Well, my intent was to show that the eating of Big Macs was not really the
issue. I know that MacDonalds has been considered to be environmentally a
bad guy for many years. However, most of the stuff they have been charged
with doing has, at one time or another, been addressed. I suppose that they
are, as a corporation, doing bad environmental things, and eating Big Macs
(I really don't do that more than once a year and then usually in an airport
somewhere) supports them and can therefore be an environmentally suspect
action, but geez, isn't that a bit of a stretch?

I just have a really hard time with people who want use to believe that
vegetarianism is ipso facto environmentally the best thing to do. It's like
finger nails on a blackboard when I hear someone, with all the fervor of a
born-again or twelve-step addict declare, "It's been 12 (7, 6, 2, 25,
whatever) years since I ate meat!!" (cheers and shouts of 'way to go' in the
background).

I don't mean to get this particular thread going again, but I got bored with
the capitalism thread. I should have kept my mouth shut.

By the way, I found a lot of environmentally interesting stuff in "100 yrs
of solitude," and I consider it one of the few books worth re-reading
written in the past 50 years.

Steve
    To say that "I will not be free till all
 humans (or sentient creatures) are free" is
 simply to cave in to a kind of nirvana-
 stupor, to abdicate our humanity, to define
 ourselves as losers.
                                   Hakim Bey
         The Temporary Autonomous Zone, 1985

 . . .in the last days he lost his appetite
and fed only on vegetables. He soon acquired
the forlorn look that one sees in vegetarians.
His skin became covered with a thin moss,
similar to that which flourished on the
antique vest that he never took off,
and his breath exhaled the order of a
sleeping animal.
                 Gabriel Garcia Marquez, 1967
               One Hundred Years of Solitude

http://www.du.edu/~sbissell
 What we lost with that wild, primal existence
was a way of being for which the era of
agriculture and civilization lacks counterpoise.
Human life is the poorer for it.
                             Paul Shepard


-----Original Message-----
From: [log in to unmask]
[mailto:[log in to unmask]]On Behalf Of Chris Hope
Sent: Monday, September 18, 2000 2:02 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Marquez and Big Macs


At 08:19 AM 9/17/00 -0600, Steven wrote:

> . . .in the last days he lost his appetite
>and fed only on vegetables. He soon acquired
>the forlorn look that one sees in vegetarians.
>His skin became covered with a thin moss,
>similar to that which flourished on the
>antique vest that he never took off,
>and his breath exhaled the order of a
>sleeping animal.
>                 Gariel Garcia Marquez, 1967
>               One Hundred Years of Solitude
>

Steven,

If we're going to start taking our ethics from "One hundred years of
solitude" we're in for a bumpy ride. A fascinating but bizarre book.

As for the Big Mac discussion, it's an easy decision when you're a
vegetarian. The more difficult decision is if you're a meat eater, but know
that production of a Big Mac causes environmental harm that is not
reflected in the price - in Steve's terms, you know that the externalities
are not internalised. What then? I guess most people just look at the
excellent price, think of the taste and go ahead and buy one. After all,
you can't be thinking about ethics every moment of your life? Can you?

Chris

Chris Hope, Judge Institute of Management Studies,
University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB2 1AG, UK.
Voice: +44 1223 338194.   Fax: +44 1223 339701
e-mail: [log in to unmask]



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