Excellent book by Ted Kerasote.
I picked up "In Defense of Hunting" a while back, and liked it well enough until I found where he espouses his anti-assault weapons view.
He referenced this book, which is turning out to be what I'd hoped "Defense" would be.
In it, he travles to and lives with the Inuits of Greenland, some sport hunters in Russia, and then examines the "morality of hunting" in comparison to what he calls "fossil-fuel vegetarians" - those who eat only vegetables and fruits grown far away, and shipped to all parts of the world.
Here's and excerpt from the prologue:
"At the local potlucks - the chili marked "meat" and "vegetar-ian" - I have stayed away from these heated discussions. In a climate of political correctness, its attendant backlash, and the general campaign to convince the nonaligned to vote for a particular agenda the idea of our first accord with animals has been lost. Up until very recent times, this accord entailed out utter dependance upon animals and our recognition of that dependance through ritual and veneration. Grazing animals fed people who in turn fed predators, scavengers, and the decomposing organisms of the soil. Human nutrients then fertilized the grass that fed more grazing animals. This fated circle was one of the holy cycles of the planet.
"Diminished and unsung, it continues to enfold us: Whether we're buried or have our ashes scattered to the wind, we, like the rest of the animal and plant kingdoms, end up as fodder for those tiny funerary recyclers - the insecst, bacteria, and fungi. Our companions in death, they deserve our respect as much as grizzly bears and dolphins."
Anyone want to see more?
I picked up "In Defense of Hunting" a while back, and liked it well enough until I found where he espouses his anti-assault weapons view.
He referenced this book, which is turning out to be what I'd hoped "Defense" would be.
In it, he travles to and lives with the Inuits of Greenland, some sport hunters in Russia, and then examines the "morality of hunting" in comparison to what he calls "fossil-fuel vegetarians" - those who eat only vegetables and fruits grown far away, and shipped to all parts of the world.
Here's and excerpt from the prologue:
"At the local potlucks - the chili marked "meat" and "vegetar-ian" - I have stayed away from these heated discussions. In a climate of political correctness, its attendant backlash, and the general campaign to convince the nonaligned to vote for a particular agenda the idea of our first accord with animals has been lost. Up until very recent times, this accord entailed out utter dependance upon animals and our recognition of that dependance through ritual and veneration. Grazing animals fed people who in turn fed predators, scavengers, and the decomposing organisms of the soil. Human nutrients then fertilized the grass that fed more grazing animals. This fated circle was one of the holy cycles of the planet.
"Diminished and unsung, it continues to enfold us: Whether we're buried or have our ashes scattered to the wind, we, like the rest of the animal and plant kingdoms, end up as fodder for those tiny funerary recyclers - the insecst, bacteria, and fungi. Our companions in death, they deserve our respect as much as grizzly bears and dolphins."
Anyone want to see more?