In the olden days, Svalbard was free territory. Anyone could come. So whalers and hunters came. The story starts with hunting, but it is not about hunting.
Walrus at Svalbard, 2015
Walruses would hang out on the beaches. Hunters would come and kill them. They would start with the ones by the shore, and the dead walruses would be piled so high the others could not get away. Then it was easy to kill the rest.
Take as much as you can. And they did. But, like I said, this is not about hunting. Today you can still hunt on Svalbard, but you need a permit.
Mortgage brokers saw walruses on the shore. They couldn’t keep up with all the walruses, so they automated the system, stamping every mortgage, however bogus, that crossed their desk.
And in California there is a drought–as there has been for decades. And each of us want all the walruses we can get. We want green lawns of dead walrus. Farmers want to grow as much as they want. Everyone insists there will be more walruses tomorrow.
We all want for more walruses.
The lesson is not about hunting. It is about selfishness. It is about taking as much as you can. And the lesson still stands today, no matter what walrus we are talking about.
Walrus photo: Gary Bembridge, Flickr Creative Commons