Two Refugee Camps: One for Dogs, the other for Humans
Some background data first:
# of humans on the earth—7.4 billion, projected to reach 11.2 billion in 2100. If we all lined up in single file the line would stretch around the earth 7 times.
# of dogs on earth: 525 million, 73 million in United States. Number of stray dogs is estimated at 200 million dogs. So almost half of the dogs are homeless.
Number of displaced refugees in the world today: 75 million. Largest refugee camp: 600,00 refugees. It is scheduled to close down. In the United States 564,708 people are homeless today. 25% of them are children. 50% of the homeless are over 50 yrs of age.
Of the 15 cities in the world with the largest homeless population 6 are in the United States. Russia has one of them and the others are all 3rd World Countries. These six, from the most to the least are:
New York City, Los Angeles, Boston, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Phoenix, Ariz, No European city is on the list. I guess they have more of a social conscience, but that is being tested now with so many refugees from so many strife torn lands seeking refuge.
No need here to overdo the stats. Those of us who are affluent (using the term liberally) rarely have any contact with these people, and certainly not any meaningful contact. When I take my long walks in city neighborhoods I see them here, there, and everywhere. It is disturbing and it is hard for me to imagine how they can live like that from day to day. The worst is seeing some disheveled raggedy ass female with a young child or young children sitting on the pavement while the mother begs for some change. Why would the richest country in the world tolerate this? Part of the problem is that we are also addicted to enough-is-never-enough in our lives. It is a rare politician who can get elected without promising tax cuts—yet all our invasions, which help prevent economic recession, are waged on borrowed money while those who support all these borrowed money expenditures with the greatest enthusiasm (the conservatives), will sincerely squeal that they are worried about the kind of life their grandchildren will have. I guess not too great a life with all the debt they will have to pay off. Then again, all this may well be moot because things will implode, probably in the very near future, and society will have to rebuild, and in what way is anyone’s guess. Could even be thug-rule, like in Iraq etc. Some might even say Trump is our first Thug Ruler. Time will tell.
But let’s now consider two large refugee camps, one for dogs, and one for humans. The following one is for dogs and is in Costa Rica: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vshx5-Cr8cM
It seems interesting that one can put almost a 1000 dogs together and they all seem to get along. While they spend part of the day in large pens with long troughs for food and water, they also get to go out and race around at least once a day. They have more intense excitement every day than any of the dogs I see who live in my condo. When these dogs are turned loose from the pen there doesn’t seem to be any cliques, no individual gangs, they all just take off like free spirits yelping with excitement and running till they are ready to drop. Clearly there is no problem getting them to return to their pens at the end—probably because the dogs know where the food is doled out and where they can get a peaceful rest, if one can call the yelps of dogs a peaceful rest. The dogs are of all sizes, all colors, all ages, and yet they all get along it seems just fine. Diversity doesn’t faze any of these dogs. No religious barriers, no ethnic barriers, no cultural barriers, no social appearance barriers, it’s just one huge happy family. Which dogs are happier—the ones in the refugee camp or the ones which live in my condo? How would we measure this? No dog is attacking any other dog, no dog has any personal stash of wealth or private property, or political ideology, or seeking any titles. None of these dogs appear eager to leave this refugee camp.
A human refugee camp is another thing altogether. Misery abounds throughout. Memories of a previous home taunt them, as do memories of loved ones lost in the conflict they recently fled, total uncertainty about their future is stressful, while hunger, thirst, boredom, fear, and depression abound. Which species is suffering the most and least able to cope—the dogs or the humans?
The dogs depend on humans to make things right for them, and in this case the humans came through for them. Humans also depend on humans to help them have level playing fields and yet no human society gets excellent grades here. For us, too many get trapped into compulsive behavior in which enough is never enough, and ‘family values’ precludes much assistance willingly for non family. All the dogs in the dog refugee camp have been neutered so smart humans have solved the problem of responsible reproduction for dogs. Dumb humans have yet to implement programs for responsible reproduction amongst themselves.
The point here seems to be evident. If we need to go into a refugee camp we are better off being a dog in that Costa Rica refugee camp. Some of those kids in the largest refugee camp (Kenya) walked on foot for several thousand miles to get there. Stuff like this blows my mind, but all of us, to varying degrees have just become numbed by all the truly tragic events which happen to so many people just about everywhere everyday these days. Little may be as bad as it seems, but media keeps it right up in our face constantly. I have been walking the streets of many neighborhoods in Chicago for many years and never been bothered by anyone except once when young and there was an attempted robbery. Chicago, of course, is supposed to be one of the worst cities in violent crime rate. It probably is. Nevertheless, a little birdie tells me maybe, at my age, I need be a tad more selective where I take my long walks.
Sometimes I feel like the blind man who picked up his hammer and saw. I seem to spend my time these days being grateful for a lot of things, but am well aware and deeply saddened by the life situations of so many others in my own country and across the globe. While I understand that the evolutionary process is, and always has been, a cruel and merciless process——one of these no pain, no gain processes, I can only manage to accept all this intellectually, but not emotionally. Being retired, I am no longer in the position to face young people from varied formative environments and see the depth of frustration and helplessness which too often is seen in the soul of their eyes. Nothing is sadder to me than that. My contribution these days is via my FANAFI Fund to worthy charities, rather than any direct contact with those most in need. That’s a cop-out, but again, as in most everything, enough is enough. And that I reckon, is why in the evolutionary process, all individuals must die—enough is enough. I too am aware that Father Time is stalking me, sometimes I can feel his footsteps approaching, but I doubt there will be much whining or senseless struggling on my part when the end comes. It will not exactly be unexpected or a surprise. Even here, fair is fair at the end. No matter how many friends, titles, possessions, accomplishments, and so on, we all die alone.
I watch those dogs racing out of their pens and I see pure simple pleasure. They live for the moment, are not burdened with thoughts about death, disease, possessions, titles, power—nah, they just let loose with the happiness of the moment and run until they are too tired to keep being happy. Then back to the pens to share food with the other dogs and then take a nap. Being human carries with it some pretty serious baggage. And that baggage can be exhausting.
