The Guinea Worm Destruction Cartel claims to have the best interests of humankind at their heart. Like all members of a functioning ecosystem, the Guinea Worm interacts with other members of the ecosystem to complete its life-cycle. Yet because the Guinea Worm is unlucky enough to rely upon humanity for its self preservation, it is branded a "parasite" and targeted for destruction.
At first, this approach seems to make sense from a health standpoint. Interaction with Guinea Worms is linked with painful health complaints among many people in the developing world. Certainly those people deserve a better life. Yet armed with this justification, "health" officials in the Cartel hatched a plan to bring about the most short-sighted option possible -- the complete elimination of a living species from the planet.
The Guinea Worm eradication cannot be compared to campaigns against small pox or polio for one simple reason: the Guinea Worm is not a disease microbe, but a living animal. It has a nervous system. Its hearts pump blood through its small body. It experiences pain. And for thousands, perhaps millions of years, it has inhabited the earth unmolested. Until human hubris threatened its very future.
In the interests of fairness, you may click here to read the Cartel's side of the story.
