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Vampire bats and American politics
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Party
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| Contributor | RP |
| Last Edited | RP Feb 14, 2012 09:06am |
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| Category | Commentary |
| Author | Farah Stockman |
| News Date | Tuesday, February 14, 2012 03:05:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | IN 1983, a biologist studying vampire bats in the forests of Costa Rica made a remarkable discovery: Bats that spent the night gorging on blood returned to their caves and routinely fed fellow bats that didn’t find enough to eat. The story of how well-off bats care for their hungry brethren by regurgitating into their mouths made vampire bats the darling of scientists who ponder why - in a world shaped by “survival of the fittest’’ - so many creatures help each other, even at a cost to themselves.
Lately, I have been wondering what these bats mean for American politics, at a time when the very idea of helping needy fellow Americans has come under assault. Newt Gingrich routinely attacks President Obama as a “food stamp president.’’ Rush Limbaugh calls the safety net for the poor “one of the biggest cultural problems we have got.’’ A Tea Party Express audience yells “yeah!’’ when Wolf Blitzer asks if an uninsured man in a hospital should just be left to die. As I watch all this, I can’t help but wonder: Are we are really less generous than bats that suck blood? |
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