racial conflicts, and class conflicts. All we’re doing is withdrawing from a commitment. This is a simplistic set of ideas. As I said that night in New York when I ran for President, quaking and shaking in that moment when I found myself the only person throwing his body out in front of that train, our problems will not be solved by moving to the right. We have to move to the left to survive in this country and in the world, and I believe that very powerfully and very deeply. It was a brilliant and prophetic black man who made these statements much more eloquently than Ron Dellums just a few years ago. A man called King. Many eulogized him a moderate civil rights leader, but I reject that notion. I believe that he was both prophetic and perhaps one of the most revolutionary thinkers of modern time. He walked among us for a very short period of time, but during that short period of time, he walked a very long journey. He went from Montgomery where he started to Memphis where he died. He went from mere manhood to ultimate martyrdom, and from the depths of misery to the top of the mountain. If Martin Luther King could go that distance in that short period of time, then you and I, black, brown, red, yellow, white; men, women, young, old; rich and poor, can join hands in a very powerful coalition to take America on a journey from madness to humanity; from exploitation to equality; from racism and sexism and classism to freedom; and from war to peace. I join you in that effort. ■ Seattle’s Premier Mexican Restaurant Welcomes The Clinton St. Quarterly 4th and Stewart 1414 Alaskan way 1318156th Ave. N.E. in Bellevue 682-1417 343-9370 641-1115 environment. A modest pond and thick varied vegetation replace the small concrete, glass, and barred cells of the Primate House. Blossoming trees supplant old networks of pipes and stripped trunks and limbs. Unquestionably an improvement, but not failsafe — as the liontailed macaques proved. To guarantee that the macaques (and visitors) can enjoy the verdant setting of the Island, zookeepers will remove the ladder-like reeds. And a low-voltage electrical fence is being considered. In other words, barrier technology will be refined to prevent the inhabitants of Monkey Island from escaping their new, improved cage. Born to be Wild This last barrier that exists between wild creatures and civilized creatures defines the authority and purpose of the zoo. Its form may be engineered to satisfy our shifting values and assumptions. But it is always present. And it is a primary instrument of domestication and isolation. We may debate the effects of captivity on the wildness of lions and owls, but one thing remains certain: the zoo experience is tame. It is manageable, convenient, predictable. We are held captive by the same contrived restrictions that shape the behavior — and thus our perceptions — of the animals. We stare into the pits and pens, but the creatures don’t “do” anything. No matter how close they seem, they are irremediably insulated for and from us. As Berger suggests, their forced dependency and separation has rendered them marginal; they are largely unmoved by the visitors parading the edges of their artificial space. Such behavior is an artifact of captivity (and has much in common with pornography). It appears that there’s only one way to capture a caged animal’s attention, to captivate the beast: take advantage of its forced dependency. But even that proves disappointing to the spectators. During a recent zoo visit I heard one young girl chastising a Malayan Sun Bear. “You brat!” she scolded when the bear tired of its induced begging routine and sauntered into the cool shadow of a rock. He had had enough of the child’s Cheese Puffs. Those of us who raise our 35mm sights on these captive animals place ourselves at yet another remove from the wild. Like the centerfolds displayed in many slick geographical and ecology club magazines, these snapshots are conditioning our views of nature. Those who have no other image of wilderness are especially unfortunate. One regrettable result of this nature photography is that to many people anything that isn’t visually contained is unnatural. This is the exact reverse of Thoreau’s meditation, “In wilderness is the preservation of man.” Preservation or Plunder? Regardless of our perceptions of zoos, however, it’s important to remember that the care given certain captive species is the only measure that will prevent their extinction. The zoo is a refuge as well as a refugee camp. As Woodland Park’s 75th Anniversary publication explains, “The only hope for animals such as the snow leopards, liontailed macaques, dwarf crocodiles, Rothschild’s Mynahs, gorillas, and other endangered species at Woodland Park lies in captive breeding projects.” In the Seattle zoo there are more than fifty endangered or threatened species. Zoo officials and supporters quite rightly view Woodland Park as a modern Noah’s Ark. In other parts of the country animal care and research scientists are going one step further to create frozen zoos, some of which store not only sperm cells but fibroblast cells taken from the tissue of wild animals. They hope that some day test tube technology will be able to awaken life from this genetic hibernation. But the real success of such exotic ventures hinges on a question that’s much larger than the fate of this or that rare species: will any of the wilderness areas that originally supported these species survive the urban technological deluge? Present patterns offer little encouragement. Industrial culture expands at an increasing rate. Whether we drive a bulldozer in the Amazon Basin or a stationwagon in Wild Animal Park, very few of us like the wilderness on its terms. Against this background the modern preference for habitats rather than cages may be as much a sign of our resignation to the disappearance of the wilderness as it is evidence of heightened sensitivity toward wild creatures. Improving a zoo or increasing the number of protected species somehow misses the point, and to some degree makes us unwitting accomplices in the devastation of wild places. It distracts our attention from the front line — where we might devote as much time and money to halt wholesale environmental assaults as we do to rounding up the animals two by two — and creates the appearance of doing something about the problem when in fact we’re applying conscience-soothing cosmetics to its effects. The fate of all species in the absence of wilderness — life unnamed and unmanaged — is domestication. At present, whether we prefer monkeys well-managed or well-dope is not nearly as significant as their apparent rejection of both our protection and our violence. Their indifference seems to make no distinction between our varied purposes. Even the popular belief that “nature” now needs our protection seems ridiculously pretentious and parochial when correctly located in the vast drama of natural history. We cannot abstract ourselves from nature, no matter how hard we try. Indeed, if in our attitudes toward other organisms we continue to value conquest and acquisition more than respect, life may unceremoniously take leave of this planet’s most recent experiment. The fate of these wild creatures, and by extension that of the wild places by which they are sustained, is our fate as well. ■ Creative Imaginative Paper Supplies -----paper, |nk-=- Party Planning, Wrapping Paper for that special affair. Paper Clips and Ribbons Knick Knacks and More 1514 Pike Place-Sanitary Market (206) 624-9446 A Russian Cafe THE KALEENKA Traditional Foods First and Virginia 624-1278 • Melody Maker • The Weekly • Nouvel Observateur • New York Rocker • Voice • Sunday London Times • Nation NEWSPAPER LOVERS! Find more than 400 newspapers and magazines from across the country and around the world. Read AU About It NEWSSTAND at First and Pike, in the Market Phone: 624-0140 8 a.m.-7 p.m. Mon-Sat; 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Sun • International Herald Tribune » New York Times • Washington Post • Le Monde • Die Zeit • Japan Times • China News MICHEL ONEAL MEACHAM Photographic Service Studio The Fairmont 623-2214 Try us for breakfast, lunch and dinner! 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