Dumbass excuses

Last Thursday, I went leafletting outside of a chain health food store about the myth of "humane meat." For the most part, I was getting positive responses; people were happy to get more information about what all those feel-good labels like "grass fed" and "free range" actually mean. Then one guy approached me and asked, "uh...are you PETTA (sic)?"

"No." I replied.

"What group are you with?"

"We're not with any organization. We're just people."

"Oh. Well, good luck with your misguided efforts." At this, he starts to walk away. There's a certain type of person who will do this to you when you're leafletting. They spend 20 minutes coming up with a pithy remark, deliver it and then try to walk away before you can reply. They don't want to have a conversation so, of course, I always make sure to have one with them.

"What's misguided about it?" I called after him, causing the parking lot full of people to turn and look.

Without looking back, he responds, "there are more important things."

"LIKE WHAT?" I asked, even louder.

"Like...helping poor children in schools," he offered weakly, clearly uncomfortable at having been put on the spot.

"Oh, that's interesting!" I beamed, "I actually work in an underserved public school. I help children every day."

"Well...you should do more of that...." At this point, he's just hoping he can get around the corner before I say something else.

"HEY!" I shout, turning a few heads. "Helping animals and helping people aren't mutually exclusive. I can do both!"

Gotta love schoolin' a heckler.

 

I'd just like to mention, as an aside, there are a number of sound, intelligent arguments against radical animal rights ideology.

However, this raises an extremely vital and criminally overlooked issue. There's plenty of discussion on the war, human rights, globalization, global warming, etc., buut one crisis that tends to slip through is that, in the United States, we are in the middle of a stupidity EPIDEMIC. I should probably say, stupidity/ignorance epidemic, but nomatter. According to the Dept. of Education 47 MILLION Americans can't read above a FOURTH GRADE LEVEL! They are functionally illiterate. There are other disturbing statistics, such as at least a quarter of the country don't "believe" in evolution, etc. It's almost impossible to have genuine social progress with people who have such a pathetically meager comprehension of what's going on. This is why as radicals we must first be educators. Knowledge is power, the journey of discovery is a journey of liberation from the fetters of ignorance. First and foremost, people need to free their minds, the rest will follow.

 

Oh, you're kidding! You would?

In all seriousness, NGNM85, I would pay good money to see you try to teach the kids I work with anything. Don't get me wrong, you're dead on about the education system in this country being a travesty but the over-inflated sense of superiority you exude from every pore in your body makes you an awful teacher--here and anywhere else. Learning is about collaboration and mutual respect, not saving the ignorant from themselves or whatever redemptive fantasy you're having this week.

Jesus, do you talk like this in real life?

 

I would just like to say in defence of NGNM's statement that I agree wholeheartedly with him. Though on a sidenote, I would also agree with you on this one.
Teaching is quite simply not for everyone, but there's a teacher FOR everyone. Even if he could not help the kids at your school there are people that gain more benefits from an authority-figure such as you make NGNM out to be when it comes to teaching. The 'over-inflated sense of superiority', as you called it, would actually work quite well for the older generations here in Holland, who have been taught to respect authority figures in education as the sole responsibility for their knowledge, this has waned quite a bit with younger generations and the uprising of the internet and 24/7 accessibility of information, along with networking capacity and it's growing importance in education.
So yeah, not much lousy argument from my side, just wanted to point this out.
And YES I do talk like this in real life... just in Dutch

 

Well, wtf, I talk like this in real life, but whatever, let's hear some of your dumb anti AR excuses, then?

 

You can always count on me.

Actually, I'm presently working towards becoming a high school history teacher. Hyperbole aside, it wouldn't be a problem in that case, I don't think. In the case of children, or, young adults, perhaps, more appropriately, they are still learning, still developing their ideas, this is part of what makes this such a critical time period. Most of the targets of my verbal assaults are adults, that carries a measure of responsibility. I also usually only sink my talons into people who are making really bold and really bogus statements, people who are 'asking for it.' I am usually capable of restraining myself if I feel it's warranted. I just usually don't feel that way. I know nominating myself as the fact police in the intellectual sewer that comprises the internet is something of a lost cause, but 'whatever floats your boat', right?
However, it's not merely a pastime, although I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it. I firmly believe that bad ideas need to be confronted, scratch that, ALL ideas should be subject to vigorous inquiry and analyisis, the result of these labors is ultimately known as "truth."

Yes.

 

I don't have any dumb anti-animal rights extremism arguments, or excuses, for that matter. However, I do have some good arguments.

viewtopic.php?f=8&t=1959&start=200

I've contributed dozens of posts, but everything is pretty much summarized on the last two pages of the thread.

 

He would be perfectly happy with Animals being wiped off the face of the planet, as long as it's done for the benefit of his glorious Human Race! I suppose that he thinks that Radical Animal Rights Activists are always wrong no matter what, even when defending them against murderous corporations like the Japanese whaling and fishing fleets...etc.

 

Actually, I fully support the moratorium. Remember, the issue is the object, and the utility. Whale populations are dangerously depleted, and they have very little utility as a food source. Japan has a thriving agricultural industry with plenty of non-endangered animal-based foodstuffs like beef, pork, poultry, and fish. There's no justifiable reason to hunt whales to extinction. My support of the moratorium does not require me to elevate whales to human status or create new, philosophically dubious moral criteria. However, this belongs in the other thread. I've said everything I need to, there.

 

That's a completely bogus comparison, but I'm not going to get into it, here. I addressed this very clearly in the thread I linked to, particularly on the last page. This is not an animal rights thread. Back to the topic at hand...

 

Sorry, but all I see there are the same dumb excuses that I seen, and dismissed, thousands of times over the last few decades.

 

This really completely undermines your previous attempts at civility. I don’t care if you (Or anybody else for that matter.) dislike my ideas. However, my lengthy diatribes on the subject were anything but dumb. You can disagree with them, but that only matters if you can prove otherwise. I fully addressed every issue that was presented. It could be that you have a completely unique philosophy of animal rights that was not mentioned, that I have never heard before. I doubt it, but it’s possible. If you have any new ideas that were not presented, feel free to post them in the appropriate thread, otherwise I have to dismiss this as hyperbole. I am done with this subject in this thread.

 

How can you disprove an opinion?