In a letter sent to the Hong Kong government last week - obtained by the Post - Ng said: “There are many ways to handle the ivory stockpile. Destroying the confiscated stockpile or issuing a complete ban on the trade cannot solve the problem!”
In previous letters to the government and legislators, Ng said that as a former player in the ivory industry he was “deeply heartbroken” to hear the authorities would destroy Hong Kong’s then-stockpile of 28 tonnes.
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He used to trade and sell Ivory.
So, he just did the the old liberal dodge here, identified himself as part of the problem, one that has a very simple and practice solution with little in terms of repercussions… Ivory poaching was banned, smuggling is as well, and they are destroying their elicit stockpiles, but Dennis be damned, his heart overrides the facts in a passionate plea otherwise, against all the rationality placed against him. This trade doesn’t really benefit anyone except those willing to execute and slaughter a highly intelligent species. Elephants have their own language and the capacity to mourn for their dead, as well as sophisticated personalities. There is a damn good reason why the trade was targeted, and getting rid of these tusks go a bell of a long way in ending the desire for such disgusting artifacts. By default it does.
This won’t cause the market to go underground, it already has. As a result, less elephants are slaughtered as less tusks can be openly sold. The few left do rise in cost, but so does surveillance and penalties, especially for dodging luxury tax (I guarantee you they aren’t paying it).
If the Ivory trade had any common sense, it would switch to elephant conservation safaris, in water poor western parts of China, and let zoo rescued elephants live and die natural deaths in savanna like preserves. Each tusk will still be with the elephants during their natural deaths, and you would have a much better argument for the harvest.
Or better yet, learn to print them. Using simple printer technology, we can print collagen scaffolds that form the framework that specific cells are sprayed on to produce organs. The cells themselves don’t give form to our organs, collagen does. The technology if fairly simple, not too different from the grid-printer your office fax machine uses, or a U.S. $ 300.00 3-D plastic printer uses. You would be amazed how simple the hardware to do this ultimately is (use a polar printer, not a grid to make a Ivory Tusk, grown by the centimeter).
Dennis, your remarkably short sighted and self centered, seeing lost opportunity in lost assets. You have no realistic claim to a better or more rational or humane strategy that people can swallow. Your greed has made you emotional and short sighted, and you’ve failed to pursue alternatives, if you really do, truely believe Ivory Carving is worthwhile.
Invest in a cheap Inkjet printer, that uses 0.5 Picoliters or less (you’ll find them under a hundred bucks these days on the net), completely clean out a few ink cartridges, and talk to a local cell biologist about ways to grow Ivory at very small yields in a petrie dish (we grow bladders in them). You can find them at Hong Kong University, or any university… just ask, saying you want to reform the Ivory Trade into something more palatable ethically by making Ivory from scratch. It’s hardly a impossible undertaking, just takes a little time and minor investment.
Experiment and grow. If it takes a year, so be it, as the final product is ultimately yours. You can both gain a monopoly on the local ivory trade as well as squash poaching. You can end the inherent evils in this trade, but only if you care. But I doubt you will, for in the end, your little more than a little shit, willing to fuck over a highly intelligent species for short-term gains, while obstructing and undermining the laws and intentions of the two nations you straddle in your wake.
Prove me wrong by doing the right thing. Stop being a little shit.