Ringling Bros. elephants to get an early retirement says CNN.

Even this makes me uncomfortable… but maybe we know just enough about these animals to keep them relatively content and happy. Maybe.

I can easily recall the excitement as child of going to the zoo and the circus and seeing all the greater than life animals. But it also wasn’t too long before zoo’s and circuses started to be a bit depressing looking at caged animals that aren’t hurt or in some way incapacitated.

Zoos made me think about the current election, because so many folks want a government that tells them bed time stories about being cared for, and rewarded for existing, and protected. Something no government can provide.

Life contains risk. Living is risk. Stop believing that it can be melted away. If it isn’t cutting yourself making breakfast, or limbing a tree, or crashing your bike, or falling down stairs, or terrorists, or thieves, or… the list is truly infinite. It’s also believing in yourself and trying to make your way through the world knowing what is truly important.

If you want to see what minimized risk looks like, go look at a caged tiger pacing its tiny cell. That’s what the price of freedom looks like. And I don’t want anyone to try and provide that level of comfort. Maybe my mother. But that’s it.