A Thinking Reed

"Man is but a reed, the most feeble thing in nature, but he is a thinking reed" – Blaise Pascal

Animal Rights and Issues

  • Thought for the day

    “I proceed to analyze Marx’s theory from the animals’ point of view. To them it was clear that the concept of a class struggle between humans was pure illusion, since whenever it was necessary to exploit animals, all humans united against them: the true struggle is between animals and humans.” — George Orwell, Animal Farm, Read more

  • Eating with civility

    I imagine this will be of interest to some readers: “Civil Eats,” a site dedicated to “critical thought about sustainable agriculture and food systems as part of building economically and socially just communities.” This post, by Paul Shapiro on big ag’s counterattack against animal welfare measures is worth checking out. Read more

  • The curious case of the shrill veg(etari)an

    Great post from Jim Henley commenting on this post at the Atlantic. Fisher, I think, overstates the case of how hard it is to be vegan. Not that I am one, but it certainly doesn’t require the heroic level of asceticism he suggests. I mean, I’m a mere lacto-ovo veggie, but, at this point, it’s Read more

  • “it’s hard, if not impossible, to be a meat-eating environmentalist”

    Via John Schwenkler, Rod Dreher interviews James McWilliams, who Dreher calls a “contrarian agrarian.” He is a fierce critic of our system of industrial agriculture, but he also slaughters some sacred cows (pardon the expression) of the organic food and locavore movements. He has some kind words for GMOs and particularly questions the sustainability of Read more

  • Links on animals and such

    A profile of Jeffrey Moussaieff Masson, author of The Face on Your Plate (via). A short Q&A with Peter Singer on dog shows and PETA. A really interesting interview with Jane Goodall in which she talks about, among other things, her “mystical experiences” in the jungle. Read more

  • Animals, killing, and veg(etari)anism

    There was a surprisingly pro-vegetarian (even pro-vegan) review (which I’m only getting around to blogging about now) in last Sunday’s Washington Post of two books: Mark Caro’s The Foie Gras Wars (previously mentioned here) and Jeffrey Moussaieff Mason’s The Face on Your Plate. The reviewer, Jennifer Howard, is a confessed vegetarian, but is willing to Read more

  • Do crustaceans feel pain?

    Two new studies suggest they do (via). Read more

  • Foie gras revisited

    A writer for the Village Voice investigates the “Is foie gras torture?” question by traveling to Hudson Valley Foie Gras in New York, the nation’s largest producer. What she concludes after observing the birds is that it’s not nearly as bad as some of the images from animal rights and welfare groups suggest. (Many of Read more

  • Quote for the day

    “We have enslaved the rest of the animal creation, and have treated our distant cousins in fur and feathers so badly that beyond doubt, if they were able to formulate a religion, they would depict the Devil in human form.” — William Ralph Inge, Dean of St. Paul’s Cathedral, London (1911-34) Read more

  • Foie gras: torture or distraction?

    I don’t really have an opinion on whether foie gras is “really” inhumane or not (I can’t imagine it’s particularly enjoyable for the geese), but this review of a new book on the subject makes a valid point: Face facts: If you oppose foie gras, even if the only thing you’ve ever done about it Read more