Sure, I know, I KNOW, the list of wrong stuff in the world
is too long to print, too long to deal with in one lifetime.
Here’s one that is second-tier compared to the really
horrible stuff, but, so vividly and in such a wacky way, it clarifies the depressing
reality that elements of unchanging human nature are what cause much of the
wrong stuff in the world.
Since 1977 it’s been illegal to buy or sell rhinoceros horn
in the international market. The buying and selling of rhino horn takes place
routinely every day in national and international black markets. Poachers who kill rhinos to get the horns make a lot of money.
At more than $27,000 a pound, rhino horn is more valuable
than gold or cocaine in the black market.
In mostly Asian cultures—mainly China and Vietnam—rhino horn
is a luxury item and it has imputed, nearly magical value in some traditional
medicines and some nutjob cure-alls.
Rhino horn is made of keratin—basically, it’s a big ugly
toenail on a rhino’s nose. Toenails don’t cure cancer and they don’t boost
bedroom performance, have you heard?
Rhetorical question: what are those rhino horn buyers
thinking?
Roughly, there are 24,000 rhinos still alive on the planet,
mostly in South Africa.
This isn’t going to turn out well for them.
Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2015 All rights reserved.
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