Anthony Bourdain famously said:
“Vegetarians, and their Hezbollah-like splinter-faction, the vegans, are a persistent irritant to any chef worth a damn.
To me, life without veal stock, pork fat, sausage, organ meat, demi-glace, or even stinky cheese is a life not worth living.”
Let's be very clear on what he's saying. Anthony claims his life is worth not living unless he has baby animals killed, adult animals killed, and animals subjected to a life of servitude and confinement just because it pleases his tastebuds.
This cycle of abuse can continue because the victims are not human. Can you imagine if they were?
"Police, and their Hezbollah-like splinter-faction, the Special Victims Unit, are a persistent irritant to any psycho worth a damn.
To me, life without killing children, murdering men women, eating their organs, and rape is a life not worth living."
The natural reaction to any meat-eater reading this will probably be offense. And why wouldn't it be? It seems that I'm insinuating that they are some sort of deranged mass-murdering maniac! Please don't take offense, this is not what I've set out to do. I ate meat for well over 20 years so I know it's difficult to get your head round this - it challenges the behavior you've practiced every meal.
Just understand that animals share the same emotions, pain and pleasure responses as humans. It may be to a different magnitude (although we really don't know yet,) but that doesn't justify killing them when there is another way. The minds of many animals mankind uses as commodities are just as sharp and advanced as those of human children - can you imagine ever subjecting children to that sort of abuse? Just think about it next time you're choosing between the beef or bean burrito. Doing the right thing will make a difference and I have so much respect for you for doing so.
He probably made that comment because some animal rights activists were getting on his case, which is understandable, but is still bad because now one more person sees vegans as "annoying and rude". However, if he decided to just attack vegetarians and vegans without them attacking him, then I believe that he is the weaker person.
ReplyDeleteHi Adi! I agree, generally anti-vegan/vegetarian comments are made because anti-abuse advocates are being provocative - but really the only tool vegans have is the truth! We need to find an effective way of conveying this message, and I think that we agree that offending omnivores really isn't doing our cause any favors.
DeleteI believe it's wrong to cause needless suffering, so I choose to be a vegan. There's nothing intelligent in Anthony's words, they are just a confession of his own weaknesses. I don't think he's a bad guy, he use chooses to be blind to the suffering his decisions cause and lashes out, in this instance, when confronted with the truth.