad things will come to you. It is one thing to say that you don’t like whales. But to say that they should not be saved is wrong!! You need to reconsider the things you post. You are spreading a bad message that nobody should hear. You talk about young children, but you are the one setting a bad example for them. If you are looking somebody to argue with on the subject, that person is not me, because I will win. So go ahead and step at me bacause I am always ready to defend the whales!!
For the millionth time, simple logic dictates that saying, “Don’t Save the Whales” doesn’t mean “kill the whales.”
Hey there, again. I think what I am addressing with these articles is how carefully people don’t read and how completely wrong believing what you read is. Caveat lector! Let the reader beware. I try to make people consider the source, to consider what is being said.
Don’t save has never meant kill. The comprehension skills of the general populace is not my responsibilities. Here is what I do say:
If you have all of your ducks in a row, if your children are
happy and well-adjusted, if your health is good and you get enough
sleep and exercise, if you still chase your spouse around the bed
pretty regularly, and you call your mother, with energy to spare for
yourself, then you have the right to save the whales.
I think maybe you just read the title only because none of the rest of the article says “kill the whales.”
If the whales have friends like all the people who have responded to my article then they don’t need enemies.
Besides, the people who think they’re really saving the whales by writing a check while still using plastics and driving and not motoring their inflatable between a whaling ship and a whale are naive.
Maybe I wrote the title the way I did to sensationally get you to read the article. Sadly, nobody reads the article, they get stuck on the title.
Tell me in a sentence what the artice is about. If it makes it easier for you then picture the title as being “Save Your Family.” Is that better?
Catie »
I am positive that I am not the stupidest person you have ever heard speak in your life, of that I am certain.
In the biggest whale slaughter for a generation, more than 2,000 animals are likely to be directly hunted by the three countries continuing whaling in defiance of world opinion, Japan, Norway and Iceland. And in a crucial political move, this year the pro-whaling nations look likely to achieve their first majority of votes in whaling’s regulatory body, the International Whaling Commission (IWC).
The first development will be brutal, bloody and shocking to many people who might be under the impression that whaling is a thing of the past. But the second may be even more significant for whale welfare in the long term, for it would pave the way for an eventual resumption of commercial whaling, which the 1986 moratorium put on indefinite hold.
Japan is leading the way on both counts. Its whaling fleet is firing harpoons right now in the Antarctic Ocean, hunting 935 minke whales, more than double the number it took last year, all of them under the guise of “scientific” whaling - killing the animals allegedly for research purposes. This label is a fiction which fools no one, as whale meat, popular with Japanese consumers, is sold on the open market.
It is also hunting 10 endangered fin whales - the second-largest animal on earth, after the blue whale - and over the next two years will seek to harpoon 40 more fin whales, and 50 humpbacks, the big whales whose spectacular “breaching” - leaping from the water - delights observers on whale-watching cruises.
Norway, which is pursuing commercial whaling openly by simply declining to adhere to the moratorium, is following close behind, with another leap in its planned kills in the coming year. Four days before Christmas, the Norwegian government announced it would increase its 2006 whale hunting quota by a further 250 animals to 1,052, following a unanimous recommendation by the Storting (Norwegian parliament).
Iceland, which recommenced whaling three years ago, also under the “scientific” label, killed 39 minkes last year and is expected to hunt a similar number in 2006.
That all adds up to by far the bloodiest bout of whale slaughter since the days of full-scale commercial whaling and has greatly angered environmental campaigners.
Do u see whats happening or are u too absorbed in your little try to get attention
we need to help them, they cant help themselves, because people cause them harm, its only right that people help them
What are you doing to help at the moment? At least I offer a forum for conversations like this. What are you doing?
I agree with Chris Abraham. What the rest of you have to say is thoughtless. None of you go out of your ways to save the whales or whatnot, however you are trying to improve your own lives. I bargain thats what anyone would do if they had the choice.
