No, that is not a misspelling of amusement. This is what SeaWorld became known as resulting from a string of documented abuses of killer whales coupled with trainer deaths in their parks. The recent release of the movie Blackfish on Amazon Prime caused me to finally watch this documentary and to write this blog. The news around this is now ancient.
However, the story is relevant today on so many levels. When you see the Rotten series on Netflix (https://www.netflix.com/title/80146284) or Seaspiracy (https://www.seaspiracy.org/) or the other documentaries detailing animal with abuse in our food chain, you come away with a sickening feeling that corporate America is totally corrupt.
The talking points and counter arguments sound like the ones we heard as the tobacco industry struggled to persist and keep their business base as the dangers of smoking were continually exposed.
In like manner, as you watch Blackfish you see SeaWorld lying and twisting anything they could concoct into the justification to continue their killer whale performances. It took about a decade, but the end is now clear. They will be stopping orca performances and interactions completely as the stock of their animals eventually disappears.
I did not coin the term abusement parks. Here is the article that describes the situation:
https://theconversation.com/blackfish-how-captive-killer-whale-documentary-ended-seaworlds-orca-breeding-programme-161775
How does this relate to today and my audience for Captain Obvious? EVs are today’s blood diamonds. The facts are all there in plain sight … but the impacts are in countries where child abuse and human trafficking are so common they are just part of the system.
Watch the Rotten episode on chocolate, read the articles about avocados in Mexico, or see how China is raping our seas in Seaspiracy. The pattern is the same. What seemingly is a noble mission to feed the world is exploiting it at rates that are unsustainable and causing human suffering on a scale that would normally be defined as international war crimes.
As I consider these common illustrations of what we might call failings of being human, I am increasingly brought to the conclusion that we are not nearly as smart as these animals we are abusing. We are not the pinnacle of God’s creation. We are abusive at levels not seen in any other animal species, perhaps except for our closest genetic cousin, the chimpanzee.
Newt Gingrich was right to insist that all new members of Congress had to read Frans de Waal’s book Chimpanzee Politics. Sadly, we are about to lose Frans to cancer and will not be blessed with any more of his wonderful books on our primate relatives.
Thanks so much Frans for your fearless writing that exposes the truth about us and forces us to look in the mirror and consider the impact of our lives.