[at-l] Do hiker have more hunaity? was "women's" issues

[shane@theplacewithnoname.com (Shane Steinkamp)]

> I wish this were true. I used to believe this as well:
>
> > I don't think it's possible for real hikers to be abusive

The key word in this is 'real'.

> Our vast food supply comes in neat little packages, already deboned,
> sometimes even cooked - no messy hunting or scaling or
> neck-wringing.

A little off topic, but illuminating to the subject:  Ten years ago when I
was moderating of forum on a BBS we were talking about this subject.  I
brought up the subject of meat.  A twelve year old girl in the forum said,
"What are you talking about?  Meat doesn't come from animals!"  I asked,
"Where do you think meat comes from?"  Her reply was, "From the grocery
store."  She was serious ya'll...

> The higher order of respect and humanity I thought I would find
> in hikers is
> not spread wider than found in the general population.

Having worked with law enforcement for some time, my perception of humanity
is rather dark.  I do think that hikers are, in general, better people than
the average inner-city dweller.  To extend the theory, imagine that you see
someone slip, fall, and break their leg.  If you are on the trail - you stop
and help.  Any one of us would.  The average city-dweller would pretend not
to notice and would not help.  In '86 I was shopping in a grocery store.  I
went up to the checkout and noticed a very large crowd of people had
gathered in the front of the store and were staring out of the window.
Being the curious type, I went up front to see what everyone was looking at.
They were all watching a man brutally beat his wife in the parking lot.  I
ran out the door and placed him under arrest until the police arrived.  Of
the fifty or so people (including many men) standing around, not one of them
had tried to help that woman.  None of them tried to help me when the scum
bag got violent with me either.  They all came outside after I was kneeling
on the guy's head, but nobody helped.  I yelled at them, "Why didn't you
help her?", pointing at the bleeding woman.  The store manager said, "Well,
we called the police!"  Real humanity there...

I think that city folk become de-humanized in many ways.  Exposure to
solitude and nature can attenuate this effect.  I'm not saying that all
hikers are Saints, but I think that as a class they are a little better than
normal.

> In addition, hikers aside, there have been warlike cultures that
> lived very
> close to the land, water and  "big skies." Only their technology kept them
> from being more destructive and murderous than they were. The
> Mongol, Viking
> and Apache cultures spring to mind.

Each of the cultures you mentioned only waged wars over territory and for
expansion - not for the simple sake of brutality.  You will actually be very
hard pressed to find any group of people in any time period that said, "Hey,
let's go over into the next tribe and slaughter them just for a laugh."  It
has happened, but is rare.

> So, if I raise a glass to anything, it is the rare "gatekeeper" with the
> courage to relax and let nature perform its softening, respectful magic.
> These are my heroes and I take inspiration from them. A few even hike.

Amen.

Shane