Badgers and Philosophy

So today  I read this article, about a controversy in England over whether badgers should be killed to stop infections of tuberculosis among cattle. Since badgers have a high rate of TB, many believe licenses should be issued allowing farmers to kill badgers if seen on their property.

Now, logically speaking, the two main arguments are that badgers should be killed so we have bovine to eat, and thus killing would serve a greater purpose both for us and economically, and the other side stating that it's inhumane to kill them, and would be expensive anyway.

But I think this debate goes much deeper than that. It's a question of who deserves to live. Granted, it's on a much smaller scale, but it does raise the question. If you had to kill someone to save someone elses life, would you do it? Who deserves to live in the first place? We even see it in the military, as men who have kids and family tend to be positioned in easier, less dangerous jobs while the young teens tend to be put in the front-lines, as it is seen that the married men have greater responsibilities back home. Is this fair? Are all lives equal in importance, or are some people the Badgers, and the other the Bovine?

Now I know usually when I post these blog posts, I state my opinion. But for this one, I struggle to for two main reasons. 1. It's an extremely complex matter I see both sides of, and 2. I honestly don't know. Ideologically, I'd like to say we all are equal in importance, thus we all deserve to live. But then again, what if one life costs the lives of tens of of others? Heck, I could go as extreme as Hitler. Did he deserve to live, even as a child when he had no affect on politics whatsoever? Playing devil's advocate, I could argue overpopulation, how we've come to a point where we have so many people, soon enough we may not even have enough Irishmen on our planet to let all of us survive. Do we then have to pick who survives?

And now I open up the question to you. Do you think we are Badgers and Bovine? Do you think certain people deserve to live more than others? What defines importance of life? Would you kill someone to save someone else's life, even if you had no idea who you were saving? And on a less dramatic note, after reading the article, do you agree with killing the badgers to save the cows? Let me know in the comments below.

For more information, check out: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/sep/16/badger-cull-government-go-ahead