City and Country Viewpoints
I've mentioned many times before that people from different backgrounds see the world in very different ways and make different assumptions. There is a rift between city dwellers and those who live in the country. For instance, generally city people are more left wing than country people are. One reason for this is that country people are more in contact with the realities of nature.
A lion hunting will chase a heard of wildebeest, pick out the slowest and chase it until the animal falls from exhaustion. It then goes in for the kill and takes a chunk out of the leg. The animal dies a slow death. There are no painkillers. This is the survival of the fittest. People exposed to this natural order of life have little sympathy with city dwellers who think all children must be protected from any possible danger. Farmers are constantly exposed to the capricious nature of life. In parts of America (and Australia for that matter) hunting is a common pastime. The stereotype of hunters is as intolerant, 'rednecked', prejudiced people. Often this is true, but as I've stated before that their intolerance and prejudices are simply different from their critics.
Too often I've seen interviews where one side is totally uncomprehending of the other. They may as well be talking different languages. When Steve Irwin defends exposing his daughter to crocodiles, he is as mystified by his critics as his critics are of why he should do such a thing. His critics seem very quick to attribute his actions to a publicity stunt, simply because they can't imagine any other reason for acting in this way. It's a narrow-minded way of looking at the world.
For a good understanding of this gulf between different sections of the community, it's worth considering how attitudes have changed over the last 30 or so years. I've mentioned this before ('Prejudice and Assumptions'). Some 30 years ago sexual morals were very different, living together was certainly tolerated but was not state sanctioned in the way it is now. Homosexuality was tolerated (in most places anyway). Even where it was illegal it was rarely prosecuted, but not usually talked about openly. If you go back further to the 1950's, morality was very different. Capital punishment was accepted and church going the norm. It would be extreme arrogance to pretend that we are 'right' now and those people were 'wrong'. Especially when you consider that very few people actually think about their opinions anyway but simply follow fashion, there is no reason to suppose that we are any more 'right' now than they were then. It's simply that fashions in ideas have changed. And these fashions are manipulated by people who trap the unthinking masses.
On my local rail station there is a yellow line drawn on the platform and instructions for people to stay back behind the line. The trains are electric with sliding doors so there is no real danger. Many years ago trains had doors that swung outwards and platforms had no such line or warning, even though the danger of being hit by an opening door was very real. There was an assumption that people should be responsible and aware. The daydreamer suffered the same fate as the wildebeest. Nowadays people live in a daydream and blame others when their own lack of awareness causes them problems. Steve Irwin is teaching his children to be alert and aware.
