The world has gone crazy. Everywhere I turn there are
well-meaning but pointless ‘do-gooders’, bent on saving the planet. They trounce
around, eating lentils and righteously telling the rest of us how to live our
lives, as if they somehow have a special oracle that can determine what is truly
right from what is truly wrong. Their arguments are generally vacuous and
ill-grounded, based on little more than emotional nonsense. I find it tiresome
in the extreme.
Point out to them that their arguments against illegal
hunting are as pathetic and short-sighted as those that underpinned prohibition
in the 1930s and they splutter into convulsions. What the environmental sector
needs is a healthy injection of good old capitalism. Let the hunting ranges be
run by commercial businesses and see how long it takes for all those poor
animals to start being bred. We did it with chickens. We can do it with any
animal.
I have no doubt that the best protection we can provide
for some of the worlds ‘endangered’ species is to hunt them commercially.
Tap into that primeval instinct to kill, create a bonding experience for the
hunter and his comrades. What better way to spend a stag weekend than chasing
down a real live rhino across the plains in a huge Hummer, with a beer in one
hand and a massive gun in the other? Glorious.
At 6.30pm
on June 8th I will be a figure of ridicule and hate. Even more so
than normal. I will have spent the previous few hours advocating Legalising the
Trade of Wildlife. My role, as illustrated from the nonsense above, is to play
the part of an environmental philistine and I, along with Alok Jha (Science
Correspondent, ITV News), Claire Hallybone (Senior Archaeologist, Thames Water)
and Prof Ian Barker (MD Water Policy International Ltd/VP for Institute of
Water) will be loudly and vociferously arguing the case FOR
legalising the trade of endangered wildlife. Against us will be a panel of
do-goody, tree-hugging environmentalists who will do their best to puncture our
crisp logical arguments. They will fail of course, but it will be fun watching
them crash and burn.
Back in 1988, as part of my
Environmental Sciences undergrad course I participated in a similar debate.
Back then I argued against climate change. We didn’t win (thankfully), but we
almost landed a body blow with a particularly specious argument that hinged on the
fact that (a) most ice is in Antarctica, and (b) Antarctica doesn’t have any
solid land, it is all just a massive floating ice sheet (this is not true but
why let facts get in the way of a good argument). We argued that this meant
that if the ice melted it wouldn’t matter as the sea levels wouldn’t change. To
add a bit of theatre to support my case I had some ice and a glass of water,
which gradually melted during the debate, proving my point. My key takeaway was
that even the most informed audience can be swayed by a bit of good theatre.
Some people might argue I have built my subsequent career around this fact.
The June 8th event
will be a proper formal, structured debate, with timed sessions and a judge
coordinating the proceedings. The event is organised by the Institute of Water
(South East Branch), as part of the UN World Environment Day, under the
brilliant direction of Mandhy Senewiratne from MWH. If you want to be part of
the above car crash you are most welcome to come along: June 8th,
4pm – 8pm (3.30pm for registration), The Millennium Madjeski Hotel in Reading.
Register
via https://www.instituteofwater.org.uk/events-info/510/twitter/or
or follow the argument on Twitter #LegaliseTrafficking_WED2016
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