In this country we are blessed – with plentiful food, wealth and choice; freedom!
And we often forget that. Very often it seems to me.
We’re not in Yemen where girls are forced/sold into marriage at 10 or eleven years old.
We don’t die of dysentery or have to drink out of the same water we bathe in or live in squalor like many places in the world. India is one that comes to mind.
We aren’t forced to believe in God or any sort of religion.
This list could go on. I hope you’re getting my point.
We have boundless food choices and enough wealth to be snobs or “food nazis” about things.
We have options of this variety of chia seed or cocoa bean; organic this, non-organic that, gmo/non-gmo corn: “problems” that millions the world over, especially those in developing and third world nations, would LOVE to have. And even some in this very nation would love to have. There’s starving kids right here in this very place I live– kids that have never seen ice or water come out of a refrigerator door. We should be ashamed.
The grocery store has shelves full of food – unless it’s the Pierre Walmart, in which case it doesn’t. I jest. Sort of. But at least there’s a grocery store!
We, as a whole, have become so egocentric that many of us believe our choice is the “morally righteous” one. And many wish to impose their choice on the rest of us as the “morally” right choice, while speaking about being open minded and accepting different points of view. I’m not sure how you can be both open-minded and then impose your choice upon someone else.
There’s vegans demanding we all become vegan because meat is “murder”.
There’s animal rights groups demanding that food/ag producers do things “humanely” because animals are now anthropomorphized, instead of being treated like animals. Which by the way, doesn’t mean we are to abuse them. The line between animal welfare and animals rights is severely blurred. The path from the farm/ranch to the fork has become skewed.
There’s anti-horse slaughter advocates demanding cessation of all horse slaughter and transport thereof to Canada and Mexico, because “horses are our friends and companions” and “we’ve never eaten horse meat in this country” (which is false, as an aside).
Our Facebook feeds are literally (or is it just mine?) crammed full of photos of homeless dogs and cats, shelter this animal ads, rescue this horse, Sally the raccoon needs a home; yet rarely do you see news stories of homeless kids with no family to love them. Since when did animals become more important than people? Are children not defenseless too? Are they not also abused on a daily basis? At least a dog can bite, a cat can scratch, a horse can kick and none of the above feel any remorse for that action because they’re only being a dog, cat or horse – defending themselves as need be. There’s no ulterior motive there. Innately humans don’t enjoy hurting other humans, or do they? I guess there was Cain and Abel. Sometimes, I wonder.
What I fail to see or understand is how it’s now become acceptable in society to say, my moral is better than your moral so “I win.” Which is, as I see it, what has happened.
My theory is it’s your life; live it!
Do you want to eat non-gmo foods/grass fed beef/ organic eggs and chicken? Rock on. But realize you’re blessed with that choice and the wealth to pay a premium for that choice.
Do you want to be/ are you a vegan? Awesome. I hope that works out for you. I could never go that route. So stop trying to make me. I don’t tell you what to eat. I won’t tell you what to eat. I do know some nice vegans that don’t feel this way. Just sayin’.
Do you want to keep your horse until death do you part? Super. Good for you. Life isn’t always ideal, however. I mean most of us can’t even commit to a marriage, let alone horse ownership for 25+ years!
Sometimes I think we haven’t been hungry enough, or poor enough or [insert your thought here] enough to gain the perspective so many in this country need.
I feel better now that that’s off my chest. Carry on!
Happy Trails and Happy Living!
Well said…cowgirl!
Generally speaking we’re all being affected all of the time by someone else’s perspective. For me, the problem is that many of these people have…JUST a point of view. No actual experience to back up their opinion and the unfortunate part is a lot of these people have way too much power to affect change.
At the end of the day it comes down to education. A lot of our arguments today, more than ever before, have one side presenting a point of view and the other side living the reality. A recent example of this was how the Department of Labor (DOL) was trying to institute farm/ranch safety laws that were totally alien to how life on the farm/ranch works. Personally, I believe all that nonsense was driven by backroom lobbying from the insurance companies…when in doubt follow the money! How many ranchers or farmers do you know that wrote to the DOL saying…”please write us some rules of law telling us how to run our lives and businesses?” Fortunately, the DOL got schooled by the folks living the reality! But I digress.
Because of the affluence that exists in our society today very few people will ever learn, or will be willing to learn, something the hard way again. It’s my opinion that today’s version of the…”hard way”…is to actually experience something first hand and then develop one’s position. There’s just too much…I can Google it therefore I know it…never getting the hands dirty.
Your life, your blog, your animals, etc. are the complete opposite of those “I Google therefore I am”. Be careful how much credibility you give them…ride on Cowgirl…ride on!
Thanks, Dennis! You bring up some good points! And I like your statement about Google!
I was just having a similar (but not nearly as in depth) conversation with someone the other day about food. I try to grow a lot of my own vegetables & fruits but when I have to grocery shop for them, I avoid the “snobby” & expensive stores that market everything as organic. I know that just because the label says organic doesn’t mean it is. I totally get what you mean about the perspective thing though.