Current location:	In a chair, in a room, in a building...
Current mood:	curious
Current music:	Monster Magnet - Look to your Orb for the Warning

Life imitates art... or is it the other way around?
I went for a walk today, with no particular destination in mind; just felt like being outside.

As I was walking, I saw what appeared to be a decent-sized butterfly on the ground, I think it was a Monarch, I'm not really sure.

Since butterflies tend not to stay in one place on the ground unless something's wrong, I opted to investigate, figuring that if it had a broken wing or something like that, I could at least step on it and make it quick.

Maybe some people would say that's awfully cruel.

But I'd ask them this question: How many butterflies have they seen break a wing and ever fly again?

Flying is probably one-third of a butterfly's life, the other two thirds being eating and reproduction; neither of which it will be very successful at without all of its wings.

Besides, a butterfly's lifespan is what, two weeks?

Nowhere near enough time to mend that kind of injury.

I say killing it is an act of mercy.



But that's not the main point of the story.



As I got closer, I noticed that the butterfly was already decomposing, and had attracted the attention of a small colony of ants; it would seem that it was quite a while dead.

I wondered briefly if it had suffered, and if so, for how long.



Then I got to thinking about how certain aspects of human culture are somewhat like the butterfly and the ants.

In nature, the butterfly, widely regarded as a thing of great beauty, is injured, and at the first sign of weakness, other members of the ecosystem approach and begin to devour it for personal gain.

Sure, the personal gain is to stay alive, but still it's not very pleasant.



Then we have human society, in which things of great beauty, love for example, are so often attacked and devoured by other members of the society.

But do these devouring members do it for the purpose of survival?

Not for survival of the physical self, to be sure; people can't actually subsist on goodness and light alone.

Perhaps for the survival of the emotional self?

It is widely accepted that many people feel the need to bring others to ruin to elevate themselves; this is considered one of the prime driving forces of the school bully.

If this is the reason, what must we as a society do to eliminate the destructive desires of these devouring members?

Can we find a way to make the school bullies of the world feel more adequate without sacrificing others to them?

For in the end, survival of the emotional self by the death of the innocent is never long-lived; inadequacy is always looking for another victim.