Everything Is Bullshit: The Greatest Scams on Earth Revealed

Everything Is Bullshit: The Greatest Scams on Earth Revealed Read Online Free PDF

Book: Everything Is Bullshit: The Greatest Scams on Earth Revealed Read Online Free PDF
Author: Zachary Crockett
misunderstanding and ignorance that
“inflicted destruction on the vulnerable Intuit minority.”
    Due to such studies, Inuits have
historically been given more leeway in international sealing bans (Europe
included a clause in their 2006 seal product ban that allowed for Inuit natives
to continue exporting in small numbers, for instance). But anti-sealing
campaigns have purportedly had a negative impact on this community as well.
Paul Irngaut , a wildlife communications advisor with
Nunavut Tunngavik , speaks to the effects that a 1980s
demonstration had on his village:

 
    “In a small community like Resolute, income from sealing dropped
from $54,000 in 1982 to $1,000 in 1983. Today, we still struggle. The income
gained from seal hunts enables hunters to be able to feed and support their
families, as well as other families...There once was a market for such goods,
which would also support families and their ability to afford goods needed for
hunting, and food to put on their table. Remember: Nunavut is a place where a
cabbage can cost $28!"

 
    As Canada’s National Inuit leader, Terry Audla represents 60,000 Inuits across the country. He says
that the Inuit culture’s traditional lifestyle requires the consumption of
“free-roaming, nutrient-dense animals.” Sealing, he argues, keeps his community
alive. In a manifesto published online, Audla adds
that “ Inuits rely on the seal hunt for its shared
market dynamics and the opportunity to sell seal pelts at fair market value,”
and that activists have “negatively impacted [sealers], along with other
remote, coastal communities who have few other economic opportunities.”
    In April of 2014, talk show host Ellen Degeneres proclaimed her support for the Humane Society and its aim to end seal hunting;
in response, Inuits took to Twitter to defend their
“right.” A sea of “ Sealfies ” emerged: Inuits and Canadian supporters alike posted photos of
themselves clad in seal boots and jackets, and even sprawled half-naked across
seal rugs. The campaign garnered national attention.
    One 17-year-old Inuit, Killaq Enuaraq -Strauss, took to YouTube to express her
disappointment with her favorite television personality:

 
    "You're an inspiration as a woman but also as a human
being, but let me educate you a bit on seal hunting in the Canadian arctic. We
do not hunt seals ... for fashion. We hunt to survive. I own sealskin boots and
they are super cute, and I am proud to say that I own them, and I also eat seal
meat more times than I can count. But I can't apologize for that."

 
    The Humane Society was quick to clarify that it didn’t oppose
the Inuit hunt — only the commercial hunt; PETA operates with the same
ideology. The organization’s spokeswoman, Danielle Katz, says her organization
is primarily interested in the commercial hunt, which accounts for “97% of the
seals that are killed,” and says the “Inuit sealers are under no threat” in the
seal market.
    In the grand scheme of the industry, sealing isn’t lucrative for
anyone: sealers struggle to get by, the government wastes time and resources on
a dying trade, and groups like PETA and the Humane Society have spent millions
combatting one of the world’s smallest commercial fur markets.

 
    The Cute
Bias

 
    While
those involved in the seal trade maintain that it’s humane, sustainable, and well-regulated , animal rights activists and protesters call
the practice cold-blooded and barbaric. One question lingers: why so much
undying support for protecting seals in particular?
    There is a compelling case to be made that sealing is
particularly demonized due to the fact that the animals are cute and fuzzy, a
fact animal rights groups have consistently relied on for campaigns. The
imagery used by PETA, The Humane Society, and other activist groups is striking
and consistent: big mammalian eyes, fuzzy snow-colored fur, blood against white
ice — cuteness (juxtaposed with violence) has been
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