Will We Be Dominated By The Predators?

I updated this article on July 25, 2014 by adding a "Word History," and an appropriate one at that.

The African buffalo of the African Savannah* is an interesting animal. It averages around 1600 lbs, but some can weigh as much as about 2000 lbs. African buffalo are known for their unpredictable temperament; where one time, an approaching lion or lions may cause a panic, stampeding the herd; yet on another occasion, the herd may stand its ground, or even attack the lions. There are claims that African buffalo kill more humans on the African continent on average than either lions or crocodiles. Whether the claim is true or not, there are plenty of documented cases each year of human deaths caused by buffalo.

A while back, an amazing video appeared showing a confrontation in Africa. You may well have seen this footage, as I believe it was shown on all of the major news outlets, and, if you frequent "YouTube," it was like the #1 video for quite a while, if I remember correctly. What the video shows is a herd of African buffalo strung out and moving along next to a river. A buffalo calf is not far from the forefront. A group of four or five lions is just ahead of the herd. At first, it seems that the lions are disinterested, but then they go into hunting mode. African buffalo do not see well, but they do have a tremendous sense of smell, so I would assume that the lions were downwind of the buffalo, as at first they seem to approach the lions without realizing their presence. Then when the lead buffalo sees the crouching lions, it turns and runs, causing the other buffalo to turn and run, too. A couple of the lions are able to grab hold of the calf at the river's edge, but both the prey and the lions tumble into the river. The other lions then approach to help drag what appears to be their next dinner out of the water. Just then, a crocodile grabs at the calf, which is still very much alive. A veritable tug-of-war takes place, with the lions finally winning and dragging the buffalo calf to the shoreline. If all of this action isn't enough, the buffalo herd, now recovered from any panic and seeing what is going on, begins moving toward the lions. Many animal specialists say there's nothing like one angry African buffalo, and this is a whole herd of them. One of the lions tries to strike at the buffalo in an apparent attempt to frighten the herd. One of the buffalo goes right after the lioness, hurling her well into the air and then chasing her along the river. The buffalo almost surround the lions, and eventually the lions flee for THEIR very lives, and the buffalo calf trots back to the herd, ready to live another day and probably singing, "Hold that lion, hold that lion."

To me, many American business people and wealthy investors are predators. We, the "un rich," outnumber them many times over. As long as we turn tail and run, they just keep pursuing and "feasting" on us. If we allow this to continue, they're going to destroy us. Just like the buffalo in the video, if we cooperate and finally turn on these ruthless, greedy egomaniacs, we CAN turn the tide and restore some balance to our income structure, and the wealthy, I'm sure, will still be "the wealthy." It won't be easy, as they'll do everything in their power to divide us. That is the secret to their success, dividing us. Don't let them get away with it anymore! Put aside petty grievances and focus on the REAL problem, and believe me, income disparity is the REAL problem. Many, but not all, wealthy Americans are against such things as government help on health care or foreclosures, when it is for most Americans, but they seek government bailouts for themselves when they've overreached on bad loans, investments and mortgages.

* There are closely related, but somewhat smaller, in weight, varieties of this buffalo, that generally live in the more forested areas of Africa, and what is believed to be another related variety that can actually be domesticated in Asia (usually called "water buffalo"). What are called "buffalo" in America are actually classified as "bison."

Here is the link to the "YouTube" video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM

WORD HISTORY:
Buffalo-This word "seems" to go back to Indo European "gwous," which seems to have been applied to a variety of animals, more especially to "ox-like" animals. This gave its Greek offspring "bous," and then the derived "boubalos," which meant "large antelope, ox." Latin borrowed the word as "bubalus," which meant "ox," and which later became "bufalus." Portuguese, a Latin-based language, developed its own form of the word as, "bufalo," which they used for the large ox-like animal of Africa.^ English borrowed the word from Portuguese in the mid to late 16th century. The word came to be applied to the North American animal, which generally roamed the plains of the (now) United States and Canada, but technically, science classifies that animal as "bison," a related species. The verb form, meaning, "scare, put on alert, intimidate," was derived from the noun, likely from the idea of how "buffalo" can panic.

^ The Portuguese were very involved in world exploration in the 15th and 16th centuries, which brought them into contact with various cultures and animals far removed from Portugal.