RE: Cucumber Dildo
August 22, 2011 at 1:00 am
(This post was last modified: August 22, 2011 at 1:07 am by The Grand Nudger.)
So, coming in a little late here. Summer and her low cut dresses.
For the better part of our existence as a species we did not exploit animals to reduce our own suffering. We could not. Interestingly our first attempt at distancing ourselves from the exploitation of animals was agriculture. Unfortunately for those early pioneers, a diet of grain and vegetables wasn't quite as nutritious as the hunter gatherer diet. Early farmers led shorter lives, suffered diseases specific to them, and just generally screwed themselves up all manner of ways compared to their hunter gatherer counterparts. We did eventually solve this problem....by exploiting animals for labor. We also spent much of our existence NOT using lab animals to test medicine. Need I list the fun things people were dying of? We don't do these things because we are cruel, or capricious, we do these things because they enable our very survival.
Domestication (for whatever purpose) isn't exactly a raw deal for the animal either. We provide them with food, shelter, and protection from predators (other than ourselves, and sometimes, even from ourselves as in the case of pets). There are cattle here, in this country, that lead better lives than many human denizens of third world countries. This is undeniable. If we released them, they would die. If we died, because we forbid ourselves the tools for example, to cure some disease, they would die.
I understand that you don't feel comfortable with this, but you do so from position of a person who very much takes advantage of all of the things that animal testing, and animal byproducts bring to the table. You cannot escape them. They're in the asphalt under your feet and the planes over your head. The machines that process your vegan diet, and grow your vegan crops depend upon them. etc etc etc.
It's okay to feel the way that you do. I feel the same way about cats and dogs (unless I was starving). What I object to is painting any of this as abject and purposeless cruelty to be avoided at all costs.
For the better part of our existence as a species we did not exploit animals to reduce our own suffering. We could not. Interestingly our first attempt at distancing ourselves from the exploitation of animals was agriculture. Unfortunately for those early pioneers, a diet of grain and vegetables wasn't quite as nutritious as the hunter gatherer diet. Early farmers led shorter lives, suffered diseases specific to them, and just generally screwed themselves up all manner of ways compared to their hunter gatherer counterparts. We did eventually solve this problem....by exploiting animals for labor. We also spent much of our existence NOT using lab animals to test medicine. Need I list the fun things people were dying of? We don't do these things because we are cruel, or capricious, we do these things because they enable our very survival.
Domestication (for whatever purpose) isn't exactly a raw deal for the animal either. We provide them with food, shelter, and protection from predators (other than ourselves, and sometimes, even from ourselves as in the case of pets). There are cattle here, in this country, that lead better lives than many human denizens of third world countries. This is undeniable. If we released them, they would die. If we died, because we forbid ourselves the tools for example, to cure some disease, they would die.
I understand that you don't feel comfortable with this, but you do so from position of a person who very much takes advantage of all of the things that animal testing, and animal byproducts bring to the table. You cannot escape them. They're in the asphalt under your feet and the planes over your head. The machines that process your vegan diet, and grow your vegan crops depend upon them. etc etc etc.
It's okay to feel the way that you do. I feel the same way about cats and dogs (unless I was starving). What I object to is painting any of this as abject and purposeless cruelty to be avoided at all costs.
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
