The Gist: Hello VegNews Book Clubbers! I hope you guys had a great weekend and have devoured the next two chapters of Mad Cowboy. I find this book a fast read, maybe due to the fact that it's a topic that I'm very passionate about, or maybe Lyman's writing style is easy to absorb. In chapter 4, "From the Farm to the Capital," Lyman recalls his experience with a cancerous tumor in his spine, and the risky surgery he had to undergo to remove it, which nearly left him paralyzed. This traumatic event led him to reassessing his life and career, changing his farm and lifestyle completely, and begin his lobbying efforts in Washington, DC. In "Mad Cows and Bureaucrats," Lyman summarizes the rise of Mad Cow Disease in England, and how the English government denied and tried to cover it up for several years, causing many people to become infected and die of the disease. He then talks about his Beyond Beef Campaign, in which he investigated the US Department of Agriculture for information on chemical contamination of meat and animal illnesses entering the food chain. When he discovered a report possibly dealing with Mad Cow Disease, it was quickly covered up by the government officials he was working with. Lyman ends the chapter expressing his concern of Mad Cow Disease spreading in the US, and posing the question of whether our government will act similarly to that of the English government.The Discussion: So let's get the conversation going! Here are three discussion points that I find relevant to these two chapters. Please respond to one or all of them, and read the comments of others and respond if you feel strongly about something said. I look forward to chatting with you guys throughout the week!
1. (Chapter 4, p. 68) Lyman expresses losing focus in his life, which I find is easy to do nowadays. Do you agree? What do you do to maintain focus?
2. (Chapter 4) The last sentence of p. 69 reminds me of an experience I had several years ago in the Dominican Republic, where I spent four months volunteering in impoverished Haitian villages. While there, I noticed that there were a ton of stray dogs and cats who were very malnourished and mistreated. This saddened me, but I realized that human beings in this country were not even cared for, so wanting to care for the animals seemed hopeless. It's a very solemn fact, but one that I find true. In this world, human-rights violations are everywhere. How will the rights of animals ever be respected when we can't even respect the rights of all human beings?
3. (Chapter 5) This book was published in 1998. Twelve years have now passed, and Mad Cow Disease is still mentioned in the news along with Bird Flu, but no epidemic has occurred as of yet. Do you think Lyman's fear of the spread of Mad Cow Disease is still valid? Are there now more contemporary concerns?
The Assignment: Read chapters 6 and 7 of Mad Cowboy for the July 19 discussion.
~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig
The veg meetup group that I organize is going to tag along with your book club. We will meet once a month to discuss the books that you choose. And we'll use your discussion questions. Thank you so much for organizing this!
ReplyDeleteHi Elaine,
ReplyDeleteThat sounds great! Please feel free to share some of your discussion here. We'd love to hear your thoughts.
~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig
1. (Chapter 4, p. 68) Lyman expresses losing focus in his life, which I find is easy to do nowadays. Do you agree? What do you do to maintain focus?
ReplyDeleteI do find it easy to lose focus in such a capitalist society. Sometimes it's not even your fault, you just get distracted and start heading down a different path without even realising it. Living in the city now, I have found that I've lost the focus on nature and wholesome food I once had. It takes vists home, where I can eat fresh peas from the garden instead of out of a can to show me what I should be doing where ever I am.
2. (Chapter 4) The last sentence of p. 69 reminds me of an experience I had several years ago in the Dominican Republic, where I spent four months volunteering in impoverished Haitian villages. While there, I noticed that there were a ton of stray dogs and cats who were very malnourished and mistreated. This saddened me, but I realized that human beings in this country were not even cared for, so wanting to care for the animals seemed hopeless. It's a very solemn fact, but one that I find true. In this world, human-rights violations are everywhere. How will the rights of animals ever be respected when we can't even respect the rights of all human beings?
This sentence really spoke to me as well. I just lived through the G20 in my city. I had always thought that Toronto was a great place to live, until I saw what humans were doing to other humans, stripping them of their rights and dignity. The only flicker of hope I have in humanity is seeing all of the people coming out to the civil liberties rallys now. What makes that flicker grow brighter is seeing my animal rights friends who come out with vegan literature to pass out in the crowd. If those people care enough about human rights to come spend their Saturday marching in the hot streets, I think they can make the connection and support animal rights as well.
3. (Chapter 5) This book was published in 1998. Twelve years have now passed, and Mad Cow Disease is still mentioned in the news along with Bird Flu, but no epidemic has occurred as of yet. Do you think Lyman's fear of the spread of Mad Cow Disease is still valid? Are there now more contemporary concerns?
I think the threat of Mad Cow is still valid and it could possibly still shake it's ugly head in the future, simply because we still consume animal corpses. I think there are other more pressing concerns though, such as listeria and salmonella. The best and easiest way to combat all of these is by ending animal agriculture.
1. I completely agree that it is easier than ever to temporarily lose focus, but on that same token, it is also easier than ever to gain it back. For every distraction such as television, advertisements, the internet, there are also numerous sources that draw us back to what our focus should be. In a somewhat basic and straightforward example, I might get distracted mindlessly watching television or talking on the phone instead of attending to my dog’s needs. This situation might be rectified however, the moment I see one of those adoption commercials or ASPCA advertisements on the television. In this case, what caused the distraction also brought me back to what my true focus should have been.
ReplyDelete2. For me, this is a very difficult question to answer. I believe that on a general level, we cannot expect the rights of all animals to be respected while there are still instances in which human rights are not. The fact that there are individuals that do not respect the basic rights of another human propels me to believe that that same individual will not respect the rights of any animal they come into contact with. The difference here, however, is on the more local and individualized playing field. For many people, it is much easier to be proactive about helping out the lives of suffering animals than other humans. For example, I devote much of my time to suffering animals in shelters and animal rescues. While I deeply respect human rights and would never do anything to harm another human being, I am not as proactive in helping other individuals that have lost their rights or have been disrespected. In this sense, there is still hope for the rights of animals, but I do not think we will ever achieve universal animal rights until we achieve universal human rights.
3. Much like the previous poster, I believe that the potential for widespread Mad Cow disease must not be forgotten, but there are also more pressing concerns such as salmonella and melamine.
Hi Lola_318 and Z.aira,
ReplyDeleteThanks for your responses! It seems like we are all in agreement about it being easy to lose focus nowadays. I heard an interesting fact not too long ago about how the youth of today are so infiltrated with information—with the constant presence of information on television and the internet—that they do not reach adulthood mentally until much later in life. Additionally, in my opinion, we are coming to a major turning point in humanity. We are told that this century will see the possible collapse and rising of the oceans, the shortage of fresh water, and problems having to do with overpopulation. These are issues ourselves as individuals can't control, which can easily make us shut down. Psychologically, we try to forget things we have no control over, which I guess you can view as losing focus.
This leads to the next discussion, in which I compared human rights to animal rights. The amount of human suffering—and for that matter, animal suffering—in the world is easier to ignore instead of trying to change. As vegans and animal-rights activists have taken a step by adopting a vegan lifestyle, rescuing animals, volunteering, etc., but many people simply ignore these issues, which is a major problem in itself. Any thoughts?
Don't get me wrong, as Lola pointed out, there is still a lot of good in people, which is definitely comforting when experienced and seen.
I look forward to reading more thoughts from other readers, as well as responses to what we have discussed so far!
~VN Book Club Hostess Lyndsay Orwig