Cultural Experience In Star Trek: The Voyage Home

In the movie "Star Trek: The Voyage Home" Captain Kirk and company travel back to the twentieth century to save the world by saving the whales. The movie came out in 1986, and I was a 27 year old former Star Trek lover with a devotion to environmental issues. If you had asked me about whaling and a cultural exemption back then I know what my answer would have been: Tough Darts! Get a life you creeps. Killing a whale because of your culture? Too bad, so sad.

While I personally still feel there is no need to ever kill a whale, I have been persuaded to be a little more open minded about the feelings of other people and other cultures. The same year the Star Trek movie came out, the US government passed a law mandating turtle exclusion

I 've been to a fais do-do, I 've heard stories of a loup garou and my grandfather was a traiteur. My father 's first language was French, and the knowledge of that language sent him to Europe instead of Korea during that war. But he was not proud of his Cajun heritage, he tried to fit into the American culture, and as a result I missed learning about his culture, my forefather 's

I hope that as time passes, the culture associated with this ritual will be happily remembered through stories and pictures, but I understand why the small villages and the people who live their still feel the need to reach back to their heritage and commemorate their past.

I believe that animals should be treated with respect, but so should people. I would perhaps have a different idea about this if the whales being hunted were nearing extinction, but the truth is, it is the whalers who are nearing extinction. Even though Norway claims that national sovereignty permits them to allow whaling, public opinion is working against them. Whaling in Norway is dropping every year. (3)

In Japan, although the government appears to operate under international law, it is often found to use the "scientific research" loophole. This includes whaling in Antarctica. There are also government subsidies in place to promote this "scientific research". I understand a little about subsidies, in America we have subsidies on milk so prices are kept low enough for people with low incomes to buy milk. I am starting to see why the anti-whale people are a bit put out by Japan. If this is so important to their culture, why does this industry need subsidies to survive?