{"id":483,"date":"2015-08-17T13:36:00","date_gmt":"2015-08-17T13:36:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jessicaeblack.wordpress.com\/?p=483"},"modified":"2019-09-25T18:16:18","modified_gmt":"2019-09-25T18:16:18","slug":"lions-prostitutes-empathy-gone-awry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jessicaeblack.org\/everythingelse\/2015\/08\/17\/lions-prostitutes-empathy-gone-awry\/","title":{"rendered":"Lions, prostitutes, virtual bandwagons, & empathy gone awry"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I have revisited this in September, 2019, after splitting my multi-purpose blog into three. This blog about lions, prostitutes, empathy gone awry, and sheeple, definitely belongs here. “Everything else” meaning anything with a political or purposefully apolitical tinge, anything navel-gazing<\/del> autobiographical, anything not horses<\/a> or research<\/a>. This particular piece got a bit of attention at the time, and then was forgotten. What is clear is that people haven’t changed at all. A drowning kitten with receive and outpouring of Internet support (emotional and monetary) while thousands of people dying of hunger or fleeing persecution will be at best ignored and at worst dehumanized and labeled enemies of the nation<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cecil the Lion<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By now everyone has heard of Cecil the Lion<\/a>. \u00a0(That’s some wikipage!) \u00a0Today I read this piece<\/a> in the New York Times. \u00a0Cecil was protected, named, and old. \u00a0The hunter, a dentist from Minnesota who likes to hunt and who has become the victim of a virulent cyber-bullying campaign, because yes, that’s what it has felt like to me from the beginning. \u00a0Oh, he might be an unappetizing person (unless you’re a vengeful lion), not adverse to tipping the scales in his favor when it comes to hunting truly wild animals… <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But did was he deserving of the mass outrage, the scandalized internet memes and righteous pointing of fingers? \u00a0The outright persecution? \u00a0Is he any worse than the hundreds of people who dump their pets when they get past puppyhood or let horses starve in their backyard? Than the many more hundreds who take advantage of other\u00a0people,<\/em>\u00a0abusing partners\u00a0and children, stealing, threatening, and yes killing?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Lions<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Added 3 July 2016, apropos of Cecil the Lion: Angry Tweets won’t Help African Lions<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Empathy gone awry<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Walter Palmer<\/a> gets nearly twice as many google search results as\u00a0Dylann Roof<\/a>. \u00a0I hope that this is in part because Cecil’s death is more recent than the deaths of the nine\u00a0people<\/em> Roof killed. \u00a0I suppose it is some consolation that Dylann Roof has a wiki page and Walter Palmer does not.
Cecil the lion<\/a> gets more results than the other two put together. \u00a0He’s even got his own Facebook page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

[Maybe it’s because he’s a cat<\/a>.  Cats do<\/em> seem to have taken over the internet, and that’s fine (I myself own–or am owned by–four cats).  But when you see something like Lil Bub<\/a>–thank you Daily Beast piece for alerting me–you begin to wonder.  A kitten born with genetic disorders such that she requires constant care and medication just to stay alive is cared for, at great expense, when thousands of healthy animals are put down in shelters.  This makes no sense.<\/em><\/strong>  Truly empathy gone awry.  And yet thousands of people have followed the story of that kitten while–in some cases at least–turning a blind eye to human suffering]<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How easily the internet turns people into sheep, bystanders, and bullies.  <\/h5>\n\n\n\n

I posted “In Zimbabwe We Don’t Cry for Lions<\/a>” (also linked above) on Facebook today. A friend commented that (s)he’d been afraid to post it for fear of being “attacked.” \u00a0The truth is, when you post anything the least bit\u00a0political<\/em> on Facebook, you are opening yourself up to attack. \u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my case, much of what I post it too conservative for my liberal friends and too liberal for my conservative friends. I cannot win. \u00a0I don’t mind–I like a good argument<\/del> discussion. \u00a0And I have put all my blindly vehement “friends” on my restricted list. \u00a0I wont tolerate lies, name-calling, or other nastiness on my wall. \u00a0(It’s\u00a0not<\/em> you’re opinion, you’re just wrong<\/a> –from my last post.) So disagreement is good, as long as it happens in a civilized manner. \u00a0What’s not good is that people hesitate to post something for fear of persecution or (more likely) because they just don’t want to have to read all the unthinking, knee-jerk reactions. \u00a0People seem so quick to jump on the latest cyber-bandwagon,\u00a0whatever<\/em> it is. And\u00a0especially<\/em> if it validates their existing prejudices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We were all born with sheeple tendencies that can be manipulated.<\/h5>\n\n\n\n

When I was in kindergarten, a particularly ignorant teacher’s aid did something that felt twisted and wrong at the time. I now know it was abusive. \u00a0One of the class troublemakers had done something wrong (I don’t recall what it was). She made us stand in a circle around him, hold hands, and chant “Shame, shame on ________.” \u00a0(his last name loosely rhymed with shame)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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