I was watching the “Caves” episode of “Planet Earth.” It showed a mountain of bat guano 300-ft high, with thousands of shiny beetles roiling across its surface.
I felt something nasty in my stomach. When I examined the thought that went with the feeling, it was along the lines of: “These are terrible creatures.”
I asked myself, “Is this feeling of constriction… familiar?”
It was. Disgust. Contempt.
“Contempt? Am I somehow making a moral judgement… against insects?”
Though the idea was absurd… I stayed on the lookout for that feeling. I noticed a similar sensation when watching the news.
I get the same feeling about CEOs sometimes.
Was it less absurd to think of them as “terrible creatures”?
I don’t like the feeling I get when I see people ignore harm to feed on profit.
I also don’t like the idea of feeding on feces.
But I don’t need to see living beings as “terrible creatures.”
If I’m aware that I don’t like how they gather resources, and I’m honest with myself that I’d never do things the same way, I’m less tempted to deny the value of their existence.
I can see the greediest corporate “monster,” as also a human being doing the best they can for the people they care about.
Regardless of the feeling in my gut.
Christopher Shelby 
Reminds me…don’t forget to vote!
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