Hit and Run

The driver, racing in a car to a childrens' concert, did not even notice or care that he had mortally wounded a creature who died from the impact of the vehicle. Had the victim been a child would the driver have behaved differently? Would penalties exacted by the Law have changed behavior but not values? Though man is an animal he has assumed rights that supersede the rights of all other animals; he is a beast, meaning his conscience is a social construct. It is not innate, but taught. In the calculus of things, the death of an "innocent" animal counted less than the driver's purpose: to get to the concert, early. Music is one of the humanities; the humanities are said to instill humaneness, but humane behavior was absent on this occasion, as it is the whole world over. This event took place in Tenafly, New Jesey, an affluent surburban community, a town like any other. We are living in that Brave New World, and Tenafly is a specimen of its ethos.