By tolerating "concentrated animal feeding operations" (CAFOs), we Americans are as responsible as anyone for causing a terrific amount of animal suffering.  But at least so far as wildlife is concerned, many hunters seem to have a decent conservationist attitude.  (Items still needing to be worked on: the prejudice against predators; and the persistent use of lead shot, a major problem for endangered raptors.)

East Asians, on the other hand, seem to be involved in a number of wildlife-endangering activities, without any sense of the importance of conservation.  The trade in ivory, furs and other body parts, which brings about the suffering and death of elephants, rhinoceroses, tigers and other animals, is difficult to understand, and impossible to justify.

So here too with ocean fish, who are another form of wildlife: Why are East Asian fishers refusing to recognize that their aggressive hunting practices are unsustainable?

And I am ironically, bitterly pleased, at least so as to avoid seeming too "culturally imperialistic," to point out here that a European country that I am very fond of and feel culturally connected to, viz. Spain, similarly sends out lots of fishers, who hunt in a similarly aggressive and unsustainable manner.

But I wonder how a reduction in demand takes place, for the sake of the endangered sharks and all the other wildlife.  Apparently at this time in history, it is extremely prestigious to order shark-fin soup.  Is that just a passing fashion?  (While, it goes without saying, "Our love is here to stay ... ")

An historic example worth considering is what happened to ladies' millinery at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th centuries.  The fashion had been for a while to wear lots of feathers, and even wings, and entire birds, in one's hat.  Egrets in the US were driven nearly to extinction.  Somehow that changed, and birds were off the hook.  I do not know how that happened.  I do know that around that time, certain dedicated conservation-minded women founded what later became the Audubon Society.  But I do not know if they were the ones who were primarily responsible for ending the slaughter of birds for the sake of ladies' hats.

As I wrote in the Dongtan thread, I do believe there are at least a few Chinese who are trying to be environmentally responsible, and who care about the conservation of wildlife.

Chickens deserve our true friendship! So do fish! So do other sentient beings! Let us learn to be kind.

How about an absolute ban by the United Nations? Simple enough.

Hey... then George W. Bush can then assemble a coalition of the willing to enforce the ban. He could play general while actually accomplishing something useful. The naval forces of the world could unite under his leadership and sink every vessel caught harvesting sharks. It should not be difficult to follow the trail of bloody half-dead sharks struggling to swim without their fins.

By the way. I'm serious. Sink every !@#$ boat engaged in harvesting sharks or any other endangered wildlife. ZERO TOLERANCE.

J.S.

Economic Illiteracy Harms The Planet! www.voicesofreason.info.

We are free to discuss numerous aspects of European culture and American culture that are destroying Earth's ecosystems. It should be discussed. Everything is on the table and we have to decide, as a group, what is most valuable, culturally and environmentally.

How might everyone move beyond hyper-respect for various cultures, their own as well as those of other people? How does one decide where to draw the line?

I doubt guilt will be sufficient to prevent wanton destruction of sharks. If guilt WERE sufficient, there would already be much much less suffering on Earth.