World of Pain

Picture of a mama groundhog attacking one of her young 'uns.

Can anyone really doubt this is a world of pain?  Anyone over the age of 30, and of sound mind, should admit this is, in fact, a world of pain.  I'm in pain right now: in more areas than one.  It's just another day for me.  Once I thought of the title and subject of this post, I tried to imagine all the pain that all the people and animals were feeling at that moment.  I was overwhelmed by what I felt.  At any given moment, the people and animals of this world are feeling incredible, incalculable amounts of pain.
I was watching the news the other day.  A lot of doctors don't want to practice medicine in the state of New York, becasue the cost of malpractice insurance is so high in this state.  Apparently, several states have put caps on the amount of money someone can collect for "pain and suffering."  According to what I heard, New York does not put a cap on that, so that's why doctors have to pay so much money for their medical malpractice insurance in NY.  They interviewed a man who proposed NY limit "pain and suffering" damages in this state to $250,000.  I couldn't help thinking that I've endured much more than a quarter-million-dollars' worth of pain.  But, in my case, no one person is responsible for all of my pain.  Most of all, LIFE is responsible for my pain.  Life is pain.  To live is to feel pain.  Right from the beginning, what do doctors do to get babies to breathe?  They cause them to cry from pain by spanking them.  Welcome to the world.  Get used to it.  There's much more where that came from.
Every single day, I see more evidence that I've done the right thing by not bringing any people or animals into this world.  This is a world of violent cruelty.  Even the natural order of things has animals being eaten alive by others.  It makes me wonder if there are truly civilized, peaceful planets out there.  This one certainly isn't either of those things.    

So Much Pain

A Young Groundhog

My god, there's so much pain on this planet.  You couldn't possibly measure it.  Life is so hard.  Maybe it isn't for people who have inherited a lot of money, but, for the rest of us, it can be.  For instance, I used to have cable, and I used to watch nature programs.  I still do, on PBS, but it depends.  I don't want to see animals ripping each other apart.  I know it's going on; I just don't need to see it.
This is a violent, brutal world.  As far as I'm concerned, parenting is the big lie.  When humans bring another human, or animal, into this world, I believe they have committed an act of cruelty.  It's so funny to me how backwards it is.  You're supposed to respect and obey your parents.  Why?  Because they brought you into a world of pain, brutality, and misery?
I have to make a distinction here.  Adoptive parents are heroes.  When a couple of people get together and say, to themselves, I refuse to bring someone into this world, but I want to raise a kid, and they adopt as a result-giving a home to a kid who needs one, well, they are certainly heroes as far as I'm concerned.
I hate breeders: for example-of dogs.  There are so many dogs languishing in shelters that deserve loving homes.  They are betrayed by breeders, who bring more dogs into a world that already has tons of homeless dogs, so they can make some money.  Shame on them.  I'd spit in all their faces if I could.  They are human garbage.
But it's even harder to live in this world if you care about animals more than the average uncaring human does.  You try to watch a little TV, and you're bombarded by things that offend you: like commercials that show smiling people eating meat.  We don't need to eat meat.  Those that do, do it out of selfishness.  They refuse to limit their food choices at all.  They don't care at all how many pigs, chickens, cows, turkeys, fish, and so on have to suffer so they can eat whatever the hell they want to.  I'm disgusted by people who eat meat.  I think the murder of an animal, any animal (with the possible exception of bugs, even though I don't harm bugs in my home or elsewhere, I just don't feel as strongly about them as I do about other animals), should be punished as though the person killed a human being.