In the following article about illegal mining by Brazilian illegal immigrants into French Guiana, a province of France neighbouring Brazil, it is described how the illegal miners cross from Brazil and mine for gold in French Guiana, causing immense environmental damage. They hunt native, often endangered, wildlife for food, the mercury they use in mining poisons the environment, and wreck the landscape.
When the French authorities find these illegal mines, they destroy all the equipment, but don’t have space to make arrests and carry all the miners back in their helicopters. So they let the miners go.
The miners themselves admit though, that the reason they don’t carry out illegal mining in their native Brazil is that the police there open fire on and kill the illegal miners.
Could France, and should France, protect the rainforest from illegal mining in the same way as Brazil by summarily executing people caught doing it?
Re: The ethics of killing to protecting the environment
Brazil is one of the poorest countries in the world, with less to offer besides naked latinas on beaches and some green and wooden areas called the rain forest.
Gang wars and drug traffic is a part of an average Brazilian these days. With law of jungle in whole Brazil every second Brazilian dies of a bullet. Be It the bullet of a police weapon or that of an gangster.
The only escape from a horrible life as such is football. Where you might have some chances to survive 20-30 years more, settle down some peaceful places like Germany, France, England, Spain, Holland and earn some respectable money to get rich.
Maybe another game that appears to be live saving is illegal mining. I can't blame them for doing so. I might have done the same If I had no hopes and no future.
Therefore no ground of justification can be given to ruthless killings.
Especially not when a civilzed European Country with some respect does that for the protection of whatsoever.
Re: The ethics of killing to protecting the environment
Why can't they just make it punishable with jail time, fines, etc instead of killing them? It should be against the law, but anytime people are shot instead of prosecuted it's not right.
As far as Brazil being one of the poorest countries in the world with nothing to do but illegal mining - that's ridiculous. Their GNP per capita is 25% higher than that of Iran, double China's and 5 times higher than Pakistan's.
No one is suggesting there is nothing to but football and illegal mining to do there.
Re: The ethics of killing to protecting the environment
Why can't they just make it punishable with jail time, fines, etc instead of killing them? It should be against the law, but anytime people are shot instead of prosecuted it's not right.
As far as Brazil being one of the poorest countries in the world with nothing to do but illegal mining - that's ridiculous. Their GNP per capita is 25% higher than that of Iran, double China's and 5 times higher than Pakistan's.
No one is suggesting there is nothing to but football and illegal mining to do there.
Seminole, 50% of Brazils population lives in poverty. Which makes half of the country men poor. 22% of Pakistan population lives in poverty (as a comparision). So basically be part of the 50% and notice your not so influencing the strong industrial economy in South America.
I said living in those conditions, there is no hope besides football.
Re: The ethics of killing to protecting the environment
Why can't they just make it punishable with jail time, fines, etc instead of killing them? It should be against the law, but anytime people are shot instead of prosecuted it's not right.
As far as Brazil being one of the poorest countries in the world with nothing to do but illegal mining - that's ridiculous. Their GNP per capita is 25% higher than that of Iran, double China's and 5 times higher than Pakistan's.
No one is suggesting there is nothing to but football and illegal mining to do there.
The problem is that the people are too poor to make fining them possible; jailing them would most likely not act as a deterrent because it would give them food an shelter (these people struggle to afford these), and arresting them is impractical because the only way that the miners are caught are by helicopter raids... which means there isn't enough transport capacity available to remove them to prisons and courts.
Taking it softly on these people appears to only encourage them. Is preserving the environment for the sake of future generations worth the lives of a handful of people today? Or is no human life worth sacrificing to protect the environment?
Re: The ethics of killing to protecting the environment
You go after the heads who hire the miners in the first place, they have something to lose and you create economical alternatives for these miners to turn to.
Re: The ethics of killing to protecting the environment
As far as Brazil being one of the poorest countries in the world with nothing to do but illegal mining - that's ridiculous. Their GNP per capita is 25% higher than that of Iran, double China's and 5 times higher than Pakistan's.
Brazil has one of the highest income inequalities in the world. 2% of brazilians who are of white european ancestory control 95% percent of the economy. These rich people live in enclaves surrounded by tall fenses, while the rest of the population lives in ghettos and shanty towns.
So In that sense an average brazilian is poorer then a chinese or an iranian.