My mind is racing at full speed these days,
thinking about all kinds of stuff. This is an
attempt to capture one of these thoughts
before my mind runs off again, something
which it tends to do all the time.

What is a life? What does it mean to be
alive? What’s the value of a life?

When you see a fly in your home, will you
kill it? Or a mosquito? I think many people
would, right?

I don’t think I have to argue a fly and a
mosquito are alive, right? But then, my friends,
why is it okay to kill them?

If one would kill a dog or a cat, I think many
of you would protest, right? So, why is it different?
Because… of their size? In that case, I would like to
point out that many of you would consider it normal
to eat beef, pork of chicken, so, that’s not the thing.

Because they are kept as pets, perhaps? But what
makes an animal a pet? Some people keep mice as
a pet while other people kill them in a mouse trap.
So… is it if their presence was intended? In that case,
I want you to think about a stray dog, a dog, on the
streets, with no owner. It wouldn’t be ok to kill it,
would it? But why? What makes the difference?

Or even, what about humans? Oh, sure you are in
deep trouble when you kill a human, but there seems
to be no problem when you kill a mosquito. So, the
act of killing a living being… what distinguishes the
acceptable from the unacceptable?

Extending the range of the act of killing, being hygienic,
which comes down to killing bacteria, is even considered
a desired thing to do. And yet, we’re still talking about
killing, about ending a life, which can be either good or bad.
But why?

« »