A Follow-up

I've been receiving letters from quite a few people in response to my defense of Guillermo Vargas Habacuc's exhibition, explaining why they feel that the artist should be held accountable for what he's done.

I definitely agree with the points that you're all making. It's really impossible to justify murder, but I think that you have to set the blame on all parties involved, not just one person. Habacuc took part in the death of an animal, but created an international awakening. The attendees that watched and did nothing took part in the death of an animal and then created more hate afterwards.

Both parties were wrong without question, but I think that there should be some sort of balance in blame before the guillotine rolls out. I don't agree with Habacuc's decision to let Natividad starve to death, and I think he should be criticized, even jailed, for letting it happen, but I think that everyone who attended the exhibition should be charged with neglect and assisting a murder in that case.

I appreciate Habacuc's intentions, which is more than I can say for those who decided to act only after the Natividad's death. Martin Luther King Jr said that the greatest evil of our time isn't the few that have destroyed, but the vast majority who sat idly by. This exhibition is a perfect example of that. How many people were at that gallery? How many people could have done everything in their power to help that dying creature? Is it right that only one man should be held accountable? Humanity likes to have someone to blame, and that's why we're lucky enough to have someone's name (Habacuc) attached to the dog's murder, because a group of nameless people can't be tracked down and petitioned. Justice is much more complex than that, unfortunately, and we have to think of the larger picture of injustice before we lynch one man and consider the problem done with.