Squishing a bug is like squishing a human
Are humans superior to animals? We raise chickens, milk cows, and feed our pets with store bought food. We have the advanced technology and greatly developed intelligence to properly lead a strong social structure. But, what good have we done to the earth that didn’t benefit ourselves? Are humans not animals, too?
It shames me when people belittle the lives of animals because they’re “less significant” than humans. What good do you feel from killing a bug?
I have personally experienced a time when a classmate had encouraged burning an insect with a piece of glass. He had justified this awful act by stating that “it’s fine. Bugs are small and irrelevant to our daily lives. One less isn’t going to affect us.”
Who is “us?” Ignorant people who consider themselves greater than all other unimportant, good-for-nothing creatures? All organisms take part in maintaining the cycle of life. Without a group of certain creatures, a domino effect of lost resources could initiate, causing a collapse in the circle of life.
He also pointed out that “there are a million of these little bugs. I’m only killing one.” Hello, genius, there are over 6 billion people in this world! Why not so easily squash a neighbor with your shoe? Why not burn him with a magnifying glass? Your neighbor is only one out of more than 6 billion people.
There are many animals that have abilities that humans lack and are better than us in their own environments. For example, whilst a human can only stay underwater for a period of time with man-made utilities, a fish survives underwater and carries its existence and a life. On the other hand, a fish would have a difficult time walking on the sidewalks and doing calculus.
All species have some sort of importance in our daily lives. No class is better or more advanced in all aspects. It is wrong to degrade the value of any life form because of their differences to our developments as humans. Anybody who does so should try living in the shoes (or hooves) of a said creature.