To Think About

Are we facing the gathering storm?

This week I received a signed copy of "Histórias do João Grande", by Carlos Henrique Menke, MD (ISBN 978-85-7497-578-8).The book brings a collection of chronicles written over almost fifty years by Doctor Menke, a passionate hunter, fisherman, conservationist, medical doctor and professor, and the background is the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul.

In the 238 pages of this beautifully written book, Dr. Menke tells the sad story of how a vibrant nature friendly hunting culture was overthrown by a noise minority of Eco-radicals and how all legal hunting in a state that was once a reference in environmental stewardship, came to an end due to a court order. No discussion, no debate, just misguided emotions. But "Histórias do João Grande" is a lot mo than that. It is a vibrant book about the passion that burns deep inside of us hunters.

At its final chapter, Dr. Menke provides us with a gift in the form a quote from the renowned American economist, social theorist, political philosopher and writer Thomas Sowell: "Freedom means, in the end, the right of people to do things that we do not like."

As the year, but not the world, comes to an end, and it is already very clear that we will have  a very challenging 2013, we should ponder about freedom and the world we want to build and leave to our children.

May you all have a Christmas of renewal and rebirth and be the architects that build us all a better future.