I awoke Sunday in a land of grace, totally at peace, feeling fine... and yet for some reason, I checked social media on my phone. Of course, the first post was some debate between friends about things of a political nature. That is, the politics of how we treat nature, specifically moose, and whether they should be hunted.
I resisted the urge to step into the fray, and instead stepped into a kayak and paddled around on the sunlit waters before the long drive home.
The next morning I had a spring in my step while listening to "You Can Call Me Al" on the way to the train. Of course, I'd checked my phone beforehand, and the first post was a continuation of the moose debate.
I'd read the post from a conservative friend who was thankful the government "finally did something right" by opening up federal wildlife refuges for hunting. Apparently it will be good because more people will go there. But when I went to wildlife refuges, the absence of people was the main attraction. Since my father worked his entire career in government as someone who both loves freedom and believes in sensible regulations to guide a functioning society, I was annoyed by the dig at the concept of government.
We don't need the government to put diapers on us, but there's a reason we have it. I advise reading John Locke. Life, liberty, property, social contract, etc. Then read some Tom Robbins and Joseph Campbell so you can learn how to step around the law when necessary, but without making things difficult for others in society. No harm, no foul.
As for moose, it just so happens that when I was growing up, my dad's best friend, affectionately dubbed "Uncle Al," was a leading moose biologist in New York State.
So I posed the question about whether he advised hunting moose, because although he's a hunter, I knew that moose were in trouble due to climate change. I don't want to get into the nitty gritty, but you can look up "ghost moose" and see what I'm talking about.
He responded with a dire forecast for the future of these majestic creatures: they will likely be completely gone from the southern range of their global habitat and isolated in only the coldest areas where winter ticks cannot thrive. I imagine for someone who dedicated his life to understanding their habits and responsibly managing their habitat so future generations could enjoy them, their current situation must be heartbreaking.
That said, his opinion was that although moose populations in certain areas were already well below their carrying capacity, hunting would actually improve the lives of remaining moose by reducing tick populations, even though all American moose will eventually be gone thanks to climate change. Paradox.
I wrote back giving him specifics of the debate. For example, one of them is a conservative libertarian who has voted for climate deniers many times, but loves the outdoors because he hunts. Paradox.
Even though he has often been upset by our political situation in this country, Uncle Al hasn't given up his sense of humor. He always made us laugh as kids, often with ridiculous puns. I looked up to him then because he was so much fun and loved basketball. I still look up to him, mostly because he's really tall, but also because he managed to raise a wonderful family after being the only one of my dad's friends who remained a bachelor into his 40's.
His response didn't disappoint:
Nothing wrong with libertarians; somebody has to keep track of all of those books.
If the libertarians did not exist, and no one set rules so that those books could be shared and returned, then the public resources of that library would soon be in the hands of a few, the shelves would be empty, and the benefits of a library to society now, and in the future, would be gone. Libertarians are for personal choice and freedoms as long as those freedoms do not infringe on the freedoms of others. Many forget the second part. Many forget that the more people we have, the tighter those boundaries are; with increasing numbers personal freedoms have to diminish in order for things to function. Were there only a few hundred people scattered across the continent they could do absolutely anything and not infringe on the rights of others, or preclude future opportunities. Now there are so many of us in the world that, incredibly, individual actions that were at one time entirely benign, when taken by the many, are now capable of literally changing the world. They have to be regulated including Greenhouse gas emissions. Addressing climate change is a natural fit for true libertarians and other people that like books. (Paradox)
The time for hand wringing is long past. Check out citizensclimatelobby.org and join. If I do not soon see your name on the active list, I am grabbing an orange ball, coming down and whump'nya silly one-one -one, just like I always have. A court next to a hospital is preferred
Yours with tough love,
Uncle Al
Even though I love walking around peacefully, seeing "angels in the architecture, spinning in infinity" and saying "Hey, Hallelujah," battles must be fought vigorously to protect the world in which we live.
If you're gonna love liberty and live in this universe, it really helps when you are tough
