Continuing the debate going on in that thread (which I sort of glossed over), the complete absence of non-human life in China and Japan, at least outside of the kitchen, is haunting. You notice it the moment you step off the plane/boat/hoverboard. Having several different generations of family from China, I think we perhaps don't realise how much the effects of several different famines (especially the one Mao helped stoke by exporting food right when it was needed most, wiping out 45 million people in one fell swoop) over the last century continue to affect their mind-set. I do hope one of the side-effects of China opening up to the West, besides getting hooked on a whole new batch of crap with which to fritter their lives away like us, is that they may start to see life with less ravenous eyes. I reckon I can already start to see it happen with the younger generations. Perhaps that goes for Japan, too, which is arguably even more extreme in transforming all non-human life into utensils of some sort, despite having less of an excuse than China. When I went there I got the impression that the entirety of the natural world was confined to a bonsai tree in someone's closet.
Of course, by the time people see the error of their ways many cetaceans' only hope will be a Star Trek IV scenario happening in real life.
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