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"I don't want anyone to shoot them, but I also don't want to otherwise think about them or take any other action." This might be hypocritical and lame, but I t

by Y_Y 3y ago

"I don't want anyone to shoot them, but I also don't want to otherwise think about them or take any other action." This might be hypocritical and lame, but I think it's the prevailing feeling among the voting population. Maybe the German government could balance it's trophy ban with some in-place elephant sponsorship. Also I can't imagine why you'd expect to get an interesting comment from PETA.

kazinator 3y ago
Well, I don't want anyone to shoot you. But I don't know who you are and don't want to think about you after this comment or take any other action. Would you prefer that I don't care whether someone shoots you?
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- endofreach 3y ago
  > But I don't know who you are and don't want to think about you after this comment or take any other action Well, while i don't agree with the original comment, both of you are missing the critical part of this in your argumentation. It's missing the part where the potentially killed subject is actively harmful to others/humans in its habitat. That makes all the difference.
  - Y_Y 3y ago
    On what grounds do you presume that I'm not actively harmful to the humans in my habitat? While I appreciate your point here, I don't consider it to be decisive. I think that if the elephants were considerate of their neighbors they would still be a burden on the Batswana. Ultimately there will be competition for land and water and the opportunity cost of not letting rich foreigners shoot them. Botswana is a good place for the elephants, and the government seems relatively well disposed towards them. Ideally that would be enough, but I think economically it has to be worth their while, otherwise the resources will be put to a more "productive" use.
floren 3y ago
People get weird about charismatic megafauna (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charismatic_megafauna https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charismatic_megafauna). See the struggles in the US to get e.g. wolves de-listed from the ESA in states with thriving populations.

by Y_Y 3y ago

kazinator 3y ago

Well, I don't want anyone to shoot you. But I don't know who you are and don't want to think about you after this comment or take any other action. Would you prefer that I don't care whether someone shoots you?

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
endofreach 3y ago
> But I don't know who you are and don't want to think about you after this comment or take any other action Well, while i don't agree with the original comment, both of you are missing the critical part of this in your argumentation. It's missing the part where the potentially killed subject is actively harmful to others/humans in its habitat. That makes all the difference.
- Y_Y 3y ago
  On what grounds do you presume that I'm not actively harmful to the humans in my habitat? While I appreciate your point here, I don't consider it to be decisive. I think that if the elephants were considerate of their neighbors they would still be a burden on the Batswana. Ultimately there will be competition for land and water and the opportunity cost of not letting rich foreigners shoot them. Botswana is a good place for the elephants, and the government seems relatively well disposed towards them. Ideally that would be enough, but I think economically it has to be worth their while, otherwise the resources will be put to a more "productive" use.

floren 3y ago

People get weird about charismatic megafauna (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charismatic_megafauna https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charismatic_megafauna). See the struggles in the US to get e.g. wolves de-listed from the ESA in states with thriving populations.