OT-Mad cows and the Great Chain of Being
- To: Multiple recipients of list <i*@rt66.com>
- Subject: OT-Mad cows and the Great Chain of Being
- From: H*@aol.com
- Date: Fri, 4 Apr 1997 12:29:22 -0700 (MST)
Greetings,
The question of the health hazards to humans of Mad Cow Disease, and the
related questions of the horticultural use of bovine by-products which may be
contaminated is open to debate, certainly. However, it is my own opinion that
the feeding of the flesh of their own kind, however refined, to domestic
herbivores is a practice of surpassing ecological indecency. I believe that
much of the "hysteria" associated with this phenomenon may well be attributed
to a collective conscious, or intuitive, sharing of this opinion. The fears
are nudged beyond what is quantitatively defensible by the horrific aspects
of the practice. Perhaps there is the sense of unwittingly having been, as
Auden said in another context, "an active partner in something disgraceful."
There are more questions here than enlightened self-interest. Human ecology
has a psychological component.
Anner Whitehead, Richmond, VA (speaking)
Henry Hall henryanner@aol.com
