Tipping the Scales--Inherent Value

This week I’ve been thinking a lot about what has intrinsic value, and how much is assigned to all life. A giant gorilla, Harambe, was shot in order to protect a small child’s life. The internet is alive and shouting with various opinions on the matter.

On one hand, you have the animal-lovers of the world crying foul, demanding someone be held responsible for the loss of an innocent gorilla’s life.

On the other hand, you have the people arguing that the child’s life was worth more than the gorilla’s life.

I’m learning just how divided our country is, and this is only one example. The U.S. was born with the hopes of being one cohesive nation working together in pursuit of freedom. Between the protests concerning certain potential presidential nominees, and now the gorilla versus boy argument, I’m suddenly aware of how divided our country truly is.

It’s not in human nature to go with the flow and agree with every single thing presented in front of us. That skepticism and curiosity is what has formed us into a forward moving species. We are presented with a problem, we try to find a way to fix it. We’re constantly coming up with easier ways of getting things done. Sometimes, we think of too many ways to solve that problem—hence the division.

There’s nothing wrong with that, but somewhere along the line, I feel the scale of how much value certain life forms hold is out of balance. Am I happy that a beautiful, majestic gorilla was shot? No. But I think the zookeepers were put in an impossible situation, and they chose to ensure the safety of our own species. I would expect no less.  

If a lion starts walking around a baby elephant but hasn’t pounced yet, do you think the herd of elephants should wait to see what happens? They don’t. They charge the lion because animals are hard-wired to protect their own species.

Listen, this argument could go on and on starting with having animals in captivity, letting nature take its course, to protecting endangered animals. We could argue that the parents are at fault, but honestly, my kids outnumber me and have on more than one occasion been out of my sight. We can’t blame them. Accidents happen. Results of those accidents aren’t always easy. The lines always blur when you aim these situations at the human species and not elephants versus lions. Ultimately, it’s a comparison of the value of life.

This mentality extends into various aspects of life. Terrorism, hate crimes, gender discrimination. All of it begins with a skewed perspective on how much value a particular population has.

I easily understand how people can have a different opinion concerning political nominees or gun control. What I can’t understand is how we forget that we are all the same species. The life of the homeless man begging for food doesn’t have less value simply because he has fewer things or is afflicted with addiction or mental illness. His life still holds value.

In most of my books, I’ve tried to include some sort of discrimination or oppression. While I write because I love the creative process, I also have something to say. It’s not usually the focus in my stories—I don’t think my skills are fine-tuned enough to create an exemplary literary novel—but I include it to provoke thought.

I just finished writing my seventh book, and I’m already brewing a new story. I grabbed a current issue from this decade and I’m going to inflate it, project how bad it could really get, and then try to navigate our society through it. The heart of the problem has ties with how people measure an individual’s value. I have to admit, at this point, I’m not sure which “side” I’ll be on in my story. That is, blurred lines.

Reading the articles about Harambe definitely made me ache for the gorilla, but also for the family. I am not envious of the situation the zookeepers were placed in. I know if it was my kid that fell into the enclosure, I would do anything to ensure their safety. Just like a herd of elephants would do anything to protect their baby from a lion.

I want my next story to introduce that confusing ache. That feeling that no matter what the outcome, a tough decision has to be made. I want the readers to question themselves: how would they react?