Fact #05: America is still not yet “the Land of the Free” (Part 2)

While it is true that America did finally end legalized slavery in the late 1800’s, and while it is true that America did finally recognize a woman’s right to vote in 1920, and while the American government did finally offer an apology (albeit one as hollow as it was tardy) in 2010 to all Native Americans for the genocidal abuses inflicted upon them from the late 1700’s to the early 1800’s, there remains a group of U.S. citizens who are still being unjustly incarcerated and systematically abused to this very day.

There are currently over 2000 zoos in the United States, housing upwards of one million sentient animals therein. If we are to speak frankly, most of these institutions are designed primarily to make money, doing so by showcasing imprisoned animals to a curious public who pays to see them so confined. In all but the most wealthy & well-known enclosures (there are only roughly 200 accredited zoos & aquariums in the U.S.), animal rights are completely ignored and animal welfare is mostly disavowed …

As astounding as these figures are, they do not include the animals imprisoned in the innumerable roadside tourist traps and small private collections that are sprinkled throughout the American landscape. When these just-as-viable beings are taken into account, some sources claim that there are more than 5 MILLION sentient animals in involuntary captivity in America.

Some folks believe that zoos are important sources of conservation, and yet the reality remains that few if any of those animals help captive are ever reintroduced to their natural homes. Others choose to champion zoos as wellsprings of education for America’s youth. And yet imprisoned animals — like imprisoned humans — rarely act naturally in their tiny pens and cramped cells; meaning that zoos actually teach children how animals do NOT live & behave more than they teach them how they do.

Even worse, zoos — on an insidiously subtle level — do indeed teach our children several ideals that are as dangerous as the are diabolical — that it is acceptable to confine another intelligent, sentient being as long as we can come up with even a lame excuse for doing so; that animals are “less than” us humans, and therefore that it is acceptable for us to manage their lives for them; that it is acceptable to imprison animals against their will for no other reason than the beliefs that “might makes right” or “intelligence trumps compassion” … We have televisions now, my Friends, along with modern means of transportation — both of which have enabled our children to learn all they ever need to know about animals without us having to harm or imprison them beforehand.

In conclusion, locking up innocent animals for our mere entertainment encourages indifference, callousness and a patent lack of respect for life itself. And for all of you fans of American Liberty out there, I would simply remind you of the following:

Denying other sentient beings their Freedom erodes both the purity & the power of your own. So please feel free to go forth today and be a true Patriot — by boycotting (or better yet, protesting against) your local zoo.

Amen … Let it be so.

“Freedom is the oxygen of the Soul.” ~ Mosh Dayan

“Caged birds accept one another, and yet flight is what they long for.” ~ Tennessee Williams

“Sometimes people hold a core belief that is very strong. When they are
presented with evidence that works against that belief, the new evidence cannot be accepted. It would create a feeling that is extremely uncomfortable … And because it is so important to protect the core belief, they will rationalize, ignore and even deny anything that doesn’t fit in with the core belief.” ~ Frantz Fanon

 

Filed under: Purifying Patriotism by Scaughdt