Faith No More

[smokingboot]

I can barely stand Twitter right now; it's good that the anti-badger cull is trending, but the horror stories are too much for me.

I have occasionally given thought to doing a Phd. Two subjects occur to me; one is the life cycle of belief systems and the other is the History of Cruelty. It is an irony that as the badger cull starts, Cameron readies for war and Westminster Council decides to ban soup kitchens and make sleeping rough illegal. In the same 10 days I have heard of one owl being rescued, three feral cats being given food and shelter, three charges of illicit hunting being pursued, the papers show horrifying photos of a badger shot in the head, and a friend finds a FB page dedicated to gleefully depicting pictures of post-hunt foxes. I cannot even look at these last without triggering an attack of PTSD.

What is happening?

I find myself reeling between a kind of impotent fury and tears like nothing I can describe. We were taught certain principles; humanity, kindness, they count for nothing. And then I look at the kindness of ordinary folk, of all the signatures on the anti-badger cull petition, currently something in the region of 280,000 names, I think of the people out there trying to stop the marksmen last night and tonight, and it is clear that kindness does exist, it is very brave and it is everywhere. And I try to smile.

I want to go to the west country, to join the sabs and fight this on the ground, but I have no transport and nowhere to stay. Over the next two weeks, I may see if I can get a friend to take us down. Today, I am going to a cute place to do some work, and try to to remind myself that England is still worth it.

Is England still worth it?

Comments

[romney.livejournal.com]

Perhaps the PhD in cruelty is not for you if looking at it's source material makes you ill.

The life-cycle of belief sounds interesting, perhaps seeing if historical records allows an analysis that removes external influence and finds an internal consistency.

I'll just add the note that finding out which side/faction is killing people with nerve gas and stopping them sounds quite humane to me. As long as complete proof is found that it is actually happening and exactly who is responsible.

[smokingboot.livejournal.com]

You are quite right Romney; I think the history of cruelty could teach us a lot about ourselves, but don't think I am the person to do it. This admission makes me feel a bit paltry! The life cycle of belief is something that's fascinated me for a long time. I haven't studied it properly but there do seem to be parallels.

I couldn't agree more with your last paragraph. Unfortunately, my fear is that this is not what will happen.