I'm now a vegetarian.
I'm working to dunk a basketball on a regulation sized hoop by August 6th.
I'm working and desperately trying to save money to go to Iceland or Holland or Belgium or France or all of the above next fall.
About going vegetarian:
I started on January 1st and was going to do it for the year, but I think I'm gonna keep it going for as long as possible. Maybe if I go to Iceland where vegetables and other foods besides fish and lamb are scarce, maybe then I'd be forced to change, but I'd still try not to. The fact of the matter is that I've been working towards this philosophically for a while. If I am a proponent of compassion and caring, peace and love, then I should extend that to animals as well. The current factory farm system is antithetical to all of those closely held beliefs so I'd remove myself from it. But then this raises the question if I'd eat an animal that came from a free range farm, or was killed in the wilderness. I'd still argue no, I wouldn't, because I don't need to and because it is contrary to my beliefs.
The fact of the matter is simple: killing is killing and suffering is suffering and to have to extrapolate upon that is ludicrous. We do not eat dogs for whatever reason but that was not always so. In India they do not eat cows. Is one more correct than the other? Why? Is it because of the proximity and the respect we give to these select animals? Obviously these are not universal values bestowed unto humanity by great thinking and ethical observations. So why then propagate a system of suffering? In philosophy class a few semesters ago, we talked about Nietzsche and other philosophers, Spinoza and such, and one common theme that came up was that if we follow their rational and thinking to a conclusion, it would necessitate the removal of meat from one's diet. I still ate meat, but it made me think. Why do I eat meat? Is it because it tastes good? Does it really taste good? And even if it does, should I be killing an animal because of it?
Obviously, I shouldn't. I shouldn't contribute to a market that systematically wastes food. I shouldn't partake in a market that makes no effort to feed the hungry nor should I take part in a market which is arguable the largest manmade contribution to global warming.
The point is, the more I thought about it, the more that being vegetarian makes sense. I don't want to kill just because I dominate an animal. I don't want to fund companies that profit on suffering. So that's that. I'm sure I'll talk about that more later since this was sort of rambling, but that's the gist of it.
