We the People Are Worth ... Nothing

How can this country be so screwed up?

And why do we allow it to remain that way? I am a passionate environmentalist. I recycle everything I can. I pick up trash in my neighborhood. I conserve water. I take reusable bags when I shop. I refuse to wear fur of any kind. I drive a fuel-efficient car, and I do little driving. When I lived in California, I would frequently walk to the grocery store or drugstore if I needed just a few items. Or I would ride my bicycle. 

I also am a huge animal lover, regardless of the species. I am especially fond of elephants and wolves, as well as all apex predators. Last summer I spent a week in the wilds of Alaska photographing grizzly bears. I go at least once a year to Yellowstone in search of wolves. I go to Africa at least once a year to photograph that continent's amazing wildlife.

So I am dismayed and disgusted by the ongoing, and growing, attacks on the environment and on wild animals. I'm not alone in feeling this way. Millions of Americans have signed petitions, sent e-mails and written letters in opposition to the current administration's efforts to remove animals from the Endangered Species Act, to allow hibernating bears and their newborn cubs to be shot in their dens, to allow wolves and their young to be slaughtered in their dens, to allow the importation of elephant and lion trophies into the US. 

Lions, tigers, elephants, rhinoceros and pangolins are killed by or for several Asian countries for the supposed magical powers of various body parts. Wealthy trophy hunters continue to buy the right to kill lions, elephants and other endangered species. And those of us who enjoy the animals' natural beauty and their innate worth -- not their 'magic powers' or heads on a wall -- can do little more than endure yet more heartache.

The current administration continues to remove or weaken environmental protections. It's now legal once again to bring the body parts of lions and elephants into the US as trophies. Regulations designed to protect our water and air from pollution are being dismantled, all to benefit big corporate donors to the Republican party. 

Many, many more people want to protect the environment and to be able to enjoy wildlife in the wild than those who get off on using a high-powered rifle to slaughter an elephant munching on a mouth full of grass. But we little people are of no consequence to those with power.  

So why is the world so screwed up, and getting worse by the day? It all comes down to money. Those with unlimited funds can buy permission to do almost anything. They can buy politicians and get laws changed. What can we little people do? Boycott businesses (such as Jimmy John's restaurants, whose obese owner is a 'big game hunter'.) We can sign petitions and write letters to politicians, but without the big money being thrown at them by the other side, politicians just don't listen. I'm not optimistic that things will improve any time soon. 

I hate the current administration and its policies with every fiber of my being. I just hope I live long enough to see the pillager-in-chief removed from office so we the people can start to repair the damage he has inflicted on this nation.