A successful parasite does not kill its host
This started out to be a simple rant about humans killing off the earth we live on. Not exactly a strict parasitic relationship, but the metaphor was working for me. Of course I had to start by googling "successful parasite" to try to find some definitions.
I found out two things:
One: When we talk about parasites as humans, I assumed we were comparing humans to leeches. the word origin is the opposite. According to my New Shorter Oxford English dictionary, the word parasite derives from the greek parasitus, feeding beside, a person who feeds at the table of another. No mention of plants or animals until the third definition. It was the leeches who were being insulted by being compared to those ancient Greek freeloaders, not the other way around.
If you want to learn a bunch about the animal kind of parasite, Parasites: Tales of Humanity’s Most Unwelcome Guests By Rosemary Drisdelle seems like a good bet. You can learn more about it here: http://www.rosemarydrisdelle.com/?page_id=10
Parasites might have a strict definition in biology, but when we get into metaphor everybody has their favorite candidate for parasites.
I found out two things:
One: When we talk about parasites as humans, I assumed we were comparing humans to leeches. the word origin is the opposite. According to my New Shorter Oxford English dictionary, the word parasite derives from the greek parasitus, feeding beside, a person who feeds at the table of another. No mention of plants or animals until the third definition. It was the leeches who were being insulted by being compared to those ancient Greek freeloaders, not the other way around.
If you want to learn a bunch about the animal kind of parasite, Parasites: Tales of Humanity’s Most Unwelcome Guests By Rosemary Drisdelle seems like a good bet. You can learn more about it here: http://www.rosemarydrisdelle.com/?page_id=10
Parasites might have a strict definition in biology, but when we get into metaphor everybody has their favorite candidate for parasites.
Besides people who come to your house and eat your food without reciprocating, I learned that the banking system is parasitic, unions are parasites, democrats are parasites, rich people are parasites, poor people are parasites, corporations are parasites. The more nuanced posts differentiate between the parasites that benefit their hosts and those that sicken or even destroy their hosts. This was my favorite among them: http://www.endtheillusion.org/economic/parasites.htm
So those two sites do a better job than I could at explaining it all, but here is my rant anyway: All you parasites who are sucking all the juice out of the planet STOP IT RIGHT NOW. You are bad parasites and you won't have a host left if you are not careful.
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