Save the Elephants: Sell Ivory

Subject: Save the Elephants: Sell Ivory Sat Feb 22, 2014 8:22 pm

For many people free markets seem cold and calculating. Maybe it’s the best way to sell, say, automobiles and soap. But we shouldn’t like the process. And we certainly shouldn’t base our behavior on markets when basic concepts of right and wrong are at stake.

Save the Elephants: Sell Ivory 20140220_elephantdetail

Save the Elephants: Sell Ivory 20140220_elephantdetail

Of course, markets are no substitute for understanding what the good life is all about. However, markets offer a powerful tool to reinforce moral values.

One of the great tragedies of the modern age is the slaughter of elephants. Ivory long has been a widely desired decorative material; finely carved items are among the most valuable antiques. Demand for ivory objects remains strong today, especially in East Asia.

Unfortunately, these days most new ivory comes from poachers. The killing of elephants has sparked a new form of prohibition, with steadily tighter controls over ivory sales. Only antique ivory objects may be shipped across international boundaries, while even legal accumulations of ivory may be sold only with special sanction of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

As a result, elephants have turned into modern day bison—simultaneously owned by no one and more valuable dead than alive. The result has been devastating for elephant populations in many African states, with upwards of 40,000 elephants being killed annually.

http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/save-the-elephants-sell-ivory

Save the Elephants: Sell Ivory

Save the Elephants: Sell Ivory

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