The Glade 4.0

So...there are many people in an uproar over the CEO of Go Daddy.com killing an elephant. There are lots of articles and video footage. Here is the gist of it:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/42356709/ns/business-us_business/



I have not watched the video, but from the articles I've read so far, it *sounds* like the guy was killing the elephant to protect the crops of some villagers.
It's amazing the uproar on facebook and other media over this elephant being killed and most people haven't even bothered to read any articles or do any research what-so-ever before going nuts...people are just seeing the headline and automatically villifying the guy.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

Oh no! An elephant got killed!

Welcome to mother **** Africa.

Yeah, I just watched the video. It shows trampled crops, the guy kills an elephant, the villagers eat the elephant.
I don't understand what about this is so outrageous and evil that PETA and others are calling for a boycott on this guy's company. The humane society of the US has already moved its business elsewhere because of this incident.
It really bothers me how judgemental these people are being without even knowing the details...most people haven't even watched the video or read one full article because they are "in tears" over this terrible crime.
Good grief. Really??

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

oh noez the animals... PETA and the Humane society can eat a bag of die. It would be one thing if the animal was hunted for sport, or if it were poached for the ivory... but if it is being used to supply people with resources which will allow them to live... tough poo

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Darksiege
Traveller, Calé, Whisperer
Lead me not into temptation; for I know a shortcut

Well, one of my friends is absolutely driving me NUTS on facebook with her ranting and raving on the subject. She has posted three different articles and no matter what I say she is insisting that he is an evil man killing for sport and enjoying it and all the articles and videos have mysteriously been edited in his favor, etc.
It doesn't matter what I say....she (and many others) just have it out for this guy.



Is it really that big of a deal if he enjoyed killing the elephant? Historically, native peoples have included entertainment with hunting rituals before and after the event. So a guy gets wealthy enough that he doesn't have to kill for his supper and all of a sudden he's a monster? But if the farmers were to do the killing, and have a bonfire and dance around it and do war-whooping and laughing and feasting, suddenly it's ok?
This attitude just really bugs me.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

Stop trying to be diplomatic and tell your friend she's a moron.

If someone joins the military because they really enjoy killing people but want to do it in a way that is both legal and arguably beneficial, wouldn't you still say that person is kind of a sicko? Same deal here. Sure, it's at least arguably legitimate for a rogue elephant to be killed, but this guy didn't travel halfway around the world because he was moved by the villagers' plight and wanted to help; he just used it as a legal way to get his jollies killing a big, intelligent, and rare animal.

I wish I could be more like that, really. Unfortunately I'm one of those other types of morons that base their self-esteem on whether or not people, even complete strangers, like them and someone getting upset with me or not liking me sends me into fits of anxiety.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

I thought about that argument too...I guess it would depend on whether the part that mattered was the end result or the motivation to carry it out.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

I think they both matter, but in different ways. I judge acts and actors separately, with end results being more relevant to my opinion of the acts and motivation being more relevant to my opinion of the actor. For instance, imagine Bob and Greg each give $1000 to charity, but Bob is motivated purely by compassion while Greg just wants a tax deduction. In judging the acts, I would say that both donations are "good things" that make the world a better place, but in judging the actors, I would say that Bob is being generous while Greg is being self-serving.

I like the way you separated that. Makes sense.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

I think the issue that people have with what he did was that there were other ways to solve the problem. The elephant could have been moved instead. Personally I like the idea that animals like this exist but they won't if people don't take care of them. Now if the elephant was killing people and they had to shoot it for that reason I would not have a problem. But as RD said the guy just wanted to kill it and get his jollies from it.

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I met this six-year-old child, with this blank, pale, emotionless face and, the blackest eyes... the devil's eyes. I spent eight years trying to reach him, and then another seven trying to keep him locked up because I realized what was living behind that boy's eyes was purely and simply... evil

Killuas, it's my understanding that there was a herd of elephants involved with the crop destruction, and that they had been 'moved' multiple times, but kept coming back to yummies.

I'm of the opinion that there are a lot more serious things for people to be up in arms about than this.

