Elephant tusks

I generally admire the Chinese very much.  What was a Third World country in 1950 has become an economic powerhouse.  The one child per family policy prevented a population explosion that would have had negative global implications.  The Chinese government is relatively stable, its educational system provides a model for the U.S., and its economic prosperity is the envy of much of the world.

On the other hand, there are some aspects of Chinese culture that I find reprehensible.  The attempt to eliminate Tibetan culture is one; the constant harassment of “dissidents” is another.  One of the biggest problems I have with China, however, is the almost complete lack of environmental consciousness.  

A front page article in today’s New York Times discussed the huge market in China for ivory carvings using elephant tusks.  30,000 elephants killed last year just to satisfy the Chinese market for ivory carvings.  This is a country where the government can be as brutal as it wants to be.  How about a law that anyone who buys a carved elephant tusk receives the death penalty?  That should protect the elephants.  Am I serious?  I am.