For Ramirez, it really is none of our business

Good for Aramis Ramirez.

Not because he raises roosters to fight in his native Dominican Republic, but for refusing to go into the issue in depth Tuesday.

The Cubs' third baseman arrived at spring training and, naturally, had to be asked about his involvement in cockfighting.

Recent articles both here and there revealed that when Ramirez is home, he's dedicated to what in the Dominican is a legal sport.

The initial response in the United States ranged from shouts of shock to yawns of apathy. Place me in the latter category.

But this being February baseball, when a slugger's toe jams are magnified as if they were tumors, cockfighting is news fodder.

I was curious how the inquisition would go once Ramirez showed up in camp. Thankfully, reports make it sound reasonably mild.

"I said I'm not going to talk about that," Ramirez was quoted as saying to blunt the matter.

Good for the media corps in Mesa, also, for pretty much leaving it at that.

Listen, a lot of off-season, off-field, off-putting activities that professional athletes participate in are open to criticism.

There is strip-club brawling. There is drug abuse. There is drunken driving. There is sexual assault. There is domestic violence. There is the funding of dogfights.

Yes, dogfighting of the type Michael Vick invested in up in the United States is unacceptable.

No, cockfighting of the type Ramirez invested in back in the Dominican shouldn't be any of our business.

Folks, we can't police the world. When we try, well, that's why we're ugly Americans to so many around the globe.

Don't we have enough trouble trying to police ourselves?

Like, we even argue over what to do about political correctness, whether Charles Barkley should be suspended for ripping political conservatives, whether Tiger Woods should admonish a broadcaster for an insensitive remark, whether ESPN should have banished two female sideline reporters from "Monday Night Football."

So now we're supposed to also make Ramirez defend himself for something he did in the Dominican Republic?

I don't think so. We don't have to approve of cockfighting any more than we do of dogfighting, but we do have to at least tolerate the cultures in other countries.

Just think for a moment how others consider much of our conduct to be disgusting.

Some can't understand how a compassionate nation like ours continues to execute the death penalty.

Others can't understand how a nation as affluent as ours can fail to provide universal health insurance.

Still others can't understand why Americans are so materialistic while many of our neighbors sleep in back-alley dumpsters.

Apparently one country's position is another country's puzzle and one man's priority is another man's apathy.

As a society we'll never comprehend or condone beheadings and suicide bombings. Meanwhile, other societies will never comprehend or condone our fascination with firearms and school shootings.

Cultures vary. So do countries. So do individuals. Maybe that's what keeps the world spinning.

"It's a different culture down there," was Ramirez's defense.

Good enough for me. It's a "when in Rome" thing -- or "when in Santo Domingo" thing.

If Ramirez abuses farm animals while here, shame on him. If he does it at home, shame on any of us who try to tell a Dominican how to live his life.

mimrem@dailyherald.com