Elephants and Humans – not so very different from each other

Why were suddenly several rhinos killed and severly damaged in one of the big reserve areas in South Africa? No, they were not shot by Humans. It was quite a mysterious thing, but researchers found out at last that the rhinos were victims of young, big elephant males, who had lost their parents and could be looked at as traumatized, stressed and violently wild creatures. They attacked the rhinos with no other cause than to make as much harm as possible to them. Elephants do not eat rhinos and they were not threatened by them. Something had gone totally wrong. The solution was to try to incorporate the wild ones into a big family herd of calm elephants, where they could feel more at ease and where they could learn how to behave. This incorporation was not an easy thing, but after some try-outs it was finally a success. There are no elephant attacks to the rhinos any more. Could we Humans learn anything from this episode? Could you learn from it? I hope you could. We, Humans, have lots and lots of wild youngsters – and older fellows – around us, stressed, aggressive, without any basic knowledge of values such as duties, loyalty, solidarity and such things. Would you like to do something about it? Well then, do something about it!

Who is going to pay?

I belong to the older generation. During my time as a student at Stockholm university a lot of students were politically angry young men and women, which means that we were always discussing the – at that time – modern development of the society, mostly carrying our critical glasses on our noses. We discussed and we read books and we compared left wing political ideas with right wing political ideas, and we strived hard to really understand the differences – also from a theoretical basis. One of our main questions was: From where comes the money? Another one was: Who is going to pay for what.
One of our favourite books was Man’s Worldly Goods (in Swedish: Människans rikedomar) by Leo Huberman from 1965. I do recommend this book. Please try to find it somewhere.
So: Who is going to pay – for everything you, my friend, ask for, such as free rides on the subway or on the buses, or for your living costs when you request a year of absolutely freedom – to have the opportunity to be “yourself”, whoever this “yourself” is. And an even more interesting question is: Where are all politically angry students of today? Where are all radical young ones with dreams of creating an even better society? Are you enjoying your cappucinos or your lattes only?
Of course not. I know that you are there, somewhere. But you are somewhat too silent for my taste. Why not start by occupying a student corps house or something. I want to hear you yell! But, please, pay your bills at the same time, also when you take a ride by the sub.