Reality vs. Tradition/Heritage

Written by
John Cox, M.A. C/M

“Frankly, when I started to Ride Horses, and establish a reliance with them, the connection between them and I, to be comfortable for them, as well as myself, I found many traditional and heritage driven situations to be absurd. As a matter of fact, many were abusive, and these fear driven traditions, certainly inconsistent with my Horse’s reactions while in remote areas on the trail.” — John Cox, M.A. C/M Horseman

“We are in a fight over “Ignorant Mind-Sets”, make no doubt, and “False-Narratives” brought about by heavily funded non-profits, special interest groups, and what we accepted as Tradition or Heritage.

Yet, we “Block-Out” the Traditions of Nature, the Wolves and the Wild Horses for example, that have been around centuries before the “Human Invasion”! Upon which, “Humans” assimilated their beliefs into what is termed “Tradition or Heritage” today, while hypocritically overlooking the “True-Heritage, and how the planet was healthy enough to get us here, today, by Nature, not humans, and, not the human mind set at all. Which is truly destructive on this planet.

Public debates over Gray Wolves and Wild Horses in North America often pit modern ecological science against deep-seated agrarian traditions and sensationalized media. Yes, tradition based upon “Myth” in the media. Drama and story-telling, not science nor facts, but enhancements to the story-telling, which become, over time, reality — or more dangerous to us all, an ironic “truth”. We now see the destruction when we attempt to assimilate these story-telling dramatic episodes within Nature versus Human, and attempts to manage our Lands and Wildlife within that perspective.

Traditional viewpoints frequently cast both species as destructive threats to rural livelihoods; whereas, prevailing narratives sometimes romanticize them or misrepresent their direct ecological roles.

The Conflict Over Wolves traditionally-accepted perspectives are Rooted in folklore and historical livestock protection, fantasies about being endangered by them and dramatized via story-telling, and raising the dramatic structure of the stories to extreme excitement.

No doubt, this perspective frames wolves as relentless, bloodthirsty predators that decimate big game and domestic cattle (i.e. which are non-indigenous by the way, and should not be roaming our countryside).

Science, i.e. credible science or “non-dramatic science”, shows Gray Wolves act as Apex regulators that help maintain healthy ecosystems. Depictions of random mass killings, of livestock, et al. (again non-indigenous domestic animals, cattle, should not be roaming our countryside), or imminent danger to humans, are largely exaggerated; although, localized livestock interactions, exaggerated to the extreme. The Wild Horses, and those same people that exaggerate the Wolves aggressiveness, establish drama through fiction, or, exaggerated lies, about the Wild Horses, as well.

These false-narratives I discuss here, need to end, before we can actually attempt to resolve the issues we face today, within the destruction of our Natural Ecology and overall Environmental Complex.

Conservation, for example, precisely means to approach Nature as a priority, and not a wreckless, ill-defined term that means making up lies about designated Wildlife, such as Over-Population lies, in order to enhance Trophy or Sport Hunts.

Nothing wrong with being truthful. Before Humans invaded the planet, the Wildlife, in their version of our Planet, enhanced this Environment over millions of years. Humans here for a mere few thousand years, and we are destroying millions of years of Evolution — as many lie to themselves daily now. As if to say to themselves, their version of history is Tradition, and Heritage, as long as they do not look behind the Curtain of Reality — and the very observable destruction of our Natural Environment. . .” — John Cox, M.A. C/M