We are developing the social individualist meta-context for the future. From the very serious to the extremely frivolous... lets see what is on the mind of the Samizdata people.
Samizdata, derived from Samizdat /n. - a system of clandestine publication of banned literature in the USSR [Russ.,= self-publishing house]
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The things you see when you do not have a camera Whilst having lunch the other day, I saw an attractive young woman wearing a tee-shirt with a slogan that made me laugh:
I’d rather wear fur than go naked
No doubt she was reacting to this campaign. And when she and her gentleman friend were finished, she put on her fur trimmed coat and they left. It reminded me of this. Bless.
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Oh the irony…
PETA Employees Face Felony Animal Cruelty Charges
http://www.petakillsanimals.com/petaTrial.cfm
Oddly, I’ve not seen a single anti-fur campaigner since moving to Russia. Apparently there used to be some, but they all froze to death.
The Elohim (can I simply call you God?:-P): these people were simply a couple of nut cases who just happened to be employed by PETA, so the incident is not really ironic.
Tim: LOL! This reminds me of a rabbit fur coat I had when I was little in Russia. I wish I could find the picture…
I can’t work out where the cruelty is in the story about PETA employees. Breach of contract, perhaps.
I don’t really think people should be arrested for cruelty to animals. I may not like animal cruelty but I still wouldn’t put the animals’ interests above the people’s.
It is interesting that there is no anti-down campaign. Harvesting down is almost as unpleasant as harvesting fur, but the resulting clothes are not glamorous and fashionable – they are just puffy jackets. They are also very warm.
My friends in the fashion world have pointed out that fur is much more acceptable than it was. Few people will object strongly to rabbit fur, and it’s widely sold in such trendy places as Spitalfields market. The fact that fake fur is often not easy to distinguish from real fur without touching it, makes it easier to wear the stuff anyway without attracting comment.
J, good point. A vegetarian I know couldn’t see anything objectionable about the down duvet I bought. I don’t think anyone has told them how it’s made…
these people were simply a couple of nut cases who just happened to be employed by PETA, so the incident is not really ironic…
Alisa, there is some evidence that the killing of unwanted animals is actually secret PETA policy. Penn and Teller present this evidence at the end of their Bullshit! episode on PETA. You should be able to find it on YouTube, or rent it. The show in general is fantastic and the PETA episode is great.
Alfred: you may be right, and in that case it would indeed be ironic. As to Bullshit!, I watched one episode (on recycling), which someone on this blog helpfully linked to. I found the content to be somewhat informative, but the general style is too much over the top for my taste. I’d even go so far as to say that it has more style than substance. Which is a shame, because there are obviously not enough shows that are as dedicated to the slaughter of the various holy cows.
I knew a girl at university whose family had a fur-farm in Denmark. He’d spoken up for fur farmers at the EU parliament and his basic argument went along the lines that fur is simply shaved leather. This was a logic I could hardly dispute and have not had any qualms about fur since. Anne wore T-shirts with the slogan “Fur is Fun!”. She was a direct descendant of the miserabilist Soren Kierkegaard.
Then there’s the old joke about a woman wearing a fur coat and the animal rights activist.
An animal rights activist goes up to a woman in a fur coat and asks her “Do you know how many animals had to die for them to make that fur coat?” The woman in fur responds, “Do you know how many animals I had to f*** to get this fur coat?”
Oh my. I suffered a prolonged bout of Kierkegaard in high school while under a mistaken notion of what “existentialism” meant.
I’m curious, Nick, why would you have had a problem with fur or, conversely, why wouldn’t you have had a problem with leather?
Does anybody remember that dish served at The Restaurant at the End of the Universe? It was an animal bred to want to be eaten and able to explain it to the diners in articulate terms before being taken away for preparation. It was to satisfy vegetarians who didn’t want to mistreat animals. At least that’s how I recall it.
Midwesterner,
I was a callow youth and basically I’d never really thought logically about the issue. I ate meat and wore leather but fur was just wrong because… because everybody was saying it was.
I just hadn’t thought it through or to be fur to myself ever really heard anyone advance an argument that fur was OK. I guess I had more of a tendency to just buy the received wisdom on things without thinking critically back then. I suppose as well there was a bit of a class thing going on as well. And Perry hadn’t yet set my meta-context to rights.
Wait, wait, WAIT a second. PETA are campaigning at the moment against Burberry’s use of fur trimmed clothing. Give the chav element (Burberry is the favoured clothier of chavs in the UK), should we really be condemning PETA so quickly? No fur trade and some gorgeous actress showing her all for our delectation, versus Victoria Beckham and the other chavs protesting as the loss of their favourite fashion line?
I suppose I should sit back and wait for the PC brigade to lambast me yet again …
You’re all off on irrelevant tangents. You missed the most important part.
Dominique definitely should go naked.
Depends where you are, surely? Its cold in London at the mo. If someone would genuinely rather wear fur than go naked in the tropics, then they are the crazy one.
Guy, she’s an actress. I’m afraid she should suffer for her art.