anti-veg Nation magazine book review
I don't know if this was posted before (sorry if it was), but I was shocked when I came across it. Apparently, I by passed it and it's probably in my magazine basket.
IT CAME FROM THE NATION :o
This is a taste of this nasty book review.
"So the next time you tuck into a plate of tagliatelle Bolognese, a leg of lamb or a proper coq au vin made from some rangy old rooster that's had more lovers than most of us can dream of, you should see it not just as a chance to fill your stomach but, rather, as an occasion to celebrate humanity's ongoing struggle to create abundance out of scarcity. Venceremos! It's a lot better than wallowing in the silly defeatism of a diet of tofu and sprouts."
And don't be surprised if you click the link and on one of the pages there is a banner add for grass-fed beef with a giant hamburger! :o
Huh? That's an article I'd have to print out and read on paper to get it all. The author made ureseasonable, extreme analogies. And what was with spending so much time on Hitler as a vegetarian?
It came across as an article a leftist magazine would publish so they could feel like they are remaining edgy, because it's not expected. Or the publisher was challenged by a veg*n recently and was annoyed. I don't have the words to express my reaction to the article in general. This is Cephi territory - he's good with words.
I feel sick... :(
That article made me LOL. Absolutely ridiculous
Well, linking vegetarians to being hypocritical and delusional is a bad argument anyway. You could say the same for people with brown eyes, given the proper documentation.
Realizing that we are at the top of the food chain is no big white pearl of wisdom, and referencing vegetarian philosophies from hundreds of years ago does little for his argument. He knows that things are different now (global warming) but doesn't see not eating animals as the answer.
I get the feeling he thinks vegetarians are hypocritical brats with the luxury of choice.
So yes, being vegetarian is a choice that we are fortunate to have. The author of the book eventually concedes that eating less meat would be better for all -- animals, people and planet. Reviewer, I think feels bitter that he is also one of the privileged few that is able to choose, but chooses to eat meat anyway. His excuse is that he is at the top of the food pyramid and caretaker of the animals, and hence gets to decide who comes, who goes and how well they're treated.
I meet people like this all the time. There will always be people like this. It's just unfortunate he writes for the Nation.
I couldn't even finish reading the articlce. The guy sounded too much like an idiot.
And what was with spending so much time on Hitler as a vegetarian?
That would be a Reductio ad Hitlerum - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reductio_ad_Hitlerum
I got a free subscription to The Nation when I went to the Green Festival last year. First, they annoyed me by immediately sending bills to me, when it was supposed to be free. Then I got the issue that had that book review in it. You guys think I'm gonna pay for a magazine that publishes ignoramuses like that guy? I think not.
Well, linking vegetarians to being hypocritical and delusional is a bad argument anyway. You could say the same for people with brown eyes, given the proper documentation.
In point of fact, Hitler had brown eyes! ;D ;D ;D (and that's as silly as playing the "Hitler card" with reference to vegetarian diet!)
I get the feeling he thinks vegetarians are hypocritical brats with the luxury of choice.
Aside from the fact that the poorest nations on earth such as India have a millenia-long tradition of being vegetarian...perhaps because it ensures that more will live; or perhaps because they are too poor to have a choice.
I once read Ghandi on the subject of why cows are sacred in India. He mentioned that part of it is practicality: that if they ate all the cows, there would be no transportation, plow animals, production of milk or indeed a source of the excrement they use as fuel.