The news from Japan is disquieting, though perhaps not for the reasons you might expect. A bear, described by officials as ‘extremely intelligent,’ is on the loose after mauling four people. It has evaded traps, outsmarted hunters, and become a symbol of something far more troubling.
Where beasts once feared man, now man fears beasts. And let us be honest: this is only the latest symptom of a decadent age that has lost its nerve. We have, as a civilisation, become soft.
We treat predators as though they were naughty children to be reasoned with, not forces of nature to be destroyed. The Victorians would have shot this bear without hesitation, mounted its head, and moved on. But what do we do now?
We send in drones, we deploy ‘bear whisperers,’ and we wring our hands on social media. The bear, meanwhile, continues its rampage, laughing at our impotence. Mark my words: this is a parable for our times.
As Rome fell to barbarians, so shall we fall to our own misplaced sentimentality. The bear is not the problem. We are.
