Last night, shortly after posting yesterday’s effort, I caught wind (a.k.a. received an email) that The Freaks posted their latest podcast, “Veganism 101 and we get angry with the Angry Hippie.” I haven’t heard the ass end of said podcast yet, but, not to worry I will. “Uh?”
The first part of it, which I have heard, I though would have fit in well as a footnote to yesterday’s post. But I was tired and vowed to append my post today. Then, this morning, I came across an entry they, well Bob, posted on their blog yesterday, as well, “The Failure Of The Single Issue Campaign.” Which took precedent over any addition I could hope to add to a formor post.
So I thought I’d mention the new podcast on my way to another more relevant point…
In his post Bob primarily wrote about PeTA claiming victory over Zappos.com acknowledging “that people hate fur” and “the company officially adopted a permanent policy never to sell any products containing the fur of an animal!” He then, rather obviously, pointed out;
“Zappo’s may have agreed to stop selling fur, but have a look around their site: they still sell leather and wool. And if you can manage to be honest with yourself—something that a lot of animal rights activists seem unwilling to do, or incapable of these days—what is the real difference between leather and fur when it comes to the animal rights issues involved? Leather is simply the hide of a different kind of animal with the hair removed.”
I don’t get the attraction to leather. It feels creepy, it’s cold, and is truly morbid. And then he went on further to mention a few points I can’t help but highlight, for my 3 readers, Bob wrote;
“The best thing I can come up with to explain it is that people who are supporting this are not thinking clearly about the similarities between leather and fur. The result is that people who ostensibly care about animals are distracted by these pseudo-wins from the actual single thing that can make a real difference in this whole fight: going vegan and getting others to do the same. Veganism is the conscious rejection of all forms of animal cruelty and exploitation in one’s life; it is the only real and all-encompassing solution. If you want to make a difference, don’t bother with Zappo’s and fur; don’t bother with cage-free eggs; don’t bother with organic milk. Go vegan, use your talents to get others to consider veganism, and help build a genuine movement of people who will directly challenge the root causes of animal exploitation. Anything else is ignoring the real problem.”
I hoped to write something extemporaneous relying solely on my wit. But, surprise, I have nothing. Instead I’ll turn to Edward Furlong and something he said in American History X. “Derek says it’s always good to end a paper with a quote, says, some else has already said it, so if you can’t top it, steal from them and go out strong.”
I choose to end this post exactly how he ended his. “The only sensible place to start is to go vegan if you aren’t already and to promote ethical veganism. Anything short of that is forestalling actual awareness of the issues…”
I can’t and I won’t argue that…