Some Eggs Hatch Some Eggs Don't; Some Will Live and Then Some Won't

Humans will eat other humans. Cannibalism was practiced as a matter of culture in some jungle tribes, and as a matter of necessity at other times.

(PORTLAND, OR) - How do you feel about yourself? Do you think you are smarter, better looking, more successful, all in all a superior person compared to, say your neighbor, your brother-in-law, your boss? Do you look at the collective humanity as lesser persons? Do you think that if they were only as smart as you they wouldn't be on the welfare rolls? Feeling superior to others is called Hubris. Now I'm not here to put your Hubris down just to put it in perspective, to perhaps adjust your ego a little.

We humans think we are superior to all the earth's creatures and the bible itself gives us domain over the animals. I think from the neck up we are intellectually superior, but from the neck down not so much. To be brutally pragmatic about it your birth was just a lucky happenstance, an egg that got fertilized instead of being flushed down the toilet like dozens of eggs before you. How's that sobering thought affect your Hubris? And if your mother practiced birth control you are even luckier!

Humans have always mimicked the creatures in controlling the number of their offspring. Weeding out, thinning and culling the population seems to be the natural order of things. Some eggs will hatch, some eggs won't. Polar bears will eat their cubs. There are photos of it on the Internet. Guppies will eat all their young unless immediately separated from the fry gobbling mother. Chickens will peck open and eat their own eggs. It is called filial cannibalism.

Well, humans don't eat their young, you will say, (more on that later) but we don't hesitate to eat the young of other species. The hen that laid the egg didn't intend it for your breakfast this morning. Baby back rigs are just that, succulent juicy ribs of baby pigs And then there is the restaurant staple, breaded veal cutlet. Veal is baby calves meat. Somehow I think we might not be so eager to eat these things if we had to kill them ourselves, but when it is on the grocery store shelves we can disassociate ourselves from the reality of it.

Humans will eat other humans. Cannibalism was practiced as a matter of culture in some jungle tribes, and as a matter of necessity at other times. The unearthed bones of Neanderthals indicate both starvation and cannibalism, long bones cracked open to remove the marrow, skulls cracked open to remove the brain...and then there was the Donner party!

Historically humans have culled or thinned out unwanted offspring for many reasons. In feudal Japan infanticide was called “Mabiki” which meant pulling plants from an overcrowded garden. Mabiki was practiced into the early 20'th century. Ancient Chinese practiced infanticide. Offspring were not considered human until they were 6 months old. Roman women simply threw unwanted babies into the Tiber river. Female babies were buried alive in ancient Arabia. Burned baby bones have been found in excavated sites in Europe indicating babies were offered as burned sacrifices. The Tipirado, indigenous people of Brazil only allowed 3 children per mother. All further babies were killed. Imagine the stress that placed on mothers, knowing she would probably get pregnant again and the fourth baby would be murdered. More recently 750 babies have been abandoned in Italy in 2012 so far. 1200 babies abandoned in Greece during the same time period.

Humans have always controlled family size and thereby population by cruel methods from burning and burying to abortion. We can't separate ourselves from the animals because we are the animals, as potentially cruel as the Polar bear eating a cub.

And on the subject of eating your young, I have it on good authority that a lot of perfectly healthy sperm are simply swallowed, and I have to ask is that filial cannibalism? Are our women simply swallowing their young? Well, some eggs hatch, some eggs don't. Some will live and then some won't!))

Donald Lee Dupay was a police officer for the Portland, Oregon police bureau, from 1961 to 1977. After five years service as a patrol officer Don was promoted to detective where he worked all the specialty units, morals, auto theft, checks, safe, burglary, special missions, and homicide. He was also an officer coach, instructing others on how to be productive detectives and teaching criminal investigation subjects at the police academy. Don witnessed the unintended consequences of the war on drugs that caused some of the officers in his department to become corrupt. Frustrated by that corruption he quit his job as a homicide detective and became the director of security at a major Portland hotel for several years.

Don has long thought we should legalize the so-called "consensual crimes" of drug distribution and use so we can stop killing each other over our failed drug policies. In his presentations Don offers an interesting perspective on additional unintended consequences - "collateral damage" - the countless innocent lives destroyed by drug prohibition.