Monday, March 23, 2009

Japanese kids hate caterpillars.

If they find one, they kill it. Why? It’s soft and icky like a worm, and the hairy ones can hurt your skin. I told them that American kids, if they are lucky enough to find one, might keep the caterpillar as a pet to see it grow into a beautiful butterfly.
“No way! A pet!??!”

They don't think butterflies are that cool either. Over here kids like beetles and dragonflies. Don’t even say the word centipede though; you will cause a tiny panic.

Remember how shocked I was when I found the kid in my building killing the caterpillar in the parking lot? Now I know.

I learned from Wikipedia that the American revolutionist Patrick Henry gave his fa mouse “Give me liberty or give me death” speech today, 1775.
Being an America, this speech holds a special place in my heart.

Give me liberty or give me death! However, to many people death is liberty--the great emancipation from the torture and agony inherent to living through a human body. God death is a release.

For others, Life is the great Liberation, by itself, as is, and if one were not manifesting that Liberty though every cell in their body, that would be death. Patrick Henry’s idea put “Liberty” up on a pedestal, called it Goodness, and saw it as a Perfection humanity deserved. It was our right, which is something inherent to living in a human body.

Fortunately, his speech was like Dr. Kings`s: prophetic. Unfortunately, that right to liberty quickly turned into a right to irresponsibility, a right to consume belligerently. We may have left witch burning, child sacrifice, and slavery behind, which is good, but we also left our feeling of duty to a higher order behind, which left us narcissistic a little bit too free. But actually, were we ever responsible consumers? Or did we just not have the means to consume so quickly as we do today? I`ve heard that if I had slaves providing me with my current lifestyle, I`d have about 55 men working for me. Who am I working for?
Progression and digression, spirals all the way down.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I think Japanese dont like mothes.
Most caterpillars grow up to moth, it is not butterfly.
So thats why they might kill them.
I dont know well, this is just my guess.
Saetoru

David said...

so true. moths are usually hairier than butterflies, and bigger, which makes them more scary. Caterpillar in Japanese is "green bug," (青虫)or "hairy bug" (毛虫) isn't it? I like those names..very descriptive, and similar to ours: Caterpillar means "hairy cat."
Cat has two meanings, you know. One is a feline, the other is cool dude. Dog also has two meanings...

May all beings be Free and in Love.



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