Derwin Smith
John
Key is engaging in a bout of populist moralising, describing killing whales as ‘abhorrent’
in response to South Korea’s indication that they may resume whaling. The
hypocrisy is staggering - this same week National has announced further
concessions to New Zealand’s dirty and polluting farming industry. If the
concept of killing whales is ‘abhorrent’, what about farming practices that
contribute to the loss of ecosystems that threaten endangered species in New
Zealand? Since it is largely Pakeha capitalists in New Zealand that reap the
profits farming they do not criticise.
Furthermore,
Japan and now Korea at least have the courtesy to try and hide their commercial
whaling operations behind the guise of ‘scientific research’. There are
no damning condemnations from New Zealand of the two northern European
countries, Norway and Iceland, who flaunt the international treaty and issue
their own quotas for commercial whaling. It shouldn’t have to be said that
these countries are populated almost entirely by white people – not Asians – so
they don’t get as much criticism. Their European culture is not used as an
excuse to demonise them.
While
it is true that many species of whale are under threat and the population this
does not mean however that killing and eating of whales is some kind of eternal
sin. There are many indigenous peoples around the world that have to go begging
for quotas to continue traditional hunting.
Matiu
Rei, chairman of Te Ohu Kaimoana, which advocates for Maori fisheries rights,
is quoted in the New Zealand
Herald as
saying "It is ironic that countries that have grossly exploited whales for
uses other than food and utensils are now imposing their newly acquired
'values' on cultures that continue to suffer the effects and symptoms of
colonial exploitation."
He
goes on to say that indigenous peoples were reduced to "groups that must
seek permission to continue these traditions - from those whose tastes have
changed with the wind - [it] is quite simply degrading”.
Finally
he identifies the International Whaling Commission itself as a tool of
colonialism "This commission is already a tool for limiting indigenous
traditions through its quotas. Please ... let them [indigenous peoples]
continue to practice their traditions and exercise their customary
rights."
It
is clear to me John Key’s comment that the “concept
of killing whales [is] abhorrent” is deeply racist. The politics of the
anti-whaling campaigns in New Zealand - in particular Sea Shepherd’s recent ‘OperationWaltzing Matilda’ draw on long-standing anti-Japanese histories in Australasia.
[Sea Shepherd's Operation Waltzing Matilda made explicit appeals to the anti-Japanese traditions of Australian militarism]
Are
socialists opposed to eating whale meat?
While
this seems like a strange question at first but it is an important one. Humans
have been hunting and killing whales all over the world for ages. There is
nothing unnatural or abhorrent about it. The racist criticism of other cultures’
diets is common in New Zealand. Whether it is sensationalized media coverage of
a Pacific Islander eating a dog, or Maori making a hangi, the John Keys of the
world will find a way to hate it.
Whale
meat is no different. Singling out Japanese and Korean culture as being
disgusting for eating whale meat is just as racist as demonising Pacific
cultures for eating dog meat or Maori culture for eating food ‘cooked in the
ground’. Eating pigs, sheep, and cows – the mainstay of New Zealand
agriculture – is not fundamentally different to eating dog, horse, or whale.
The environmental questions of sustainability and endangered species are quite
unconnected to the question of culture.
War
of the Whales
There
have been calls, including from within the Green Party, to use the Navy to stop
Japanese whaling. This imperialist stance must be exposed for the nonsense it
is. The New Zealand military has been involved in wars for resources for years,
starting with stealing Maori land in the Land Wars between 1845 and 1872.
The
support for wars in the Middle East over oil, and the sending of troops to Pacific
countries - like propping up the Tongan monarchy - are the latest incarnation
of its colonial and imperial legacy. The military has been used to gain and
protect sources of cheap labour, forestry, minerals, and fisheries for New
Zealand capitalists for the better part of two centuries. New Zealand (and
Australian and American) capitalists have been competing with Japan over these
resources in the South Pacific for a long time. In reality this was the cause
of the military conflict over the Pacific in WWII.
Before
WWII Japan and Germany had large whaling fleets, however they were hunting for
oil not meat. This was because most of the world’s oil reserves were controlled
by the United States, France, and England. It took Japan’s invasion of
Manchuria and Germany’s control over Romania before whaling for oil became less
important. These historic land grabs for oil are similar to the invasion and
occupation of Afghanistan and Iraq.
Under
capitalism whales are an economic resource like tuna, oil, beef, iron ore, or
timber. These so-called resources are exploited for profit. Blue Fin Tuna are
being hunted into extinction by New Zealand capitalists, but if another country
threatened to send its Navy to stop it most people would be horrified. We must
reject the calls for military intervention to ‘protect’ whales like we must
reject military intervention to secure oil reserves (or Tuna fish).
How
can we really save the whales?
Many
species of whale are in decline, some are endangered, some are extinct. This is
mainly because they have been over-hunted. However we must identify two types
of whaling. There is the sustainable whaling, for food and tools, which has
been carried out by indigenous peoples for centuries. We should have no problem
with this even if it uses modern industrial methods like speed boats and
harpoon guns.
However
the type of whaling in dispute is ‘commercial whaling’ – the hunting of whales
for profit. The thirst for oil capitalism has produced is why most of New
Zealand’s whales were killed in the 1800s, for their blubber. It was used to
heat homes and provide light etc. It was a highly profitable business. This is
the reason why we should worry about Iceland’s, Norway’s, Japan’s, and now
Korea’s whaling fleets. They aren’t out to hunt down meat, blubber, or bone –
they are out to hunt down profits. They will hunt them into extinction for
profits.
The
worlds whale populations won’t be safe until we live in a society that puts the
needs of people and the planet before profits. This struggle, the struggle for
socialism, must be a world wide struggle against the capitalist system in all
countries from Korea to New Zealand. It is the working class – not the military
– which we must look too as the social force that can change society for the
better. If we want to save the whales, or the rainforests, fisheries, and
rivers we must strike down the capitalist system that has turned them all (and
us) into commodities to be exploited for profit.
