Rachel's Paideia Blog

Readings/Student-led Discussions

I really enjoyed all of the articles everyone picked for the cohort to read. I guess I'll start by discussing my own. I haven't read Jonathan Safran Foer's Eating Animals because I'm too cheap to buy a hardcover book, but it seems really interesting based on the article I picked for the class to read. One of the main points it brings up is that just about everyone is entirely aware of the cruelty involved for the animals in the meat industry, particularly in America. Everyone has seen Peta videos or heard about the awful conditions of animals slaughtered for fur or chickens that can't support their own body weight because they're so pumped full of hormones and shit so people will eat them. This is all common knowledge. However, people still continue to eat meat, despite all this information, because they think it tastes good. I think this is entirely stupid because I know about all the best meat substitutes and because I never really liked meat in the first place. But it's hard for me to argue with because my main reasoning for becoming a vegetarian was that I didn't like the way meat tasted. Actually, my entire reasoning was pretty selfish and maybe even a little superficial. It does make me feel like I'm better than other people. But I digress. Katie brought up a great point during our discussion of the article: that the meat industry provides a whole hell of a lot of jobs, which are hard to come by in the current economic times. Now, I had never proposed that the entire world become vegetarian. I would not expect nearly enough people to switch over to create a problem in the industry. Hell, I'm not even telling other people how they should eat--it's just not my style. But I do genuinely believe that if it can be done healthily, why not?
There are a few other problematic issues on the subject. For one, Foer doesn't mention veganism. I'm with him though. As I said to the cohort, I hate vegans. I think they're making their lives harder for everyone and that they're being too whiny and too unreasonable. But that does sort of problematize Foer's argument. I don't know what to think!
I liked Katie's article too. It was well-written and enjoyable to read, and I totally agree that humor is a great tool for learning. I know most of my favorite professors incorporate humor into their lessons, but more than it being funny, I feel like it's showing the students a bit of their personality, which I feel students greatly appreciate.
Michelle's article was interesting as well. I am all about the arts and english and writing, but it was really refreshing to hear a scientific connection to these sorts of things. It really goes along with the liberal arts education I think we're all after at Southwestern.

posted by Rachel @ 5:21 PM