I committed serial killing on Wednesday morning. Summer and I were out for our morning constitutional, and suddenly it seemed we have mosquitos here not far from the shores of Green Bay. They buzzed past my ear, and several landed on my leash hand only to be swatted to oblivion by my left hand.
Normally I cherish and try to preserve all life, but my conscious is regrettably clear in this case. I have read somewhere that the mosquito, and the diseases it transfers from body to body, is the greatest killer of humans in the world, and while I have no bones to pick with individual mosquitos, I recognize the potential danger to me and mine.
Huh. That’s interesting reasoning, and it’s not unlike the rationale we have always used for war. “I have no quarrel with individual Germans, but they were fighting for the Nazis and we had to stop the Nazis.” Of course, there was the added rationale that those individuals were trying to kill us back.
That particular problem will not go away until humans in general decide that the next time they give a war, nobody will come.
The mosquito question is more easily resolved. I’m afraid I just can’t work up as much compassion for the little buggers as I do for other forms of life.
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Meanwhile, here is episode 15 of the “See the World! Podcast,” daily readings from my forthcoming book See the World! It’s scheduled for release this coming Tuesday, June 10, and available for pre-order by clicking the book’s title.
