The article discusses the devastating impact of unrestrained free market practices on American wildlife, driven by a belief in the impossibility of extinction. Species like beavers, bison, and passenger pigeons were commoditized, leading to their near-total destruction. The indiscriminate hunting for profit enriched individuals and reshaped economies while decimating wildlife populations. Market hunters' actions, exemplified by the slaughter of thousands of animals for profit, illustrate a disregard for ecological balance and the long-term consequences of prioritizing economic gain over environmental preservation, resulting in devastating genetic losses on Earth since colonial times.
Our forebears used the unrestrained free market to effect a staggering destruction of continental wildlife, believing extinction was impossible and commoditizing nature ignore its value.
Market hunters in Bozeman, Mont. shipped out the body parts of thousands of elk, deer, and other wildlife, netting $1.6 million in today's dollars, showing the scale of destruction.
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