Hot Topics: Territoriality
Or are we just tourists here?
My relation with tourism and travel is complicated, always has been. I am not a good tourist and, for obvious reasons, I don’t like long distance travels. The other day, when I had to go again to the South of Spain, to see family, I had some grand ideas (or just a fit of motivated reasoning): Perhaps there was a need for a philosophy of tourism? Wasn't there perhaps some sort of venerable heritage in the whole enterprise, for people to move about and become more curious, open and flexible in their ways?
Arguably both the history of travel and the present day forms of tourism are a far cry from that. But perhaps one could make a normative point that a global, equitable and ecologically sensible circulation of the human population as a whole is desirable — not just the affluent jetting about, expecting every comfort they know from home plus good weather, but every human body regularly moving to different zones to do different sensible things: learn languages (human or other), restore habitats, share wealth, knowledge and visions of the future, while benefitting equitably from the different infrastructures in the different zones, with the added benefit that at least half the earth would be given back to itself. To counter territoriality, nationalism and revivals of that Blut-und-Boden-nonsense. And to offer a perspective that goes beyond just celebrating the indigenous vs. that what is sort of “out of place”.
I started rummaging in the back of my mind, and in the depths of my computer, for utopian ideas about concentrating humans in certain spots and belts or about walking cities. I also remembered that Midgley had a chapter where she stresses that, for us human animals, it is important that “we are not just tourists here”. Promising!
But then my mind started doing what it always does when the path is philosophically not really sparkling. It set up camp in poetic mode.
The poem below originated on a beach that had a bit of a post-apocalyptic feel. It looked like the shoreline had shifted and eaten away at grounds once occupied by a beach bar. Perhaps because of sea level rising, perhaps just because of bad planning policies, the place was now abandoned, and you could easily imagine the beach, palm trees, parakeets and all sorts of creatures having a conversation. If you enjoy that type of playfulness, perhaps this experiment is for you. If it isn’t, I apologise for changing the (hot) topic.
Hold that thought A beach wanted to consider The question: Why are some animals More territorial than others The sea applauded the idea Clapping waves under a blue moon As a troop of sea stars appeared On the scene, dragging what appeared To be something else to consider An idea as old as the moon How about moving animals Around to gain an idea Of the loves and lives of others Become tolerant of others Rustling leaves, the palm tree appeared Sceptical of the idea To move or to root. Consider That even touring animals Eventually claim the moon “I have seen a lot” said the moon “Golf playing folks among others That’s how it is with animals” He started, when a dog appeared Who knew that to consider Is to be with the stars. The idea The sea stars had beached, the idea To tour the earth, the suns, the moon Was what the beach had to consider “Why”-questions always drag others Trying “How about this?” appeared More sensible to animals They are experimanymals Parakeets swooped the idea Entertained it with what appeared To please and delight the old moon Cut-out dogs, humans and others Divisions stars would consider It appeared to the beach: animals Will consider any idea Until the moon sends them others