Cecil And Slacktivism.

There has been a lot of outrage recently regarding the killing, skinning and beheading of Cecil The Lion, the most famous resident of Hwange National Park in Zimbabwe.  Cecil was killed by Walter Palmer, a hunter from Minnesota.  Social Media has been the home of pictures of usually rich white people posing with the spoils of their kill for a while now. But not every picture shared contains a member of the British Royal Family, they also contain people who have travelled to Africa to kill animals.

So, what to do with that anger? How can you turn that anger into something positive? Well, there are charities you can get involved with, even the group with whom Cecil was a case study are accepting donations to further fund their work.  However, times are tough and money is tight.  Besides, what you with your money is your business. So what else can you do?

I know, I’ll share and like a Facebook post, that’ll do!

You see, I know you can say that you’re showing support and solidarity for a cause and that’s good.  The issue I have is one of consistency. That’s the thing with principles, if you don’t stick to them 100% of the time, they aren’t principles. They are a hobby.

The other story that is dominating the news and social media is the one about what is happening in Calais. It is commonly referred to as the Migrant Crisis but I won’t be referring to it as that again. This is a humanitarian issue, replace the word migrants with people and start from there.

The dehumanising process has already begun, don’t ever refer to them as people, let alone people in crisis, as other people might start feeling empathy. It helps that a lot of them aren’t white either, they can’t be like us civilised folk can they?

What you are doing is dehumanising them, calling them vermin and suchlike reduces them to something other than a human being, it reduces them to animals. Go the whole hog and call them swarms, they are animals after all.

But these animals are not like Cecil, these animals are ok to shoot. Send the army there to keep these animals in their pens, shoot them if they try and escape, they’re animals! Nameless, stateless animals, not like Cecil. 

Why don’t you share the outrage for domestic violence, or sexual assault, or sexual abuse (apart from when brown people do it)? Where is the horror for Sandra Bland and the other deaths at the hands of racist police? 

There is an oft shared quote from uber bellend Ricky Gervais which says something along the lines of “If you enjoy seeing animals in pain, you are a cunt”.  Well, if you profess to be a lover of living beings but want people desperate for a better life shot, you are a massive massive cunt.

Don’t worry, animal lover, I’ll still “like” the pic of your Sunday roast.