There seem to be a number of supposed social crises that periodically emerge from the thick smog of little-debated topics. Upon doing so, they unpleasantly rear their heads into the general discourse, thus distracting from more worthy and altogether relevant topics of conversation. Among these numerous issues lie such social minefields as Columbus Day, purportedly offensive costumes, proper forms of holiday conversation and wearing fur. The arguments over these topics are infinite, with the proponents and opponents of various courses of action decrying what they see varyingly as a sort of oppression or the end of the civilized world.

For example, it is argued that wearing fur, a fairly uncommon behavior that is generally relegated to the upper echelons of socioeconomic status and the more elderly portions of the population, destroys the lives of such treasured creatures as foxes, minks, beavers, otters and seals. At the same time, others decry the prevention of fur wearing as a detriment to the economy and what they see as fashion. While both sides may have more or less valid points, the debate over fur seems rather out of touch and parochial.

Which brings us to the real center of the debate, such as it is. Namely: who cares? And don’t we have better things to do?

When one considers the dire straits in which various countries, people, political systems and the human race in general find themselves, spending time on issues as uncritical as fur seems a despicable act of self-indulgence. The United States finds itself in a political crisis unlike any seen in at least a generation. Britain seems rather unconcerned as it hurtles toward a cliff-like hard Brexit with the distinct possibility of recession and the election of the dangerous hard left Jeremy Corbyn. At the same time, the leaders of Catalonia seem bent on breaking up Spain and weakening the European Union, while Vladimir Putin’s expansionist and revisionist Russia continues to dismember Ukraine and weaken Europe’s eastern flank. And, as if the picture was not grim enough, the world seems to teeter on and off the brink of nuclear war in the Korean peninsula.

With all these ongoing crises, debates about such things as wearing fur or any of the other controversies listed above seem frivolous at best. Regardless of one’s personal beliefs on such issues, it is