Are we appeasers, hoping...
Cruising along the Sabi river latish in June on a golden morning, I saw this monstrous beast of a crocodile - basking in the early morning sun light. It was easily 20 feel long and looked menacing. I used the full zoom on my Nikon P900 and too this picture, safely being way outside the crocodile's strike range.
A popular adage about crocodiles goes as follows:
"If you live by the river, you should make friends with the crocodile"
That seems to be like good, practical philosophy. Right?
Let us look at it from another angle though. Assume we live in a neighborhood or a society where a bad-ass person rules the roost like a big and powerful crocodile. The person is mean and a bully. Everyone around is afraid to stand up against the person. What would we do?
How we react in such a situation decides how our own moral strength and character builds up. As per the practical approach above, we would try to go and befriend the crocodile.
However, we need to remember another adage - this one by the wise old Mr. Churchill who took a stand for England against Hitler and lead England through World War 2.
"An appeaser is one who feeds a crocodile, hoping it will eat him last." - Winston Churchill
What does that mean?
It means that the crocodile, true to it's character, is going to continue to hunt. We, afraid of going up against it, will keep pushing our friends, one by one, towards the crocodile, in the hopes that the croc eats them and not us! We would constantly hope that the croc does not eat us and live in fear.
Will the crocodile not eat us? Eat us it will ultimately. That is the nature of the beast. It has to hunt and survive.
What have we, in the meanwhile, achieved? We have become and appeaser, constantly sacrificing our wishes, desires and friends. We live a life of fear.
In the end, it is all fruitless anyway because the croc will eat us too.
Therefore, the old practical philosophy does not appeal to me. This is not how I would want to live my life.
I would, rather, grow a pair of balls and make a stand against the crocodile. It would perhaps be totally a waste if my strength and skills fail against the mighty crocodile. I would live only a few moments. However, I would be proud of myself in those few moments and my life, however short, would not be a life of fear.
Who knows - my example may prompt others to unite and go after the crocodile - driving it far away from our patch of the river.
Think this is impractical in today's world? Think we need to go with the flow and be safe? Everyone's perception of danger and safety is different but I guess I like to show the crocodiles that I am no appeaser. They will see that every time they try to eat me, they will have a fight on their hands. The crocodiles, efficient hunters as they are, will always go in for weaker prey and will, eventually start ignoring me.
In my view, it is worth a shot. A short life with dignity is far better than a life of servitude...
In Conclusion:
Stand tall - Don't let the crocodile drive you to the wall!
Steemians, please comment freely to share your experiences, knowledge and views about your own views on feeding crocodiles.Thanks.
Note: All images except for the wildlife photos and the title image created by me are from pixabay.com.
