by Mickey Z.
The (so-called) alternative press rarely "gets" vegetarianism, animal
rights, and related issues. Case in point: The February 5, 2007 issue of The
Nation featured a book review by Daniel Lazare called "My Beef With
Vegetarianism." The book in question was 'The Bloodless Revolution' by
Tristram Stuart (full disclosure: I have not read Stuart's book).
 The "review" reads like a personal vendetta against those who choose a
plant-based diet as Lazare dedicates as much space to his own opinions as
those of author Stuart. "My Beef With Vegetarianism" also includes a wide
range of uninformed assertions. For Lazare, death at a slaughterhouse
involves merely "dispatching" the animal "quickly and efficiently" for the
"good utilitarian purpose of feeding the hungry." He also engages in Fox
News-level mind games with questions like: "If life is the highest value and
taking it is never, ever permissible, then what are we to do in the case of
a poisonous snake that is about to strike a sleeping infant?"
I'm wondering: Did a vegetarian spokesperson decree that taking a life is
never permissible? Plus, we don't need imaginary examples like snakes and
infants. The animals being slaughtered on a massive scale are not
threatening anyone or anything, they do not die "quickly and efficiently,"
and the hungry are not being fed as a result of their grisly deaths.
Lazare dusts off another line of "reasoning" one might expect from a
12-year-old: "Cruel as it is to kill an ox or a pig, nature is even crueler.
A tiger or wolf does not knock its prey senseless with a single blow to the
forehead and then painlessly slit its jugular; rather, it tears it to pieces
with its teeth." Lazare not only embarrasses himself with an absurd
comparison, he yet again diminishes the horror and cruelty of the slaughter
industry.
The ham-fisted Lazare forges on with his transparent agenda. Leonardo da
Vinci didn't speak out against cruelty to animals, he "ranted" against it.
Descartes' alleged "fruit-and-vegetable diet" may have contributed to his
death at the relatively young age of 54. Vegetarianism's "dramatic
resurgence in recent years" is thanks to "pierced and tattooed
twentysomethings." Lazare erroneously‹yet predictably‹reports that Adolf
Hitler was a "dedicated vegetarian," and goes on to enlighten his readers
about what "most likely" drew Nazi dictator to vegetarianism: "its
antihumanist and authoritarian elements." As if this were documented fact,
no further elucidation is provided.
Speaking of ill-informed assumptions piled atop clumsy inaccuracies, Lazare
also states: "More people are living better and eating more richly than
anyone in the 1700s would have thought possible." Tell that to the one
billion who live on less than one dollar a day and, by the way, how exactly
do we know what "anyone in the 1700s" thought possible in this realm?
Regardless, Lazare declares that scarcity "no longer serves as an argument
for vegetarianism, and neither, for that matter, does health." For him, to
consume animal flesh is to celebrate "humanity's ongoing struggle to create
abundance out of scarcity." To do otherwise would be to wallow in "the silly
defeatism of a diet of tofu and sprouts."
Ultimately, Lazare's "review" is nothing new and opinions similar to his are
available widely...via the corporate media. On the other hand, an
effectively functioning alternative media should be giving voice to opinions
and ideas neglected by the mainstream.
Mickey Z. can be found on the Web at http://www.mickeyz.net.
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