Wednesday, April 29, 2009

DEBATE AT LOLITA BAR: "Should Humans Radically Decrease Their Exploitation of Animals?" (with ten related thoughts)

cat-in-the-hat.jpg

ONE WEEK FROM TONIGHT, the species-spanning battle of the century:

Wed., May 6 (8pm).

Law professor and lawyer with the State of New York Mariann Sullivan arguing yes.

Freelance writer Justin Shubow (Master’s in Philosophy from U. Michigan, J.D. from Yale) arguing no.

Hosted by Todd Seavey and moderated by Michel Evanchik.

Free admission, cash bar. Basement level of Lolita Bar at 266 Broome St. at the corner of Allen St. on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, one block south and three west of the Delancey St. F, J, M, Z subway stop.

I. INTERESTING DEBATE-RELATED TRIVIA (AND POETRY):

The Debates at Lolita Bar grew out of the debate series founded by Lefty Leibowitz — himself a model of self-discipline who is vegetarian — and L.B. Deyo, a carnivore who nonetheless composed this moving work:

“Ode to the Kingdom of Animals and Beasts”

Monkey, art thou in thy tree?
Leaping ’long so gleefully
Your screams do much admire my heart
I thrill to see your mischievous art

O doggy, doggy on your chain
Whose yelps and barks do soothe my brain
How happily thou romps and plays!
(Though chasing cats might end your days.)

The lion is of the proudest mane
Pursuant of antelopes he is fain
No cowardly cat that laps at milk
The lion is of the noble ilk

Sir polar bear, do not be chilled
By windy nights, Antarctic hills
For thine is fur of downy white
To warm me through the bitter night

Hippo, with thine ivory tooth
The little sparrows clean, forsooth
Thy name is writ and spoken thus:
“The noble Hippopotamus.”

At last the frog we now regard
Whose life is slimy, short, and hard
From lily pad to pad you leap
Or plunge into the murky deep
O Frog! Beloved beast thou art!
Who warms again my heavy heart.

II. ASS COFFEE: ANIMAL-EXPLOITATION FOUNDATION OF THE WEST

As I noted in a controversial Book Selection(s) blog entry a year and a half ago, the entire American economy is arguably built on one particularly odd centuries-ago bit of animal exploitation. As I wrote:

I learned from [Amy Chua's book Day of Empire] that Holland’s financial success circa the seventeenth century was built in large part on the popularity of civet cats, raccoon-like animals whose anal glands can be squeezed to yield a very popular perfume scent — animals that to this day are valued for their ability to confer an extra aromatic quality to coffee beans that pass through their digestive systems. So, since the 1688 Glorious Revolution in England transferred much of Holland’s monarchical and mercantile might to England, and since we in the U.S. are in turn the heirs of England’s common law and political traditions, there is a very real sense in which American liberty was founded on ass-coffee. (Civets were also the likely source of SARS, so they have their good points and bad points.)

III. I AM BECOME SHIVA, DESTROYER OF MICE

Well, nearly. Creepy as it sounds, while planning this debate — having never once seen a rodent in my apartment — I think I heard one scratching repeatedly against the underside of my tub. I called for an exterminator, he forgot to show, the scratching never returned, and I thus remain neutral enough a non-combatant to host the debate in good conscience.

IV. LARD INTERLUDE

Michelle Kung wrote an article for Wall Street Journal last month about the recent resurgence in the popularity of lard, which included this brief lard timeline:

A History of Lard

•1911 Procter & Gamble introduces Crisco, a shortening that would help displace lard
•1940 Americans consume a record 14.4 pounds of lard per capita
•1992 Artist Janine Antoni’s breakthrough work, “Gnaw,” showcases a 600-pound block of lard she has gnawed at with her teeth
•1995 The mock-horror book “Ocean of Lard” appears
•1997 Americans consume 2.9 pounds of lard per capita, a low
•2003 Celebrity chef Mario Batali opens a new New York restaurant, Otto, featuring lardo pizza; TV show “Fear Factor” forces contestants to crawl through a tunnel filled with 4,000 pounds of lard
•2007 Gourmet market Prather Ranch Meat Co. starts selling lard at San Francisco’s Ferry Terminal

V. ANIMALS ADD TO THE ECONOMY

A dog in North Carolina — which happens to be the state from which both my parents’ dog Jaycie and my girlfriend Helen Rittelmeyer hail — was recently pooping $100 bills.

VI. A VIDEO ITEM FROM THE ONION…

related to animal welfare (and science).

VII. A WEBSITE VEGANS SHOULDN’T LOOK AT

Once more: ThisIsWhyYoureFat.com (especially the “Meat Ship”).

VIII. CAT/BRAIN EFFECT

In a cartoon pointed out to me by vegan Diana Fleischman (whose name, as it happens, means “Huntress Meatman,” I believe).

IX. HOW THIS DEBATE FITS INTO MY USUAL POLITICAL OBSESSIONS

Think of it as prep for reading the animal-rights-friendly writings of Obama regulatory czar Cass Sunstein.

IX. …OR INTO “MONTH OF THE NERD II”

…or as prep for seeing animalistic Wolverine, vegetarian Mr. Spock, and species-exterminating Terminators in theatres in May. In any case, please join us.

10 comments:

Caren said...

Excellent poem by L.B. Although the “slimy, short, and hard” part made me titter.

You know, Todd, I don’t care what you write about people, but be very careful what you say about cute, cuddly animals.

Todd Seavey said...

L.B.’s poem reminds me a bit of one written by libertarian Republican former MTV VJ and now radio host Lisa “Kennedy” Montgomery (practically in love with Dan Quayle when I met her and now more of a gay marriage-supporting laissez-faire type), a poem that happened to be read on-air by a DJ in DC once while I was visiting that city, after she’d mailed it to him. It went, in its entirety:

Fishy fishy

In the sewer,

How many doggies

Did manure?

Kennedy is multi-talented and perhaps still underappreciated (this sentence is not part of the poem, though that would be interesting).

Todd Seavey said...

In related news, ICanHasCheezburger happens to have a fine videoclip today illustrating the mixed blessings of animal cuteness and dopiness:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRDPLuhSl00&eurl=

Todd Seavey said...

On a grimmer but timely note, Diana points out this brief commentary on the swine flu situation:

http://imgur.com/27K39.jpg

Todd Seavey said...

Finally (for today), a Happy note:

http://my.earthlink.net/article/us?guid=20090429/49f7d0c0_3ca6_1552620090429-1309986885

L.B. Deyo said...

O fishy, fishy, fishy, oh!

That went

Wherever I

Did go.

Diana said...

Will anyone be filming the debate? I’d love to see it. Also, I can’t wait till the debate is over so you can stop writing about animals rights on your blog and getting me all riled up!

You did manage to make 10 related thoughts with very little value judgment though.

Todd Seavey said...

No taping that I’m aware of — I have enough to do — but we’re always grateful if some industrious debater or outsider decides to tape one of the debates. The end of this recent entry links to audio of two of our recent debates:

http://toddseavey.com/2009/04/12/seavey-in-new-york-times-rawls-on-god-magneto-as-paint-debates-as-audio/

Ken Silber said...

The good news is my handy digital voice recorder makes it easy to get audio of these debates.

The bad news is I probably can’t make it on May 6, having to work til sometime in evening that night, but we’ll see.

Todd Seavey said...

[...] Tonight, though, the place to get your human-vs.-beast action is at our Debate at Lolita Bar (8pm) on animal welfare between Mariann Sullivan and Justin Shubow. Please visit our underground lost civilization. [...]