LK, tell your friend (politely if you must) to find something useful to expend her energy on. Maybe she could spend her spare time volunteering at the homeless shelter or the local orphanage instead of ranting about elephant murders on facebook.

There are people like this in the military. They tend to be very good at their jobs, and do jobs most of the rest of us, even the rest of us in the military, don't want to. They understand it is usually wrong to kill people, but not when it is sanctioned by society, and so they have chosen an acceptable outlet. It doesn't make them sickos or psychopaths; those people don't care about controlling their impulses.

As for a "large, intelligent and rare animal" elephants aren't that rare, they are intelligent but hardly spectacularly more so than any other large mammal, and who cares about large?

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

I disagree - enjoying killing people is morally twisted in my opinion. Are they as twisted as serial killers and the like? No, but they aren't exactly normal, healthy, morally-upstanding people either.

It is well that war is so terrible — lest we should grow too fond of it.

Robert E. Lee

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The U. S. Constitution doesn't guarantee happiness, only the pursuit of it. You have to catch up with it yourself. B. Franklin

"A mind needs books like a sword needs a whetstone." -- Tyrion Lannister, A Game of Thrones

Kilgore: Smell that? You smell that?
Lance: What?
Kilgore: Napalm, son. Nothing else in the world smells like that.
[kneels]
Kilgore: I love the smell of napalm in the morning.

I finally led her to what was really bugging her...she didn't like the guy or his attitude...she said she did learn that she should ask more questions and do more research before flying off the handle though, so I consider it a success.
My friend has a soft spot for animals...she is constantly finding homes for shelter animals and doing worthwhile things to help them, so I forgive her.

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"Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Jesus of Nazareth

How exactly is it morally twisted to enjoy killing people if you do so only when it is socially approved? You're right it is not normal, but it is perfectly healthy; if this person never gets the opportunity to kill in a manner society says is OK, he will never kill. Impulse/desire control is at the heart of mental health.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

Generally speaking, you will not find people of this sort enjoying that level of responsibility. As a general rule, their desire (or maybe it would be more accurate to say lack of aversion) for killing means they have other preferences, which do not include the responsibilities of high-level command.

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

I'm not sure how to answer that, except to say it strikes me as self-evident that enjoying killing is morally twisted. *shrug* Social approval doesn't change that.

I don't see how that is self-evident. What makes it any more immoral if you only kill in the same societally-approved circumstances where a person who does not enjoy it kills? Soceity is what determines morality in the first place, so how can it be morally depraved to adhere to society's guidance even when one wishes to do otherwise?

It sounds as if you are simply saying it is morally twisted because you are used to thinking of people who enjoy killing as people who also can't control their urge to, and so either seek out circumstances where killing easily is approved (i.e. societies where killing is common, and restricted very little and/or weak groups are targeted) or they kill outside the law, and thus incur society's wrath.

I'd be willing to bet you didn't even realize such people existed until I pointed it out. The reason is that they are highly stable people who are not sick in the least, and realize that killing in circumstances society does not sanction is wrong. I fail to see how you can consider this as "self-evidently morally twisted" any more than a person who would like to cheat on their spouse but does not because they know it is wrong.

It seems that the idea simply fills you with fear and revulsion, because you are so often told that we should not feel pleasure at the death of another. I would agree that we shouldn't, but some people simply do. If, however, they engage in self-control and turn that energy to positive ends, what is immoral about that?

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"Hysterical children shrieking about right-wing anything need to go sit in the corner and be quiet while the adults are talking."

A whole lot of people enjoy killing eachother in video games. It's not a far stretch to say that some of them would enjoy killing in real life if the situation warranted it, and I don't think it makes them monsters.

I don't know about immoral, but it's definitely creepy. (See Dexter.)

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Well Ali Baba had them forty thieves, Scheherezade had a thousand tales
But master you in luck 'cause up your sleeves you got a brand of magic never fails...
...Mister Aladdin, sir, What will your pleasure be?
Let me take your order, Jot it down -You ain't never had a friend like me
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Just because they enjoy it doesn't mean they dwell on it or think about it much at all. It's creepy if a soldier enjoys shooting at his enemies?