OPINION | CULTURE | FUTURE
We’ve Made Great Pets
It’s time to rewild our hearts and minds
The little five-inch containers each housing one colorful, lonely fish are sad. I was sickened, though unsurprised, to learn PetSmart regularly transfers these imprisoned fish to dumpsters. Any fish that loses its vitality while swimming in endless circles is trashed.
Native bettas, found in Thailand’s ponds, marshes, and slow-moving streams are smaller and less colorful than pet store varieties. They are also less violent. For thousands of years, domesticated bettas have been bred for aggression.
Like bettas, “Americans” are bred to be showy and aggressive. Our culture says we must be young, vital, and in our competitive prime to be loved and wanted. Raised in containers of politics, religion, class, and ethnicity we often fear others. And, in a society in which elders are rarely honored, we know we may one day be unceremoniously discarded.
Let’s break out of our containers and re-wild our hearts and minds.