Well-said, Karre, thanks!
why not save the whales? why let people hurt them when they just want to be left alone. you are horrible
why would you want to not save the whales? i think we should save them!coz after all you wouldnt like something like that happening to you… so your wrong and its a mean thing to say…
chris u r stupid! stop wasting your time being horrible! we should protect the whales so they don’t become exstinct! just shut up!
I HATE YOU! YOU ARE HORRIBLE AND NEED TO SHUT UP! LISTEN TO EVERYONE! YOU ARE THE ONE THAT IS WRONG YOU IDIOT!
I love this kinda typical hypocracy - I work with environmentalists that rant daily about the destruction and pollution of our planet and how we should ‘all be doing our bit to combat global warming and reduce pollution’ - but when it comes to closer at home they wouldn’t think twice about sitting there puffing away a packet of 20 cigarettes with a baby under thier arm - pollute the world - hell no - pollute my childrens lungs - hell who cares! - this article is spot on, I see this attitude everyday within the ‘green’ community that I work in, it seems that these people are missing the point its not about ‘not saving the whales’ its about double standards and how people find helping a outside cause so much easier than actually facing the fight within.
Wow, Cozmic, I think I am crying here. Of course, those cigarettes would need to be American Spirits.
yeah right, and rolled using natural hemp paper bought from an independent newsagents they visited on thier bicycle - or more realistically - a packet of malboro cigarettes bought at a large supermarket chain they drove to in thier fossil fueled car - even though its walking distance from thier homes - but hey ho - why would they care, they are relinquished from carrying any guilt cos they are a member of friends of the earth and greenpeace and want to save the whales.
Cozmic Dreamer! Wow! I, myself, moved to Berlin, live in a little apartment, no longer own a car but have a bike and a monthly train/metro/bus pass. I carry a cotton sack in my pocket in case I go to the shops so that I don’t use plastic bags (that end up killing many things in the ocean) and I have not had babies, which are just mouths to feed.
Well, I give up. So many people think I am an evil whale-killer that I will stop fighting. What do you think I am after you read Don’t Save the Whales? Should I be “harpooned and flayed alive?” Well, for those of you who think I kill whales, here are my favorite whale recipes:
http://chrisabraham.com/2008/04/06/cook-the-whale-eat-the-whale/#title
Thats good to hear Chris - ‘plastic aint my bag either’ I too don’t drive a car, I shop locally and haven’t flown on a plane in years, I work for a not-for-profit business that promotes green awareness and raises serious issues on social justice. I have three mouths to feed, clothe and educate. I hope that they grow up eco-aware and care deeply about the world around them…however like most kids they will probably rebel against thier hippie tree hugging parents and turn out to be hideous consuming chavs driving 4×4 gas guzzlers and spend thier spare time hapooning whales
I grew up in Hawaii, Cozmic, and have to tell you that I have actually met whales and green sea turtles. The irony here is that all of these comments bely the fact that people have absolutely no respect for people at all. No respect for anyone outside of some imaginary whale. A whale that probably very few people, besides me, have ever swum with. I am a Divemaster and have been diving (both freediving as well as SCUBA diving) with toothed whales (Pilot), baleen whales (Humpback), and dolphins (Bottlenose), and do recognize that they’re gorgeous, amazing, intelligent, beautiful, sentient children of God; however, I think that we are way too too cruel to each other, especially to the PEOPLE around you who really and truly need to be prioritized ABOVE whales or fur seals other things that are OUT THERE. There is plenty of time for OUT THERE after you sort out what to do IN HERE, inside your family.
Chav (pronounced /?æv/, with ‘ch’ as in chair) also Charv/Charver (pronounced /???v/) are mainly derogatory slang terms in the United Kingdom for a stereotype fixated on low quality or counterfeit goods.
are u one of them old men who have no life so they do horrible stuff like this? SAVE THE WHALES!
Trackback/Pingback (1)
[…] wrote an article called Don’t Save the Whales and the results have been unanimously negative, hostile — even murderous. I call these […]