The Hegemony of the Cats
By Michael Boyajian
We have three cats in our household. When we first moved to the Hudson Valley we had just two, Winston and Brigid who go everywhere together like two peas in a pod.
Then one day a few weeks before the start of winter we rescued a third cat, Malachy. He had been abandoned. We tried to acclimate him with the other two cats but it did not work out. Malachy loves humans but does not like other cats so we have to keep him in a separate room. The room is small, and he became an outdoor cat after his abandonment, so we occasionally have to let him out into the yard knowing the risks involved but aware that it would be cruel to keep him locked up in a small room.
Well, when we do let him out we open the door to the room and the other two cats march right in and eat Malachy’s food and use his kitty box and make it hard for us to get them to leave the room when it is time to let Malachy back into the room. It is not enough that Winston and Brigid have the whole rest of the house to romp around in, they want more.
And that is how it is in the real world of nations. Its not enough to have what you already have you want more. That is what caused World Wars I and II, the Cold War, the Chinese invasion of Tibet, the Iraq-Iran War, the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait so on and so forth.
Nations have their entire country to do with what they wish but they still want more. They want what their neighbors have just like our cats. The only difference is that cats are relatively harmless and will leave the room if you insist while nations only leave after lives and resources are destroyed.
It makes you wonder who you would rather have running the world, cats or humans. Both want more but cats will give it up without cost, just hurt feelings. Humans on the other hand are not so easily moved.
End