Wednesday, July 25, 2007

Why the big fuss about Michael Vick anyway?

Don't get me wrong. I think dog-fighting is awful. But honestly, aren't most of us who are outraged by Michael Vick just being a tad hypocritical?
Those of us who've ever eaten or used any animal product scarecely think of where all these products come from. I'm not talking about controversial, high-profile products like veal or foie gras or mink coats. I'm talking about the usual stuff... frozen chicken drumsticks, eggs for decorating at Easter, Nikes, dog-food, ice-cream...almost all of the animal-products we consume come from places where animals' lives echo the words of Hobbes: nasty, brutish and short.
Sure...liberals, left-wingers, tree-huggers, hippies...we talk about it, we think about it. But this regular mass brutality towards animals rarely generates the sort of outrage that Michael Vick's actions have.
The mainstream is quite happy getting outraged by one or two cases like this, while everything else is swept under the rug...it's convenient to not have everything around us prick at our oh-so-sensitive conscience.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

You have spelt controversial incorrectly.
-Pratibha

(Your nit-picking, proof-reading mother)