The Only Good Mosquito...?

        The coming of Spring and Summer for many Americans means the reinstatement of a hallowed cultural past-time: lawn maintenance. Companies that profit on these services or make it their full-time business are just as keyed into the calendar and have not lost any time advertising their services. Over the past month at my house alone we've gotten fliers and advertisements for fertilizer services, tree-pruning, and, of course, broadsides directed at Public Enemy #1: the Mosquito.

        Out of the various promises to "blast away" mosquitoes (as well as other insects) and "take back your lawn," usually accompanied by pictures of people blissfully frolicking in a sea of tamed and monocultured grasses, one ad stood out from the rest. It was so eye-catching and thought-provoking that I had to take a break from my usual posts on popular culture to comment on it here. Alongside the picture of a blood-filled mosquito stood the following declaration: "the only good mosquito is a dead one." What a statement!

        Let me say early on that I really don't like mosquitoes. The buzzing in the ear makes me crazy, I have bad reactions to the bites, and I have one too many memories of a good hike being marred by clouds of mosquitoes. We also can't forget the global toll from mosquito-borne illnesses like malaria and the rise of new infectious agents, like Zika. There are plenty of reasons not to like mosquitoes.

        However, the use of the phrase "the only good mosquito is a dead one" needs to be examined critically because that particular proverb has a history, and I think it's a revealing one for our current debate about the role of humans toward the environment. Although it might have first appeared even earlier during colonial days, the structure of that proverb was first coined in the late 1800s and, according to folklore researcher Wolfgang Meider in an article in the Journal of American Folklore, it might be attributed to General Philip Sheridan, future president Theodore Roosevelt, or various members of congress. The object of the proverb in those days was native peoples and the original phrase was "the only good Indian is a dead Indian." The sentiment behind those words is racist, genocidal, and certainly political, owed to the disturbing but longstanding view in this country of natives as subhuman and an obstacle to the divinely ordained Manifest Destiny of westward expansion. One of the most succinct renderings of that mentality is John Gast's 1872 painting "American Progress," pictured below.

         The painting is rich in loaded imagery. The spirit of the country is symbolized by "Lady Columbia," who is dressed in a pure, flowing white garment as she strings telegraph wires across the landscape. In her other hand, she carries a school book and on her head she wears the starred "crown of empire." Behind her, trains, settlers, and farmers push westward, all forging ahead in the enterprise of spreading their definition of "civilization." Before them, those regarded as figures of savagery and wilderness -- native peoples and undomesticated animals like bears, foxes, and wolves -- are pushed into the shadows. Behind this imagery stood a political and cultural rhetoric that led to the near extermination of native peoples and wildlife. All in the name of "civilization" and, as the painting's title attests, "progress."

        Over time, as Meider's research shows, the proverb was recycled regularly against whoever happened to be the enemy of the moment, losing none of its genocidal, racist heritage. During World War One, it was Germans; during World War Two, the Japanese; in the 1960s, the Vietnamese. Now, as my mailbox revealed not too long ago, we've reached the point that an insect has been plugged into "The Only Good X is a Dead X" equation. 

        As stated earlier, I am well aware of the toll mosquitoes take on humans, primarily as a vector for disease. However, is extermination the answer? While the ad I received might just be a marketer's attempt at humor, there are real efforts underway to eradicate mosquitoes. As recently reported in Time magazine, an experiment currently being run in the Florida Keys by biotech firm Oxitec involves genetically-modified male mosquitoes passing faulty genes along to female mosquitoes. If everything goes according to Oxitec's plan, all the resulting female offspring will die, leading to a precipitous crash in the mosquito population.

        Even if a person hasn't read cautionary tales like Frankenstein or Jurassic Park, it's hard to see how this sort of project won't unleash unintended consequences. For one, what about the dragonflies, salamanders, and other creatures who eat mosquitoes throughout their life cycle? Will there be a population crash among those insects and animals, too, and then on up the food chain? The same can be said for the fogging and chemical treatments carried out by those mosquito and insect control services. The same spray or fog that eliminates mosquitoes will also kill bees, moths, butterflies, and all manner of other wildlife.

        In the end, I'm still amazed at the slogan: "The Only Good Mosquito is a Dead One." It harkens back to the perceived struggle to conquer the wilderness in the name of civilization, except that having reached the Pacific -- Manifest Destiny was successful, since America now rules "sea to shining sea" -- the war has turned inward, with the frontlines being our yards and lawns and the enemies are the buzzing insects that dare intrude on our domestic bliss. In fact, if we were to update Gast's "American Progress" for the modern Manifest Destiny, Lady Columbia might carry a fogger and a vast tank of chemicals, with mosquitoes and coyotes in flight as suburbs and big box stores spring up in her wake. Times and technologies may change, but cultural mentalities seem to be a lot harder to alter. If this is progress, go ahead and let me off at the next stop.

        Next time, I'll probably be back to form with a post on popular culture, maybe The Mandalorian as I have finally gotten a chance to watch it. As always, if you enjoyed this post, you might like some of my other writings, like my book Religion and Myth in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Until next time, take care.