When Our Man was just Our Boy in shorts back in Blighty, he knew two things about the Japanese: they had the super nifty Mitsubishi Zero fighter; and they hunted whales (although not with the Zero, as far as he knew). Since then, the world has moved on and has even been prepared to buy Mitsubishi's products again, but there is still that pesky whaling thing. Let Our Man state unequivocally his completely not-on-the-fence-honest position on whaling: it's not the most moral thing in the world, but then it's no worse than drinking milk with your tea. You what? Bullet time:
- It's morally difficult to justify eating whale meat. It doesn't taste very nice, we have plenty of other stuff to eat and whales are fairly smart creatures who are mammals and therefore somehow morally superior to fish.
- Well, is it any less moral to eat cows? Some say they don't taste very nice, we have plenty of other stuff to eat and cows are fairly smart creatures who are mammals and therefore somehow morally superior to fish.
- Yeah, but we are talking about drinking cows' milk, not eating the darned things. OK, but in order to drink your gold top, your cow needs to become pregnant at least once a year. Only about a quarter of the calves go on to produce milk. The rest are killed.
- So, which is worse, the killing of wild animals for their meat, or the mass murder of generations of cows so Our Man has something to put in his tea?
OK, two wrongs don't make a right, but Our Man thinks he's turning Japanese, he really thinks so, on whaling. It's not good, but is it really that bad? Greenpeace would disagree, but even they have adapted to Japanese sensibilities - Greenpeace softens protest tactics.
6 comments:
couldn't agree more.having workeed on a dairy farm I know exactly what you mean.
The hypocrisy of most greenies on this issue is unreal.In fact the hypocrisy of most greenies i know is breathtaking.you know rolling round in cars that do 25mpg etc.even worse i know one that drives a beat up old land rover....
It's not easy being green, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't try, it's just that some issues become entrenched and it's time to move on, methinks.
Yeah. I never quite get the militant moral tone that attaches itself to the anti-slavery argument. I don't care for whale myself, but I can see that if you are going to oppose the slaughter of non-endangered whales, you'd better put as much energy into opposing the consumption of meat in general!
Indeed, JJ. Our Man will concede it's hard to justify eating other animals, but darn it, they do taste good. (Whales excepted. And natto, which while technically isn't an animal, is morally suspect, at least at Our Man's dinner table).
I generally agree. My opinion on the whaling issue is one of diplomacy. What has the international community agreed on, and is Japan's whaling program in compliance with those agreements? I must say, I have little sympathy for Japanese officials who whine that Sea Shepherd and Greenpeace are disrupting "scientific research".
Fair point KB. The whole scientific research thing is an embarrassment. Much like the research into rare birds at the Abiko national bird museum. They are all dead and stuffed on the third floor. What did the scientists learn scientifically? That if you kill and stuff a bird it no longer flies very well?
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