No matter how you slice it, it's still FLESH.

So it's come to my attention that I am yet to annoy you all with my vegetarian activism. Okay, so I'm not one of those people that goes around telling everyone they're evil and sits at the dinner table talking shit to those eating meat. Your decision is your decision. However, I am one to stand by my belief that, in general, eating meat is WRONG. And, as I feel the need to update my recently neglected blog yet am currently extremely lacking in inspiration, I thought I'd get the veggie message out there once again. I've grown up a lot since my more dedicated activist days...not that even they were that dedicated, but I still believe wholeheartedly in this, so am using my blog as an excuse to lecture you all to some degree.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XF5RqF9lBM


Chew on that. ^^


The more observant of you will realise that there's a bit of a tyrade against dairy in there as well. I'm putting out there right now that I am not vegan, no matter how much I wish I had the will power to be. Consequently, you may argue I have no right to get all guilt trippy. And you're right, I probably don't. But I'm still a vegetarian, still doing more for these helpless creatures than the majority of the world. I am in no way 'better' than anyone else, nor am I under the illusion that anyone will take what I have to say to heart. But at least my own conscience will be clear. I have, in my time, converted a small number of people to vegetarian, and if I can convert just one more person (or at least open the eyes of at least one more person) then I will be happy.

Now, enough of the rambling. Enough of my pitiful attempts at justifying myself...I shouldn't have to. I just wanted a small disclaimer saying that I am in no way trying to FORCE my beliefs on anyone else. Likewise, I am not claiming to be unbiased, of course I'm biased: hello, vegetarian here!

So to the point, if you hadn't yet grasped it. Every single year, hundred of thousands of animals are kept in dark, uncomfortable squalor until deemed fit for slaughter. They are treated as if they do not matter, no care for the pain they feel, no thanks for the fact that they will be providing the, in many cases, undeserved meal. Not to mention the fact that eating some mushed up dead thing is just plain gross.

No matter how much I go on and on about all this, though, I doubt people haven't heard it all before. Instead, then, I think I will just try to answer some of the arguments given against vegetarianism. Here goes nothing...


"Animals eat other animals. It's nature."

Funnily enough, this just came up on an episode of Futurama that my brothers are watching. On the surface, it seems like a reasonable argument, right? Well...no. First things first, animals do a lot of things that we DON'T do. Some animals eat their own young, yet I see few people arguing for us to do the same. It is also worth mentioning that, as far as we are aware, animals do not have the same level of reasoning that we as humans do. Animals are not fully aware of what is right and wrong, yet we are, and so can be held morally responsible for our behaviour. Finally, yet perhaps most importantly, they need it to survive. Though, this leads onto the next argument.

"We need meat in order to survive, it is unhealthy not to eat meat."

No, mate. If meat were necessary for the survival of human beings, I am pretty sure I wouldn't be sat here typing this now. Vegetarianism CAN be extremely unhealthy if a balanced diet is not maintained and the necessary nutrients gained, though this is the same of any diet. I am in no way suggesting that people sacrifice their health and survival for vegetarianism, not in the slightest. The thing is, whereas our ancestors relied on meat to survive, we now have (in our society, at least) many meat alternatives which means that we no longer need to harm animals. Other animals, however, do not have such options available and so, for them, it would be unhealthy to not eat other animals.


"It tastes good."

I don't even know why I am honouring this one with a response. It seems so obvious to me that one should not have to go through torture, suffering and DEATH merely for the sake of another's tastebuds. That's sick, end of.


"Most animals are actually treated well." // "I only eat free range, so it's fine."

This is fair enough. I will admit, firstly, that many animals bred for meat ARE treated with respect and, if one must eat meat, the animal should at least have been treated well in life. Of course, that doesn't take away from the fact that it was still once a living being, but I guess you all know that anyway and aren't so fussed.



So there we have it, I did my best. I will now say quite openly that I am well aware that it would be extremely impractical if everyone suddenly decided to become vegetarian. Likewise, many people would be out of work if meat was not eaten etcetc. I acknowledge all of this. However, I am also realistic in that vegetarianism will most likely always be a minority view, so my attempting to convert just a few more is hardly going to have to great an effect. You may well argue that me as one individual isn't really helping animals in the grand scheme of things, and you may well be quite right. However, I am personally repulsed by the thought of meat itself. It is not so much the negative treatment, more the fact that I just find it disgusting. And I am entitled to that belief. I've given my view, and I've acknowledged that I have little (note, I say little here, for I cannot deny that I think meat is wrong) against those who do eat meat. At the end of the day, it is an individual decision that I respect. Just make it an informed one.

Bury The Castle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A63VwWz1ij0
[so, apparantly, html hates me and I can't embed this video...]

Go get your shovel, and we'll dig a deep hole to bury the castle, bury the castle.

I didn't get it at first. The words were just that, words, and the video (though I loved it) both intrigued yet disturbed me. On closer listening, however, I realise that there is so much truth in this song. As children, we live in a fantasy world. We don't understand the horrors of the world, and if we do see them we create a new world for ourselves, to break away from the pain we just can't deal with. Whether we had such horrors in our own childhoods or not is irrelevant, because we all lived as a child, we all had childish fantasies and innocent dreams. But as we grow, we realise that the world is far from perfect. We are tempted to stay inside ourselves, we try so hard to hold onto the safe fantasies of our youth.

She lives in a fairytale, somewhere too far for us to find.

But is this wise? Eventually we all have to grow up, we all have to accept the world and live in it. We can't keep ignoring reality forever. We have to accept it and be aware of it, so that we can live in it. I don't think, however, that we should just forget our childhood, forget those naive thoughts. I think a bit of childish, carefree fun is important, and equally necessary to be able to survive in this world. We just can't lose ourselves in it, we need to be able to be found.

Keep your feet on the ground when your head's in the clouds.

We need to learn to find the balance. We can live in our own little world, as long as we don't get lost there completely. Reality must be held onto, because you can't live in this world without accepting that it's not all sunshine and rainbows.

I don't think that "burying the castle" is forgetting that magical world that you've created, we all need an escape. But we also all need to, at some stage and to some extent, grow up. To "bury the castle" is merely letting it be in your past. It is remembering your childhood memories with gladness, and then moving on to your future. When someone dies, you bury them, but they are never forgotten. In the same way, we should never forget our childhood, but we need to at some point accept that it's over, and that we can't live in a fantasy world forever. No, life isn't all sunshine and rainbows, but it's not all rainclouds and thunder either. Plus, I think we tend to forget that to see the rainbow, you need the rain.