An Animal's Place

I have always been a meat eater. I have dated girls who were vegetarians and my wife was a vegetarian when I met her (she now eats fish and poultry). I have never had a problem with vegetarians and I have always thought about becoming one one day. Pepperoni pizza is pretty much the only thing stopping me. There are a lot of people who think that eating meat is wrong for moral reasons. Pollan talks about these people in his article, An Animal's Place. I have a hard time with the idea that every single living being (even fruit flies and trees) is deserving of the same rights as humans. This idea is crazy. People who believe this think that fruit should only be eaten if it has fallen from the tree branch and animals have rights.
I am more inclined to believe that domesticated animals on farms should be able to live the lives they are meant to live. This is a life of work in the fields aerating and fertilising the soil. Then after a long happy life they are killed in a quick and relatively painless manner so they can be eaten or sold by the farmer. American farms up to the Nixon era were small family-run farms where animals had their place and the wholesale slaughter of confined steroid filled animals was largely non-existent. Today, the fact is that small open farms are few and far between while the mega farms and meat processing plants are everywhere.
The article is summed up when Pollan proposes the idea that meat processors be open to the public so everyone can see the type of life these poor unfortunate animals lead. This would probably lead to better treatment for the animals and many people would decrease or elininate meat from theri diet. People are not concerned with the lives of the meat they eat. It is not an issue in front of them so most people do not even think about it. Pollan does not think vegetarianism is the answer or even a practical option either. Pollan is for eating meat but getting it from a farm or processing plant that treats the animals with dignity and lets them live the life they were meant to live. This is exactly what I believe. I do not think I could stop eating meat but I buy it locally from free range farms.

Cultural Globalization is not Americanization.

The article, "Cultural Globalization is not Americanization" by Philippe Legrain was an interesting read. I found myself agreeing with a lot of the author's points. His goal was to show that there is nothing wrong with different aspects of American culture making their way into foreign cultures. He tries to shoot down the idea that a Frenchman eating a McDonald's hamburger is destroying sacred French culture. That American companies do not have to actually compete for business in other countries when in fact they have to not only compete in other countries but also with foreign companies here at home. Legrain made me think twice about some of my own beliefs. I have thought that it would be wrong for American products or American ideals and ways of doing things to make their way into the far away pockets of uncorrupted humanity. These people have their own ways of life that have done them well for many years and our way of life may not suit them. Legrain says that it would be hypocritical for someone like me to think that this is right for these types of people and not for America. If I was to suggest homogeny here I would be laughed at and not taken seriously. Maybe the people from these parts of the world want to be like Americans. Maybe they want our way of life and our food and our music and culture. Why should I deny them their right to choose when I have that same right.
Even though I was somewhat affected by this article and may rethink my personal views, the article is written through some seriously rose colored glasses. Legrain does not talk about the devastating affect this way of life has on our environment. There is no reason anyone would be eating, wearing, or using products that are grown or made thousands of miles away. Most of the things we buy and eat are shipped and all of that shipping creates pollution. If everyone was to buy locally and eat locally grown or self grown food than our planet would be much better off. the current agenda for multinational corporations is to produce their products at the cheapest cost and with as few regulations. This has devastated the environment in places like China and throughout southeastern Asia. It has also destroyed the industrial sector of our own economy. Americans do not produce things anymore. Today we buy things. I think that Legrain should take a few paragraphs and address a few of the negative aspects of globalization because they outweigh the positives in my opinion.