Yesterday, in one of those little Facebook debates, the term vulture came up to refer to the powerful. You know, corrupt politicians and officials, insatiable businessmen, bankers and other fauna. And there's something that's been on my mind for a while, and that's the issue of words or terms that create confusion or very ?at least? confusing positions. And this is a textbook case. Let's see. These people don't take the carrion, they take the best ?we're talking in material terms?. So, bankers and others would be more like lions or top predators, sharks, tigers, hawks, etc. And that hurts because we are elitist and classist even with animals.
Vultures are scavengers. Come on, those who eat the leftovers, the spoils. So if we're honest, who would be the vultures in this society? And who are the vultures when we talk in terms of nations? And why is it nice to call the powerful vultures and a bad vibe to call those who really have to eat the carrion these days? And why do we use a beautiful animal like the vulture for these purposes, with one of the most majestic flights observable in nature, which also fulfills a basic function in the cycle of life? What are we hiding behind all this confusion? The desire to be lions, hawks, tigers, sharks? or the terror or disgust of being vultures? Or maybe calling them vultures is a mental block to not think that we long to be like them, at least to be like them.
The other option of calling them vultures would be to recognize that we are carrion for them and they are eating us alive. So, imagine that life has gone wrong for you and you are looking for food in a container and one of those black cars with black windows passes by and you look up and follow it, what would you see? A vulture? What would the person inside see if they looked at you? Another vulture.
If we all see vultures, wherever you are, it's because we're dying. Or I watched too many westerns.
