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3/12/2003 10:28:00 PM | Jared Alessandroni The Politics of Meat I, at least, already hated seafood, so Laura's article just solidified it. Really, it smells, didn't anyone else notice? Anyway, as for being a vegetarian and being political? I think that's sort of suspect. No doubt not eating meat is very sensible as Laura said in terms of health. As for the impact of meat-eating politically? In fact, the meat production process is quite grim, and, more important for those of us on the left, it's a blatant abuse of resources. The amount of pure food and water required to raise an animal far exceeds that which we eat. In a world that has a limited supply of food and water, this is a definite problem. However, we do in this world have a decent amount of food and water. In fact, we throw away tons of grain a year - thousands of tons - and then our government subsidizes its production rather than giving it to poor nations. So, while it is wasteful, meat eating is not as bad for the world as, say, said subsidization policy. As for the heinous nature of making meat, that for me falls far below the heinous nature of making Nikes. As for wearing animals, again, I don't think it should be encouraged per-se, but in terms of its impact on the planet and the people therupon, it's far below other much more pressing factors. It is sad that many tropical rain forests are being turned into slash and burned farms and ranches, but while a rainforest can grow in a few hundred years, the damage to our atmosphere because of pollutants, to Alaska because of pipelines, and to our place in the poltical world because of oil dependencies is far far more dire. I think that, at least for me, a progressive stance in terms of animal rights is that animal testing for all but important medical innovation is unacceptable business practice. Eating meat isn't bad, but a truly conscious person should try to get meat and even produce that's not produced in ex-rainforest. The leather jacket is okay, though not great. The fur coat is wrong, as a symbol as well as a product. We eat the cow, we don't eat the cute furry guy that once was that damn coat. But, in all of the above, it would be a waste of time to attack the person who's wearing or eating the offending product. The smart liberal, I think, should really be working to fight the government and the business practices that make these things wrong. That's my vote, and, I am the most liberal poster here according to that questionable site below. perma link |
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